'Sex education needed after school'
JAKARTA (JP): Noted psychologist Sarlito Wirawan Sarwono suggested yesterday that sex education be incorporated into extra-curricular activities, if not in the curriculum itself.
The professor at University of Indonesia's School of Psychology told a seminar on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) yesterday that there are great opportunities for both the government and the community to provide teenagers with information on sex.
"If not through formal channels such as the school curriculum, then we can use other venues, such as radio and television," he said, adding that information on sex and reproduction should be always available to teenagers.
He acknowledged that people's values on sex differ from one ethnic group to another. "It's therefore not easy to decide what materials should be given as sex education in school curriculum," he said.
The seminar, held by Indonesian Christian University, discussed ways to increase public awareness of AIDS and HIV.
"Teenagers should be the main target for sex education because it will help save them from fatal conditions such as AIDS," he said.
Sarlito also discussed the opinion of his colleague, Prof. Yaumil Agoes Achir, who said that sex education need not be incorporated into the school curriculum and that it would best be left in the hands of parents.
Yaumil, who is also a lecturer at the School of Psychology at University of Indonesia, maintained that people are confused as to what experts mean about sex education because of the lack of clear-cut definitions on it.
Capability
A participant in the seminar said that it is not enough to leave the matter to parents as a great number of them do not have the capability or enough knowledge to impart information on sex to their own children.
Sarlito told The Jakarta Post that it is imperative that honest discussions on sex are held with teenagers. He pointed out that the teen years are a critical stage in which, unless proper guidance is given, teenagers may misuse their sexuality.
Sarlito, who has been campaigning for sex education for teenagers since the 1980s, said that there has been great changes in people's understanding of the issue, but some misperceptions remain.
People still think sex education entails lessons on how to have sexual intercourse, a misconception which turns them against introducing sex education at schools, he said.
Yesterday, Sarlito also spoke of the need for AIDS awareness campaigners to reduce their reliance on government assistance.
"Many non-governmental organizations for AIDS awareness drives are too dependent on the financial help of the government," he said.
"They should instead prove the usefulness of their work to the public. Later, financial assistance will come to them from the public," he said. (16)