'Sex education needed after school'
'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)