Sex education, religious and cultural values

Sex education, religious and cultural values

Alpha Amirrachman, Jakarta

This newspaper (Jan. 27) reported an alarming result of a
survey concerning premarital sex among youngsters in four big
cities -- Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Bandung. The research
found that 40 percent of 237 sexually active youngsters who
responded to the survey lost their virginity at home, 26 percent
at a boarding house and 26 percent in a hotel.

Although 80 percent of total respondents (475) agreed that
premarital sex was against their religions values, some still had
sex.

Some nagging questions might be raised: Will we, as a nation,
be able to advance our knowledge, skills and intellectual
capacity, while simultaneously preserving our values and being
selective in absorbing "foreign" values? What is the role of
education here?

Alas! The study unveiled that only 5 percent of respondents
learned about sexuality from schools, while others learned from
friends and pornographic materials. This fact shows that there is
a pressing need to include sex education in school curriculums to
minimize the risks of irresponsible sexual activities and to
counter the misguided information the students receive from other
sources.

Unfortunately, efforts to include sex education at schools
seem to have always hit the wall as a conservative way of
thinking still lingers in our conscience. Interestingly, not only
in our country, Western countries also encountered similar
obstacles. Just recently the Sunday Herald (Jan. 23, 2005)
reported that in Scotland "the Catholic Church claimed victory in
the ongoing row over sexual health education in schools after
insisting that head teachers would be able to block family
planning workers from entering classrooms".

Even in the U.S., as Denis L. Carlson (1992) elaborates, there
are four influential ideologies that have shaped the thinking of
sex education: traditionalist, progressive, radical Freudian and
libertarian ideologies. The traditionalists strictly separate
mind from body; the mind is to preserve the holiness, while the
body tends to corrupt. It adheres to traditional Judeo-Christian
teachings that curse adultery, sodomy and homosexuality.
Progressives claim to be modern, although still refer to
traditional ideologies. However, they subscribe to less
reproachful and more healing approaches.

Radical Freudian ideology believes that "sexuality had to
become less repressed and more egalitarian", in which
homosexuality is somewhat understood. Finally, libertarian
ideology "rejects a narrow view that understands sexuality
primarily in terms of 'normality' and champions for individual
sexual rights".

While many would hope that our country would not embrace the
last two ideologies, the combination of the first two somehow
reflects the competing forces in our thinking of sexuality.
Already we can see how religious (mainly derived from the
interpretation of Islam) and cultural values (often dubbed budaya
timur, or eastern culture) have penetrated into all spheres of
our life.

Simultaneously, we can see how "secular" or perhaps "modern"
ideology is also competing to influence the way we perceive
sexuality, such as the much-debated "safe sex" campaign in the
media. Sex education is unfortunately something that is
inevitable.

But how do we pursue sex education? Certainly, a scientific
explanation of biological aspects of human sexuality and
reproduction can serve as an effective foundation, as biology is
taught at schools. However, in a country where religiosity has
deep roots, this is not enough. An appreciation of religious
values should be imparted to make students aware of how great God
is in creating this marvelous system of reproduction.

Some argue that sex education should be a single isolated
subject; some say inserting sexuality in pertinent subjects could
be more profoundly affecting. Some experts argue that the younger
the better for students.

At the elementary school level, for example, a simple picture
of a pregnant mother might be useful to explain about where "we
are all from". At higher levels, issues of sexually transmitted
diseases, HIV/AIDS, abortion, teenage pregnancy and single
parents can be discussed and the social consequences and wide-
ranging perspectives can be explored in a candid manner.

To Muslim students, for example, a basic understanding of the
fiqh regarding the relationship between husband and wife and its
sexually related issues might also be introduced.

These issues need to be thoroughly debated by educators and
scholars of all faiths. Nevertheless, getting a common
understanding might be problematic unless all parties "take off
their jackets" and faithfully make the interests of our young
generation the top priority.

Therefore, the political will of the government is still
needed to facilitate the push toward sex education in formal
education, as well as the collective will of civil society to
urge the media to touch on sexuality in a more educational but
religiously sensitive way.

The harder we suppress sexuality, the more eager youngsters
are to explore sexuality in their own way. Unless we candidly
embrace their curiosity in a pedagogically responsible manner,
our youngsters may depart from our values and subscribe to their
own "wild" interpretation of sexuality.

The writer (a.amirrachman@edfac.usyd.edu.au) is a lecturer at
the School of Education at the University of Muhammadiyah Prof.
Dr. Hamka. The views expressed are his own.