Yesterday I already touched the topic of sex education in the west and the complete opposite of that in other countries where sex is such a taboo that nobody will ever talk to a child about.
When I was a young adult, I read a bit about sex education in other countries in Indian newspapers or heard more about it through other media. I have to confess, I was also against it in that time. I thought, why do you need to give sex education to a child? Sexual arousal is a normal and natural feeling which comes by itself with the development of your body. Your body will probably know everything else that will follow in the consequence. Those who have not been taught about sex in school are also able to have proper sex! So you see, I was also skeptical about this concept. And I know that many more people in India think in the same way as I did then.
You may add however, that I did not really know what the words ‘sex education’ actually implied. After coming out of the cave in 2001 I started travelling in the west and with the years I got more and more friends there. Of course I was curious and talked with them about this concept of teaching children about sex. It was only then that I got to know what sex education was.
I want to write a few lines to those people who think just as I had been thinking, that sex education means a teacher tells students how to have sex. You may be in the wrong belief that the teacher would show pictures of different positions and tell you the best techniques to please your partner in bed. Obviously, you would not like this idea if you grew up in the religious Indian culture where sex before marriage is not approved of and even in a marriage often only seen as a means of conceiving, not of pleasure. I would also say that a school would not be the right place for teenagers to be taught how to have intercourse. However even those who follow this tradition and culture should understand that the real sex education, which is taught in many developed and civilized countries around the world, would be good for everyone, also for married couples!
First of all, the biology class about the sexual organs and their internal processes takes place. I think many people, also in India, agree that it is good if we all know our bodies. Teachers explain about menstruation, how and why it takes place. Then they also explain how conception takes place. Children and teenagers learn where children come from, instead of believing tales of their grandmothers about birds and bees or about children being sent from God’s home. They get to know about contraceptives, which different kinds there are and what effects they have. They are told which sexually transmitted diseases occur and how they can protect themselves from them. Women get to know that it is normal and recommended to go and see a gynecologist regularly to get check-ups. And boys learn that night discharge is normal in their teenage time and not a disease that they would need to worry about.
And believe me, teachers in western countries don’t have sex with their students in the classroom during those sex education lessons and they don’t ask children to do practical exercise, either!
This much about what sex education is and is not. In the next days I will discuss further why it makes sense to educate our children in this way.
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YES! Our children need to know what this world is about! You cannot hide creation from them! You teach them all about this world but you don’t want to tell them the very basics? It is like teaching how to make biryani without teaching how to cook rice!
Oh, I had to laugh so much about this idea! As a teacher I know the ideas of parents, even here in Austria, of what we teach children in sex education. If parents are old, they, too, grew up without sexual education or with very little. So when I show a class of children how a condom looks like, so that they have at least seen it once before their first time, I can promise, I have at least one mother in my office the next week. It is getting better though and usually everybody agrees that our children should learn that. Sometimes they only need a confirmation of me, that I also don’t want to see our kids having sex at eleven or twelve years old!
Don’t understand me wrong Swami Ji, I agree that sex education is very important, that children need to get to know their bodies but sometimes I feel, sex education is going too far in western countries. I was not agreeing with the primary teacher’s idea to start it in the primary school for example. My daughter was just not ready for it yet, as we had not even started talking about it. I would have, just a few years later!The question for me is not ‘if’, it is ‘when’ and ‘how much’. And what will be left for the parents to say?
Dear Swami Balendu ji,though I like your link and everyone has one’s own views regarding any subject yet I want to emphasize that at least I have no misinterpretation or wrong belief that sex education means a teacher tells students how to have sex and the teacher would show pictures of different positions and tell about the best techniques to please a partner in bed. Everything is relative to the time and space. What considered moral in western countries may not be moral in India. Our religious and cultural values are different from their values. Premarital or extra marital sex is not considered as immoral in many countries. The marriage is also not considered the same as it is considered in our country. In many of the cases in high class or ultra modern societies people don’t hesitate to follow the bad things of western culture in the name of modernization. Things change with time and many things are getting acceptance in our societies also, like Live in relationship. In India schools are the places where students of age group 3 years to18 years of age study in general. In those schools if emphasis is given on moral education, yoga and health education, it will be more beneficial than sex education. Students study about human body, hormonal changes with age etc in their classes of biological sciences.In our country mothers guide their daughters about menstruation and the precautions to be taken during that period .Today there are many advertisements in print and visual media about contraceptives etc but it is of no use to teach about these precautionary measures to our children in the schools. The serials in TV are already teaching them many good or bad things. To conclude I wish to say that the need of hour is to teach our school students to be good citizens with high moral values.
Dear Tiwari Ji, Thank you for your comment.I respect always all different opinion and accept what feels right with time and experience. I am continue writing about this topic. I think its important.But I have lot more to say about this so I will continue next days also. Points you are mentioning here, I have in my mind to write about. I again thank you for your comment and always appreciate healthy and respectful discussion around any topic.
Great idea to clear up those myths. Sex education is extremely valuable. I always find it the most interesting to learn about myself and my own body! It can be such a mystery to us but we benefit greatly from understanding how our bodies work. I am a mysterious being that I desire to study in all ways.