Importance of Sex Education in School

In our country, despite its vast cultural heritage and contributions to progressive ideas, sex has always been taboo for discussion. People would roll their eyes when broached with the topic of sex. Parents would either ask their children to close their eyes or change to another channel whenever there are any age-inappropriate scenes on television. It is a topic that is usually brushed under the carpet. It is thus a natural consequence that education that teaches children about sexual wellbeing is met with the highest resistance possible.

The only formal introduction to sex education is from the chapters of Biology, most of which is purely academic in nature. There are so many changes once puberty hits adolescents, both physiological and psychological, that it can be overwhelming for teenagers. The present academic curriculum only scrapes the tip of the iceberg. At this stage, it is only natural that they are curious about sex and sexuality. Precocious and resourceful, if they don’t get information from the right source, they can always refer to the internet. Nevertheless, mere dependence on the internet, magazines and other unreliable sources can be dangerous. Misrepresentation of gender and sex is usually propagated by these sources. Therefore, an alternative for us is to create a comprehensive education plan that can keep our youth more informed about sex and gender-related issues. 

Comprehensive education, in essence, teaches youth, not just about body development, it also addresses topics like gender role, sexual health and relationships, ultimately, creating a safe space where they can ask questions related to sex.

It is largely believed that talking about sexuality and its awareness may corrupt young minds. On the contrary, they are the perfect targets of sexual exploitation if left untaught about their bodies, leaving them highly vulnerable in the midst of their own physiological changes. The internet boom has made a wide plethora of information easily accessible on any topic. In addition to this, the growing tendencies of teenagers to google any question or topic on the internet may lead to disastrous consequences. So this raises two pertinent questions:

• Is it possible to keep things under wraps in today’s time?
• Is it worth keeping things under wraps? As the dangers from the hush mentality far outweigh the benefits of proper, balanced education on sexual health?
Sex education at the school level is all the more important in the present time with rising cases of sexual violence against children. Sometimes children are unaware of the sexual exploitation they are subjected to. They hesitate to tell their elders about it because they may not have the required confidence to broach the topic.

Sex education teaches the children not only the basics of puberty, psychological changes and development but also gives a comprehensive understanding of their bodies and how to distinguish between good touch and bad touch. Every child should know that they can decide who can touch them and who cannot. Puberty brings about dramatic physical and emotional changes and can cause mental trauma to an unprepared child. They may feel awkward and embarrassed. Sex education prepares the child mentally and emotionally about the changes a human body undergoes in adolescent years.

India has the largest adolescent to adult ratio in the world. At this stage, if no one talks to them about what is happening to them, they are bound to explore on their own. So next time your child asks where do babies come from, resort to facts and not to stories about storks, because without proper sex education, we would be letting our young generation out into a world very different from our own wishful moral utopia.