Age appropriate sex education a must
Workshop by the Family Planning Association calls for more openness
The average age for sex for Sri Lankan males is 15 with the average for a female being 14, a report published by UNICEF in 2006 declared. Consultant Psychosexual Analyst, Dr. Kapila Ranasinghe informed that closer to home, a survey conducted by the Health Ministry placed these figures at 15.3 for males and 14.4 for females.
Speaking at a workshop organised for the media by the Family Planning Association he noted “These are shocking figures,” adding, “And it calls for policy makers in these countries to follow nations like France which in comparison has an average age for a sexual debut at 17.5 for males and 17.2 for females. This is due to a proper, comprehensive sex education system as we have seen that a well planned sex education system can increase the mean age of sexual debut.” He explained that the youth are more vulnerable to diseases and being taken advantage of when they start at a young age and so it is important to take action.
He explained that further shocking evidence was disclosed by the Health Ministry survey. “Among the school children over the age of 15 years, 72% are sexually active with 43% engaging in heterosexual activities, 43% engage in homosexual activities and 29% watch pornographic movies frequently,” he stated.
The ‘Puritanical myth’
“The general feeling in Sri Lanka is that we do not talk about sex and sex education because it’s a part of our traditional values,” Dr. Ranasinghe informed. “But that is a myth. It’s the remnants of a puritanical view we obtained during the Victorian era. When we look at the Sigiriya frescoes and other evidence, we know traditionally our people promoted informal sex education from indigenous practitioners and midwives.” He explained that our culture was more tolerant towards homosexuality and individual sexual rights.
There are many myths in Sri Lanka, he continued which can be dispelled through proper education. “It’s important to explain to teenagers that about a quarter of virgins do not bleed on their wedding night,” he informed. “We need proper education to fight these taboos in Sri Lanka.” He called for a more comprehensive education system which introduces sexual topics in an educational concept as most countries in Europe and Asia that have done so have better records.
The current scenario
Currently, sex education in Sri Lanka has less impact as teachers gloss over the syllabus for lack of knowledge and fear of embarrassment. “The syllabus is incomplete as it deals only with the biological and reproduction aspects of sex while issues pertaining to relationships, contraception, STDs are either discussed briefly or not discussed at all. This leads to wild notions and theories among the youth, who are not educated enough to be comfortable with the truth.”
It’s important to provide ‘age-appropriate’ sex education, he continued. It can start from the younger ages of 5-6 where children are given the knowledge about how to protect their bodies. “Simple things like protecting your personal spaces and what to do if you think you’re being abused. This could protect your children from child molesters and paedophiles.”
“The next step would be to teach pre pubescent about the changes their bodies are about to undergo while the most responsible part of a sex education system comes into play at an age where young people have a tendency to become sexually active,” he continued. (NN)
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