FINAL ESSAY

Should Children be Taught Sex Education in Schools?

Sex education is a term people read and hear nowadays. It has become a part of human
normal lives. It is no longer considered a taboo in the society. In fact it is now a very
popular topic for debates everywhere. What is sex education actually? Does it inform
people about sexual relationships? First of all, sex defines as ‘the physical act in which
the sexual organs of two people touch and which can result in a woman having a baby’
(Oxford Dictionary, 2003, p. 709). Also, sex education defines as an education about
human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, and other aspects of
human sexual behavior (Science Daily, n.d.). In other words, sex education is aimed to
help people understand their sexual developments. Furthermore, during the twentieth
century, most Americans and Europeans learnt about sex by unconscious observation of
animals in the act (Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society, n.d.).
For a woman, sexual education was considered not necessary until the eve of her
wedding where she will be taught by her mother through a mother-daughter
conversation. This is because girls were expected to remain virgin until the night of their
wedding. A man learned about sex the day before their wedding as well but in a more
practical way. Moreover, formal sex education in United States and England started in
the 1830's when pamphlets and books were published by health reformers and ministers
to keep boys who left home informed (Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History
and Society, n.d.) Not forgetting the local country, Malaysian government and Education
Ministry also planned to introduce the sex education subjects to Malaysian schools
(Tamboo, 2011). Despite, there are still controversies surrounding sex education.

Some parents and educators were against sex education in school. Although there were
some contradictions regarding sex education, there were parties that supported sex
education for school children as there are strong evidence that sex education in primary
school brings about positive results. This essay will look in depth the importance of sex
education for the younger generation.

One of the reason opponents were against sex education was because they believe that
teaching of sex was considered inappropriate for children especially for primary school
students. In a survey done, out of the 1700 parents of United Kingdom who were
questioned, almost half of them did not agree with the teaching of sex in school and

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almost 48% of the parents quoted that sex education was inappropriate (BBC News,
2011). They said that it is appropriate to teach about sex if the children reach at the age
of 13 years old.

Besides, proponents of sex education in schools argue that sex education will help
students to understand the impact of sex. The absence of sex education is dangerous as
youths today are sexually active. Most Malaysians become sexually active by the age of
10 to 12 (Teoh, 2012). This shows how important it is to provide students a knowledge
regarding sex on proper periods of time in order to prevent them from learning about sex
elsewhere and being inflexible to acknowledge the actual information. A survey done by
National Population and Family Development Board (NPFDB) found that about half of
young Malaysians do not know how babies are born (Ling C.M, 2009). Ling also
revealed that this claim is supported by a psychologist who believes that an individual
does not know the consequences and responsibilities of sexual behaviors unless they
received a proper sex education, for example, a boy could know what to do if he gets a
girl pregnant (2009). Moreover, there are many myths about sex that still followed by
many people (Arpita, 2011). Some of the common myths are that a girl will not get
pregnant if it is her first time having sex and a girl will not be pregnant if she having sex
during her period (Stay Teen, n.d.). It is believed that these myths about sex can be cast
out by providing a brief explanation to youths through sexual education. Other than that,
sex education will also widen students' knowledge about sexual development. They will
be able to understand how their body and feelings develop sexually towards opposite
sex. Thus, it is crucial that primary school children receive age–appropriate information
which may help to develop their practical skills for keeping them healthy (Planned
Parenthood, n.d.).

On the other hand, some opponents also believe that if it is not taught properly, sex
education in school can become a matter of fun and student may not take any interest in
it. Even if sex education is made compulsory, it may be seen as the least important
subject and students may not attend classes. Some students misinterpret the
information provided by the educators, and they involve in unsafe sex (Sujata, 2012).

However, it is argued that if students are not taught about sex in school, they will
eventually learn it from different sources (Better Health Channel, n.d.). The Internet is full

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of pornography websites. Just imagine how much damages can be done to youths by
these websites in an era where Internet is the God and youths are its loyal followers.
Facebook and twitter makes explicit materials freely available in the Internet. If that is not
enough, people live in a world where it is common for both parents to be working and
children are left alone at home with the Internet as their faithful companion. This situation
makes the problem worse as there are no adults to monitor children's activities when
they are surfing internet sources. Other than that, an internet application of protecting
children from harmful websites also believes that online sexual predators stalk chat
rooms and social media profiles attempting to engage young children in inappropriate
dialogue or worse sexual acts (Net Parent, n.d.). Further, youths are very vulnerable to
peer pressure and willing to do anything to join with their gang. In order to avoid this
situation, one of the student in University Technology MARA, Nur Atikah Mazlan (2009)
claims that unlike using the explicit materials, sex education should be given for
educational purpose and in a protected environment, so that students will be guided
academically and well monitored.

Furthermore, sex education can help children and youths if the education is provided by
a well trained professionals and experts in the field rather than someone who knows
nothing about it. Assistant Minister of Sarawak, Fatimah Abdullah specified that proper
training is necessary to enable an educator to make the topic less sensitive so that the
discussion during lesson can take place in such an interesting way (Ling, 2009). As
teaching of sex is such a difficult and complicated task, well-trained educators will
acquire few characteristics in order to provide successful sexual education. They are
capable to present information in an enthusiastic manner and have an appropriate
knowledge on sexual related subjects as well as possess the ability to question and
discuss with students about sensitive topics in an objective way (Daria and Campbell,
2004). Sexual education will also be a successful method to avoid social communication
problems among children.

In contrast, sex education is opposed by some parties due to the concern that educating
students on sex will provoke them an interest in sex and lead to sexual experimentation
which is unhealthy for young children (Loveys and Roberts, 2011). Loveys and Roberts
also claims that a report in the UK last year showed that some resources used for
teaching primary aged children in Catholic schools printed out with explicit images and

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graphics. For example, the book named ‘How Did I Begin?’ expose a cartoon image of
couple in bed in an intimate embrace and it was against by the Christian Institute as the
impact of this can encourage children into sexual behaviors (2011).

Some other researches, however, shows a complete contradicting result to that. Talking
to young people about sex will not encourage them to experiment sexually. Instead, it
will educate students on the dangers of having unprotected sex and measures to keep
themselves safe (Avert, n.d.). For instance, sex education in schools will teach students
the various birth control methods. It is important to teach students on the use and the
cost of birth control as well as the suitable health condition to use a birth control method
(Epigee Women’s Health, n.d.). The aim here is not to encourage students to be
involved in sexual activities but to prevent unwanted pregnancy among adolescents and
school going children. Statistics from The World Health Organization and other
international organizations (2012) reported that pregnancy and other childbirth related
problems are the number one killer of young women. Most youngsters stated that they
did not know that there are ways to prevent pregnancy in the first place. Thus, it is
important to keep boys and girls educated about their sexuality so that they will not get
themselves into trouble situations at a young age that will not only ruin their future but
also put their own lives in danger.

Indeed, unwanted pregnancy is not the only problem that rises from unsafe sex.
Unprotected sex puts them at risk of being contaminated with Sexually Transmitted
Diseases (STD) such as HIV/AIDS. There are 500,000 new sexually transmitted
infections occurring among young people daily worldwide (United Nation Population
Fund Malaysia, n.d.). Also, Pink Triangle Foundation revealed that in Malaysia, there
were 84,630 cases reported between 1986 until December 2008. Out of the 84,630
people, 14,576 suffer from AIDS and 11,234 people died because of this fatal disease
(n.d.). This statistics alone is enough to show how important is sex education in schools
to save future generation from the grasp of these deadly consequences of unprotected
sex.

Another reason for many people support the introduction of sex education in schools is
because it helps the learners understand the benefits of abstinence (Sujata, 2012).
Abstinence is the act of staying virgins until marriage. Young people are constantly

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bombarded with explicit information from the main stream media. In this case, schools
should teach them that contrary to what is projected by the media, there are more
benefits in abstinence. One of the things that they will learn to sex education is that they
will not have to worry about pregnancy and STD when they do not practice sex in the
first place. In short, sex education is beneficial to students as it is capable of keeping
them safe and alive.

Conversely, according to Santa Clara County Psychological Association (n.d.), most

parents in California disagree with the implementation of sex education in primary
schools because they believe that it is the responsibilities of parents to educate their
children about the sex rather than their teachers in school. They believe that it is their
responsibility and not the school's responsibility to provide sex education.

However, most parents feel awkward and shy when discussing the topic with their
children (Mazlan, 2009). Most cultural and religious upbringing makes discussing sex a
taboo in families as well as in the society. This is one of the main reason parents feel
uncomfortable talking to their children about their sexuality. Focus on the Family, a
Malaysian organization stated that even children will find it weird and out of normal when
their parents start discussing about sex related matters. Therefore, this makes a teacher
the most suitable candidate to impart the knowledge related to sexuality to students.
Psychologists also found that children believe in their educators rather than others even
somebody closest to them (Nakyanja, 2012). Another study in Africa also showed that
teachers play an important role in providing sex education when parents feel
embarrassed to discuss to their children regarding this particular issue (Nakyanja, 2012).

Other than that, educational programs by professionals will be able to provide more
sexual information compared to parents. These people are experts in giving honest and
accurate information regarding the risks associated with sexual behaviors as they are
well trained and capable of answering the questions thrown in their way (Avert, n.d.). In
addition, the charity of AIDS Education and Research Trust (n.d.) in the UK also believes
that sex education incorporates moral and religious view on sex. So, it is trustworthy as
students will be provided holistic education from all aspects. Through this, students will
also learn to understand what various religions preach regarding sexuality and what are
the sexual acts considered bad in a society according to religion and morality.

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Apart from that, even though there are so many contradictions for sex education, there
are also many factors and reasons that make sex education necessary in schools.
Simon Blake, director of Brook organization, the sexual advice service for youngsters in
the UK revealed that sex education in primary schools does not mean giving lecture
about sex, instead, it help students to understand about body parts, relationships and
puberty as well as the proper ways to handle the critical situations once they develop
feelings for opposite gender (Saner, 2011). For example, some growing children will start
to play kissing games and marriage role-play with opposite sex (Better Health Channel,
n.d.). These kind of typical sexual behaviors can be prevented by educate children on
basic sexual knowledge.

Moreover, sex education in school will be taught by qualified teachers who received the
necessary training and certificates required to be a sex educator. Hence, sex education
by these professionals will be able to complement other informal education that students
received from other parties such as parents, religious institutions or their friends
(Rodriguez, n.d.). In addition, someone who has a strong background in sex education
will also be able to impart genuine knowledge on biology of reproductive systems. The
studies of reproductive system is necessary for children age of five to seven as it
enables them to learn the basic sexual knowledge such as the changes during puberty
and the fetal developments (Martin, 2010). These educations could create awareness
among youngsters to protect their dignity as well as virginity too.

Finally, the website administered by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of

Canada (n.d.) stated that sex education could also keep children educated on how to
stay away from sexual transmitted infections by using a condom as well as preventing
unwanted pregnancy with the usage of contraceptive methods. Thus, sex education is a
very good and effective way to help children avoid both physical and mentally problems
that comes with uneducated sexual activities.

From the arguments above, it has been proven with the relevant evidence that sex
education is actually crucial to the nation. Sex education provides students with the
knowledge required, helps students understand themselves better, keeps them informed
regarding the dangers that awaits them with every irresponsible decision they make and
what are the measures that they can employ in order to keep themselves safe. The

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schools could not be able to deter a children’s interest in the topic, instead can help
them overcome their curiosity by providing all the necessary information required to keep
them out of sexual risks. The Ministry of Education in countries of rising rates of sexual
cases should consider making sex education at least an elective subject in every primary
school's regular curriculum system. In conclusion, all responsible authorities should
realize the importance of sex education being taught in primary schools as it could
transform young children into responsible and learned adults in future.

(2522 words)