“Penis,” “vagina,” and “sex” growing up, those words sounded crass to me.

It was insensitive,
stupid, and funny. Saying them was unbecoming of me as a person or as a lady. Saying them
and talking about such topics would earn me some sharp looks from the elderly and unspoken
judgy eyes from people, it was considered improper. But, the thing is, no one ever bothered to
explain why. There were just a bunch of rules about sex: don’t think about it, don't speak about
it, and of course don't ever dare to do it. Doing it is a sin, but its outcome is a blessing. Now, try
telling me that when its outcome is chlamydia or HIV or once once you pop a human being out
and destroy your future. But, how about you? Were you ever able to talk about sexual education
and its importance with anyone? Are you aware of the benefits of being knowledgeable about it
and the consequences of not being informed about it?

Well, if you answered no to my questions, it’s your lucky day because today we are going to talk
about sex education. “Closed Hearts and Covered Minds: Why Sex Education is Not
Normalized, Particularly for the Youth”

But first, before we proceed, let’s have a brief background about sex education. Sex education
aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that
empower them to realize their health, well-being, and dignity; develop respectful social and
sexual relationships; consider how their choices affect their own well-being and that of others;
and understand and ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives.

Furthermore, sex education helps with building a better future for the younger generation by
creating and providing them with a safer, more aware, and more protected environment.
Highlighting that a lack of education about such matters may have numerous consequences.

Now, why am I even talking about this? Why is this my topic? Well, we are currently living in a
very conservative generation. In this generation, if we talk about sex education to children,
people, especially the elderly automatically think that we are teaching them how to make
babies. But since they themselves lack knowledge about the matter, they have no idea that sex
education doesn’t just revolve around the process of making a baby. Sex education is also
about puberty, abstinence, contraception and condoms, relationships, sexual violence
prevention, body image, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

A great deal of people fail to understand that sex education for youth or humans in general does
not promote sex. Sex education promotes their protection.

Most people nowadays keep preventing the youth from being educated and knowledgeable
about the matter due to their fear that they might make wrong decisions and unacceptable
behaviors because they already have knowledge about it, and to them, being knowledgeable
about the matter makes the children prone to doing it. But guess what? Due to this kind of
mindset and their avoidance of sex education, adolescent or teenage pregnancy is a global
phenomenon. In our country, the Philippines, which we all know have this kind of mindset, has
one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates among ASEAN states, with one out of ten births
from mothers below the age of 19. With a 56 percent rate, the Philippines is the second highest,
next to Laos, which has a rate of 64 percent. Now, in that 56 percent, the majority of them are
uneducated about sex and have few to none knowledge about it and yet they still had sex. And
the worst part is, it is an unprotected sex because they lack knowledge about it.

But why is it the case? Why is a normal component of human biology seen with shame? And
why do people feel that once sex education is brought up, the topic will turn inappropriate?

It is clear that there is a lot of stigma associated with sex education. Whether it's in schools or at
home, a lot of individuals prefer to shy away from discussing it. But what so many people fail to
understand is that ignoring the big, fat, giant elephant in the room would really do more harm
than good.

According to reports, only 1 in 3 girls in certain nations are aware of menstruation, and only 34%
of young adults globally are aware of HIV prevention and transmission. These startling statistics
demonstrate the necessity for an improvement plan to promote sex education. Imagine that,
there are girls who are not aware of menstruation, something that is a big part of their body and
lives.

So, why is sex education not normalized and considered a sensitive topic? Sex education is not
normalized and is considered taboo by many people because of a lack of education. The toxic
and problematic mindset instilled in society, considering the topic shameful, appropriate, and not
acceptable due to the set standard of norms and customs, is what made sex education not
normalized, failing to educate the people about it and causing them to see it as something
unacceptable. Due to certain beliefs, the Philippines for example is a country dominated by
Roman Catholics, 80% of its population identifies as Roman catholic. The Catholic Church
opposes sex outside of marriage and fears sex education will increase sexual relations. The
Catholic Church opposes implementing sex education in schools as well as the distribution of
contraceptives. The Church prefers to rely on parents to teach their kids about reproductive
health. However, many families are either unequipped to do so or will not address the subject
directly with their children.

The problem here is very evident, they’re afraid that sex education will increase sexual relations,
but like I said earlier. No matter how educated or uneducated they are, they will always be
interested in sex. It is inevitable and natural. We have to understand and accept that
implementing sex education does not invalidate their beliefs but rather protects their children.

I asked a few of my friends regarding the matter. If they’re comfortable about the topic? Have
they ever talked and discussed with their parents about such matters? And they’re answers are
all the same, no. Children who don't learn about an inescapable aspect of life and human nature
as they grow up will be ignorant and maybe even clueless. Misinformed children eventually
grow up to be adults who are unaware of their sexual rights or how to be safe.

Now, because we’d rather choose to ignore the problem. Because of the lack of education, the
youth become ignorant, leading to bigger consequences. Because of the lack of education, the
youth became ignorant about the issue, leading to numerous bigger consequences, such as the
increase of teenage pregnancies or unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections,
overpopulation leading to poverty, and many more. The mentioned consequences are really a
big deal, it’s really a concerning problem. Would we rather choose to stand by the set standards
and norms and watch our people suffer from the consequences of being uneducated? Can we
blame them for suffering such consequences when we’re the one who failed to address the
problem? When the solution is already in front of us waiting to be accepted but we keep on
turning a blind eye because we have to abide by the set standards of norms and customs that
are clearly not working for all of us?

We have to start to realize and accept that education is protection. Sex education is proven to
be successful and effective. Education is the best protection, as it provides the youth with
awareness, causing them to avoid such decisions or make more wise and conscious decisions.
Education is the best prevention. Sex is inevitable, whether they are educated or not, so it’s
better to educate them about it in order to protect them from its consequences.

Nobody wants their kids to engage in risky sexual behavior, get STDs, or, god forbid, become
moms before their brains have even finished growing. Isn't it preferable to educate children early
on and promote responsible conduct than to keep them in the dark? Yes, indeed.

Sexual education shouldn't be considered unpleasant or embarrassing. It should be explained in

a way that is age-appropriate, comfortable, and nonsexual.

And again, sex education also includes education about relationships, sexual violence
prevention, body image, gender, and sexual orientation. To which we all have the right to be
knowledgeable about since knowing about such matters is very necessary in our lives. Gender
and sexual orientation which a lot of people in our generation suffer from, they struggle from
finding out what or who they really are because no one educated them about it. Sexual violence
prevention wherein a lot of children have no idea that they are actually being sexually abused
but since they lack education, they have no idea. There is a lot more to tackle about sex
education. Let us start accepting it as something that will be very helpful in our lives.

No matter what scary stuff or how scary the stuff you throw at young people, it will never be
enough to make them not want to know about sex or not want to have sex. Sex will always be
interesting to young people or humans in general. We have to stop demonizing it. Sex is natural
and sex education is normal.

Again, educating the youth about sex does not mean it encourages them to have sex. Education
about sex, however, encourages safety, awareness, and protection.

We should all open our eyes and stop covering our ears when talking about sex education. We
should start opening our hearts and minds to this topic. Let us realize and accept the relevance
that sex education plays in our lives. Let us promote and apply it to our lives.