Advantages of sex education
-Our educational system should be responsible for teaching our children what
changes occur in their bodies and why they take place.
With children getting pregnant and the STDs we have in our world today, we
cannot continue to rely on parents to talk to their kids about sex. Some parents
were never taught themselves and are uncomfortable with the subject matter to
begin with.
The advantage is that our youth will at least have the education necessary to
make an informed decision regarding sexual activities and sexual identity. While
many will still choose to take risks, they will at least be informed of methods that
may be used to reduce the risk of contraction of STDs or causing pregnancy.
-The advantages are that children will be able to learn things about their own
bodies, how to prevent getting diseases should they have sex, being able to make
informed decisions about having sex (or not), and how to ignore peer pressure
from friends and fellow classmates who have had sex.
Why Sex Education is Important, Especially
in the Philippines
I am personally getting tired of the whole RH Bill debate. It’s not that I feel like giving up on the
cause (I am pro-RH Bill), but that the arguments for and against are degenerating into
elementary-school quibbles. One of my pet peeve arguments from the anti- side goes as follows:
“If children are taught about sex, they will be encouraged to have sex, and then we’ll have more
teen pregnancies, which leads to more abortions, which will force God to send laser-shooting
dinosaur angels to devour our heathen souls as punishment.” That last part is completely my
own, but you can expect the same level of ridiculousness from some anti-RH Bill folk (a so-
called “doctor”, for example, argues that sperm have souls because they have heads, which is
indicative of their having brains which are the seats of consciousness, i.e. “souls”).
I’ll be the last to call myself an expert, but I can see how sex education, if done properly, can
actually reduce the amounts of unplanned/teen pregnancies. It’s all just a matter of details.
See, people just don’t realize how clergymen in the Philippines make sex such an attractive
prospect to the younger set. It’s the ultimate forbidden fruit: it’s considered one of humanity’s
most divine (and pleasurable) functions, and yet it is a dirty, filthy thing to think about, let alone
discuss. It’s why we live in a society where women think their vaginas are too dirty to touch,
where sex is a taboo, and where adult innuendos abound in novelty songs that sound like they
belong in children’s parties. Our mainstream music doesn’t have lyrics as explicit as that song
telling listeners to “lick it now, lick it good,” but it’s perfectly alright for kids to gyrate to burly
men asking if you can handle their “jumbo hotdogs”. It’s fun, but forbidden – and that’s what
makes adolescents want it so much.
What this sort of situation glosses over, unfortunately, is what sex itself is. Many parents are too
queasy to talk about such an atrocious subject with their children. Bring it up in the middle of a
conversation, and you’ll be scolded for bringing up impolite things. You’re just expected to
know everything about sex when you reach a certain age, even if nobody takes responsibility for
telling you about it.
Hell, my personal sex education experience is laughable. I first heard the word “vagina” when I
was in first grade, when a kid from my class answered the question posed on the blackboard:
“How are babies made?” The teacher was immediately scandalized, and told my classmate to sit
down and shut up. She then proceeded to talk about egg cells and sperm cells, which looked to
me like eggs and tadpoles, respectively. I couldn’t stop thinking about my classmate’s answer,
though. I knew I had a penis, but what was a vagina? I concluded that it was the girl’s boobs,
because those were the things boys didn’t have.
It was a few years later when I finally found out what a vagina was. My busmate had brought a
naughty magazine along with him on the ride home, and felt fit to share the pictures with us. It
made perfect sense to me now – insert the penis into that slot underneath that hairy patch, pee
because that’s the only thing that comes out of the penis and therefore must contain sperm, and
the girl gets magically pregnant. You can imagine my surprise to see how wrong I was when I
saw my first porn flick (a tentacle hentai, no less).
I never got the talk from my parents. The closest I ever got to it was being told to use a condom
when I first announced I was in a relationship. That was during my second year of college (and I
wasn’t even sexually active in said relationship).
I can’t be the only one in this country with that sort of experience. Somewhere out there,
hundreds of teens are learning the ins and outs of sex from their hormonally-fueled peers and
pornos, seeing how much reward there is to the act without being taught the many realities that
come along with it. Our parents, teachers, elders and priests are all fine and dandy trying to help
us maintain the illusion that sexual obliviousness equals spiritual innocence, all the while
allowing us to learn about a fundamental aspect of our humanity from the most unreliable
sources possible. It’s ridiculous to assume that an educational lecture on the topic in a controlled,
academic environment would contribute to the decay of our morality more than what’s going on
now.
This brings us to the meat of this admittedly-long piece: why sex education, one of the major
provisions of the RH Bill, can make us all smarter about sex and reduce unplanned/teen
pregnancies, and even make us more responsible about our sexual activity. You’ve read this far,
so I’ll make it easier for you to read from here on by using numbered points:
1. Details Desexualize Sex
Try telling a fourth-grader how sex is performed. Odds are, the most common reaction is
“Eeeww, I pee out of there!” They’re not going to want to try sex just because you tell them how
it works; in fact, it might even discourage them for a few years. Things get even less sexy when
you go into the details of gamete production and menstrual cycles.
2. It Doesn’t Clash with Religious Beliefs
Contrary to the beliefs of some anti-RH Bill folks, sex educators don’t go around telling students
to have premarital sex. It’s fact-based education that explains in detail the inner workings of the
human body, which many religious people believe is a temple of God. Sex itself is believed to be
a spiritual union blessed by the Lord Almighty. For the religious, sex education is something that
allows them to more fully appreciate this divine gift.
3. It Talks about Contraceptives, but Doesn’t Force Kids to Use Them
Another misconception running rampant is that knowledge about condoms makes people more
promiscuous. We can make the following conclusions based on this logic: knowledge of sharp
objects makes people more murderous, knowledge of stars makes people astronauts, and
knowledge of wind patterns makes us windmills. Knowledge does not cause inevitable action.
In fact, knowledge about contraceptives is beneficial to people regardless of their stance on this
issue. They can learn the pros and cons behind contraceptives, learn about success rates and side
effects, and make an informed decision on whether or not to use them. Those who cry foul about
contraceptive use increasing promiscuity, therefore increasing unplanned pregnancies due to
contraceptive failure and the abortions that “inevitably” follow need to realize one thing:
majority of contraceptive failures arise from improper use. In short, contraceptives fail because
people don’t know how to use them. They don’t know how to use them because they were never
taught.
4. The Realities of Sex Make Sex a Less-Attractive Prospect for the Unprepared
Other than the whole “Eeeeww” argument, there are two more details about sex that makes kids
think twice about sticking their wee-wees into their hoo-hoos: pregnancy and sexually-
transmitted diseases (STDs). Sex education doesn’t talk about the fairy-tale pregnancies that
have women jumping for joy and giving birth without a hitch; it details the many ups and downs
a woman can encounter while pregnant. Along with the happiness that comes about with
bringing a new life into the world, there’s also a lot of nausea, vomiting, hunger pangs and mood
swings. There are aches and pains and certain lifestyle prohibitions to ensure the developing
fetus’ health. Feet are going to swell, breasts are going to hurt, and mornings are going to be a
bitch. That’s not even mentioning the incredible costs incurred during and after a pregnancy, or
the many responsibilities of parenthood.
STDs, on the other hand, can lead to rashes, pus-filled boils, and burning sensations. They can
lead to the weirdest, most uncomfortable discharges from the worst places imaginable. They can
kill. Even worse, they can make your life a long, agonizing spiral of worsening quality.
Now I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a single adolescent who genuinely thinks he’s
prepared for all that.
5. It Teaches People to be Responsible about Sex
All this information, both the good and the bad, helps build maturity and a sense of
responsibility. After all, having sex involves more than just the person himself; other people’s
health and overall quality of life hang on the act. It may not force kids to use contraceptives or
have sex, but it does force them to do one thing: think first. That’s what education gives us – the
ability to consider the effects, costs, and benefits of our actions. Sex education will not lead to a
collapse of morality, but an enlightenment of our humanity and our responsibility for the future.
This is only part of why I support the RH Bill; there’s thousands more to be said, but I haven’t
got the luxury of time to write it all down. I hope that, in reading this, you see the merit of
supporting the bill as well. If not, I respect your opinion nonetheless, and we’ll just have to agree
to disagree.