Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Sex Education

Though the controversy still remains, whether sex education in schools abets teen-age sex, it is a known fact that it helps safe sex. Considering the ill effects of teen-age pregnancy or the sexually transmitted diseases (especially AIDS), it is better to teach school children sex education the formal way.


However in culturally sensitive markets, this has to be handled properly. The traditional school of thought would always oppose this move in such geographies. They need to understand certain changing dynamics too. Information explosion gives a certain opportunity to these children to access information. Any amount of restrictive practice is not going to help the hardliners in this internet and television age (children come home early when both parents are away for work and have enough time to browse the channels and internet).




However the point here is whether they get the right information. In a remote place in mid 80’s, we (school students) had access to pornography material. However if I compare the information got through those sources then with the facts now, most of them were wrong. This is where the need for formal education is felt. However we need to take into consideration the prevailing culture in that geography before implementing such formal program.

Few points which came to my mind are:
1. Make use of IT extensively
2. Education dept can develop CBT material (CD) and supply the same to the schools
3. Separate CDs (content) for different classes
4. The place where computer (with headphone) is kept should have some privacy, so that the students can browse through the content with ease.
5. A website can be created by the education dept which can also have interactive features. The trained support staff of the site can give online guidance to student’s doubts. Few of those can be incorporated into the FAQ section (continuous basis) and also in the revised CDs.

There are few advantages with this system:
1. Usually sex education class (in school) can’t be interactive if it is co-ed. If the teacher is of opposite gender, they may avoid few areas. CBT won’t have such issues.
2. CBT type training can incorporate content specific graphics, which the teachers prefer to skip.
3. Interactive website can give more feedback to educationists to develop the curriculum on continuous basis.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

For sex education, we focus only on preventing Pregnancy or Sexually Transmitted Diseases. The focus need to on clearing myths and misconceptions regarding normal sexual life.