Sex education revisited Dr Kamal Amzan
August 22, 2010AUG 22 Why do we still ignore the need for sex education in school? Those who oppose the matter should revisit their decision after the recent hullabaloo about baby dumping in this country.To clear the air, sex education is not about teaching students the art of intercourse, but about sex hormones, contraception methods, i.e. family planning, diseases related to the intercourse, and of course, respect for each other.In some countries, they also teach students how to defend themselves from sexual predators.Sex education is a must if we are to become a more responsible nation. This is a more approachable method as compared to the death penalty for those who were found guilty of infanticide (The Star, August 13 by the Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil).Ignorance in this case is not bliss, but will lead to a generation of irresponsible adults. Our society is mature and educated enough to discuss the viability of sex education though open debates because this will produce an even more civil, responsible, mature society of which a progressive and developed nation can be proud of.Call me old fashioned but I do not condone sex before marriage. At the same time I also believe that it is difficult to control the need and lust of young and reckless couples. Multiple CCTVs, patrolling religious officers, and telling them to abstain is not the answer. Some people are resistant to such efforts. For this group of individuals, we can only hope that they have been armed with enough knowledge and sense of responsibility when and should such occasion arise.Education starts with the educators. They must be comfortable and professional before this idea can take off. Proper training, teaching aids and proper guideline must be provided by the ministry of education. It is unthinkable to imagine each teacher teaching sex education according to their own understanding or interpretation.Many oppose sex education, worried that this will spur interest and unnecessary experim! entation amongst youth. To these naysayers, I say have faith in our youths, our teachers and our education system. Youths will always be youths, we can only guide and nurture them. And to those youths who misplace our trusts, they will still misplace our trust with or without sex education. In fact I would rather they conduct educated experiments rather than non- educated ones.Before we start handing out death sentences, the government of the day can also help by addressing public issues, i.e. overcrowding in small flats. It is ironic that big families with the lowest income live in small quarters as oppose to their rich counterparts.Low cost flats should be redesigned to cater for bigger families, in line with the governments effort to achieve 70 million Malaysians in 115 to 120 years (according to www.pmr.penerangan.gov.my). It is an open secret that big families are usually (though not always) from low income families.Apart from education and improving living conditions, the government may want to enforce the current laws that we have instead of introducing new ones. Those who leave a baby to die can be punished under Section 309A of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and are liable to be fined. This should be enough to deter anyone from committing the heinous crime.Proper education and reinforcement should be given a chance before introducing the death sentence. Rationality and logic instead of emotions should rule the day. If emotion runs high, who knows, the Mat Rempits can also face the death sentence followed by corrupt officials one day.Its time Malaysians grow up with our 53-years old Malaysia.* This is the personal opinion of the writer or newspaper. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.
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