Friday, July 13, 2012

Teen Sex Education in Schools – Parent’s Involvement?


Sex remains a taboo subject especially in this part of the world (Asians) probably due to cultural and religious restrictions or the ways our parents brought us up. I have to admit I was not prepared, in fact never would have expected my daughter to approach me with very intimate questions about the birds and the bees.
 

Daughter: Mum, are you free? 

Me: Of ‘cos, what’s up?

Daughter: May I ask you a question?

Me: Sure, why not?

Daughter: We had sex education in class this morning; how should I answer this question mum? >>>hmmm, Madam Ann plans to have a baby, how many times must she “MATE” with her husband to conceive one<<<?


Poinggg! ....  Oh dear ..... such question coming from my little girl, and she nicely used the word "mate" instead!


I was taken by surprise - I heard the Ministry of Education was planning to implement sex education in schools (called social and reproductive-health education) but I never bothered to find out more - the syllabus or topics that they will discuss in class. 


My first (instant) reaction was a hearty laugh, (she chuckled too), then suddenly mumbled I had something important to attend to and quickly excused myself! How many of you out there were jolted by your teenage kids’ sudden "facts of life" questions?


The Guardian is running a year-long series looking at young people's sexual health and sex education in the UK and around the world (paid for by IPPF and FPA). Last 31st of May 2012 The Guardian  opened a live forum on sex and sexuality education and called on all parents/guardians/interested parties to join in and participate. 


It is an interesting topic, an eye opener and some comments included links to many helpful websites and reading materials/references for parents on how best to approach this subject. 


Finally after gathering tips from various sources I was confident enough to know what and how best to explain to my daughter. Just the two of us - we sat down to have the talk. She appeared pretty comfortable with the subject, very well informed about our reproductive systems (covered in class) so her questions were way beyond that and much more intimate in nature.


     

None of my boys approached me with direct questions. However I noticed whenever they are alone with me they will raise questions, (very curious to know) about the relationships - between mum and dad such as;

  1.  How did you meet dad and wanted to hear details from A to Z 
  2. I have never seen the two of you fight, why? 
  3. Other boyfriends before dad? 

Maybe what they actually wanted was to initiate some sort of discussion but just did not know how to get these messages across to me?

7 comments:

  1. hi katrina, interesting topic. i think, mothers /parents are not the right people to teach their children on this- there's bound to be a lot of hidden facts, reason why? may be too embarass to talk on all these to own children-
    It may be very easy to teach other kids instead.
    have a nice day

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CV,
      From the nbr of visits here, it sure is a topic of interest.

      Mister internet is very helpful. If we cannot give them straight answers, we can refer our kids to related articles/educational videos (according to their age) where they can learn further. Must monitor closely too!

      Cheers

      Delete
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