Sexuality Education In Schools

Ministry of Education has recently been bearing the brunt of the sexuality education programmes conducted in schools.

Pundits have been complaining that MOE has been too lax in their audit of these programmes and thus resulted in being promoting alternative lifestyle and no longer advocating a nuclear family comprising of a father and mother.

So now MOE has stopped all external agencies from conducting such programmes until they are being reviewed fully by MOE for its' suitability and the sexuality education programme conducted by AWARE was axed due to it's neutral stance on homosexuality.

While it is fully understandable that the public are concerned about what are the topics and advice being dispensed throughout such programmes, one can't help but feel that if the parents have discharged their parental responsibilities dutifully, they should have known about this much earlier.

By shifting the blame to MOE is similar to shirking responsibility, as a parent, if you are really concerned about your children's sexual preference, sexual knowledge and sexual advice, shouldn't you be the one to engage your own children in such matters instead of expecting the school to do it for you?

Schools or MOE should not be penalised or be blamed for not "instilling" one's own family values because that should not have been their role right from the start. Rather the schools or MOE should play the role of maintaining the right message to be brought across.

Whether one's children should abstain from pre-martial sex or practice safe sex or not be promiscious should be monitored and adviced by parents and not MOE. MOE should only be the facilitator role, sharing the pros and cons of each behaviour.

Parents cannot expect to shirk their responsibility by keeping mum on such taboo subjects and expect the schools or MOE to do the job for them and then turn on the schools or MOE for not dispensing "moral" values.

By keeping mum on taboo subjects will not satisfy the curiosity of the new generation, we have been teenagers before and we know how easy it is to source for information on sex.

Instead of behaving like an ostrich, shouldn't it be better to be candid about such subjects and talk about it frankly? Face these questions in positive light rather than omitting inferences that may or may not suggest "alternative" lifestyle.

The younger generation are unlike the older generation where "don't ask, won't know" policy will work. Now, the youngsters have much more avenues to seek answers (regardless of authenticity) than what we knew way back during our teenage years.

While I understand that Singapore is by large a conservative country that still upholds the traditional values, I fail to see why the mention of pre-marital sex, multiple partners, homosexuality, anal sex et al cannot be mentioned during these sexuality education programmes.

These are necessary information for the young generation to grasp as we can no longer deny that such subjects do not exist in this century. By withholding such information is like moving back in time to the stone era!

To me, it is ULTIMATELY the parents' responsibility and duties to instill their values to their children and not the schools or MOE. Sexuality education is crucial if we want our next generation to be well informed through the right channels.

Just ask yourself, if the schools and parents refuse to talk about taboo topics such as homosexuality, pre-marital sex and anal sex, the young-urns will never get to know about such matters?

And ask yourself honestly again, by keeping mum and refusing to talk about it, are we positive that we can stop and shield these youngsters from doing what we would not want them to do?

Do we really believe that by not talking about the harsh reality is the best solution for the impressionable teenagers?

I can only say that if I was given the opportunity of sexuality education during my teenage years, I would have been proud of myself much earlier rather than trying to live in a facade for such a long time.

We are born with brains and have the capacity to think, so by sweeping matters under the rug do not solve the problems.

I say, give the younger generation every information and the parents to instill their own family values to their children. Let the schools and MOE be free of such obligations and conduct sexuality education in its' harshest realism.