BY BIDEMI NELSON
It is also important to know that sex education should be for everyone, particularly people who are caregivers to children (parents, teachers…) and is a life-long lesson. This is especially true as the responsibility to give sex education should ideally be that of parents and subsequently, teachers. Moreover, the continuity of sex education for all categories of learners subsists because the subjects of sex and relationships will continue to evolve. The power and influence of sex education equally seem under-explored. With vices such as rape escalating daily, it will be worth noting that sex education could be a panacea to this menace. Sex education themes should quickly move from its biological domain to new areas such as sex crimes. Under the context of sex education, concepts of child sexual abuse, prostitution, voyeurism and rape should be expounded. As shocking as it may sound, many people, especially parents, who have the responsibility to protect children, have little to zero knowledge of what constitutes rape, for instance.
Sex education is a topic of great interest to many stakeholders, including parents, teachers, business owners, government and non-governmental organizations.
The reasons for this interest are not far-fetched as sex education is one of the most controversial topics we can teach, discuss or debate. It can be explored from a conservatism point of view with strong focus on the rule of abstinence.
It can also be very comprehensive, with focus on the use of contraceptives, safe sex practices and more sexual freedom. Sex education will always turn heads and raise brows because it is an educational area where everyone can benefit from.
For instance, parents view sex education as a tool for guiding their children particularly adolescents and young adults as they grapple with terms about their sexuality in the midst of an influx of sexual content in the media.
Business owners and entrepreneurs are also very interested in the nature and context of sex education because depending on how sex is presented to young people, certain products and innovations become easier to create and sell.
A case in point is the music industry, alcoholic beverage industry, pornographic industry or the contraceptive industry. Nevertheless, sex education as a concept and subject exist for specific reasons.
All human beings are sexual in nature because they possess sexual body parts which are expected to be used for procreation and/or pleasure, upon maturity.
It is also expected that at a certain stage, the decision to become sexually active dawns on them and at this point, a major shift in paradigm can take place in their lives.
A good instance is where people engage in sex without using protection and thereafter get infected with sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS or unwanted pregnancies happen. These evidently change people’s lives forever.
Sex education therefore is to enlighten and protect people in their choices of sexual freedom or abstinence. Unfortunately, the offerings of sex education in past and present times seem quite inadequate as they fail to cater to differing needs of individuals.
Also, with sex education, there is an over-emphasis on the biological aspect of sex. The talk about contraceptives for instance, only addresses the biological part of sex.
However, with sex comes different investments by its participants and the mix is usually a combination of biological, emotional, financial, moral and spiritual aspects.
So for an individual, perhaps an adolescent boy, who decides to follow the rule of abstinence even while living in a highly sexualized world and still having a sexualized body raging with hormones, there is seldom any provision in the repertoire of sex education today, that effectively addresses his want for sexual gratification and need to practice abstinence.
In fact, many young people have few resources and respected mentors in the sex education department, who can work with them to manage issues of sexual attraction in the face of their vow to sexual inactivity or in determining their sexual identities or in coping with past or ongoing sexual abuse.
Sex education is also an area where feedback and follow-up activities are not given the required prioritization. Sex education as we know it is too irregular with too few lessons to be termed sex education.
All forms of formal education usually involve teaching and follow-up actions like assessments to ensure that actual learning is achieved, albeit with sex education, the story differs.
Aggravating this is the few numbers of qualified sex educators, few or non-existent collaborations with other experts in health, for instance and the proliferation of charlatans, masquerading as sex educators.
For instance, a professional sex educator should know that sex education must be regular and also must come in phases, depending on the age and gender of learners, environment of learners, religion of learners and the abuse history of learners, among others, to be effective.
With several conflicting information on sex existing with the public that mimics sex education, it is important that sex educators actively follow-up on learners and quickly respond to feedbacks.
It is also important to know that sex education should be for everyone, particularly people who are caregivers to children (parents, teachers…) and is a life-long lesson.
This is especially true as the responsibility to give sex education should ideally be that of parents and subsequently, teachers. Moreover, the continuity of sex education for all categories of learners subsists because the subjects of sex and relationships will continue to evolve.
The power and influence of sex education equally seem under-explored. With vices such as rape escalating daily, it will be worth noting that sex education could be a panacea to this menace.
Sex education themes should quickly move from its biological domain to new areas such as sex crimes. Under the context of sex education, concepts of child sexual abuse, prostitution, voyeurism and rape should be expounded.
As shocking as it may sound, many people, especially parents, who have the responsibility to protect children, have little to zero knowledge of what constitutes rape, for instance.
It is indeed disturbing and sex education can bridge these information gaps with the right people, systems and resources. However, for this to happen, all stakeholders, especially the government, must actively collaborate to establish and supervise sex education structures.
Bidemi Nelson is a public affairs commentator and the Chief Executive Officer of Shield of Innocence Initiative, based in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. She can be reached at Phone Number: +2348033656954, www.facebook.com/shieldoi, www.instagram.com/shieldoi and www.twitter.com/shieldoi1.
