Saturday, March 17, 2007

The Sex Education debate

Indian Express reports: The Madhya Pradesh has decided to end the Adolescent Education Programme (AEP), two years after it was introduced in class IX and XI, saying "sex education has no place in Indian culture".

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's decision came a day after he met Deenanath Batra, chairman of RSS body 'Shiksha Bachao Samiti'. Batraji advised the CM that yoga should be included in the curriculum in place of sex education.


Apparently, NSUI had also recently protested the use of 'graphic anatomical pictures' in the kit provided to teachers. Teachers themselves had protested against "indecency in the name of education".

ET reports:According to some teachers, illustrations in the book showing physical changes in male and female bodies from childhood to puberty to adulthood were offensive. They said they would not be able to talk to students regarding the same or show such diagrams.

The diagrams in question are similar to what is contained in many biology books taught to school children showing the human anatomy. However, teachers in Madhya Pradesh argued, the human anatomy was different from sexual organs.


One Mr Rajesh Tiwari, principal of government-run Excellence School in Bhopal, believes AIDS is a different issue and sex is different.

"Why do you need these diagrams of nude boys and girls? It is against our culture to talk sex and show such diagrams to our students. Fifty years ago, teachers did not need to speak of sex to students. So why the necessity today?

Why should a 15-year-old be openly spoken to about sex? Just tell them that according to Indian tradition, every man has to lead the life of a ‘bramhachari (bachelor)’ till the age of 25. Tell them AIDS can be contacted through a used syringe or blood transfusion."


There have been similar concerns in Kerala.

My reply to Tiwariji, Batraji and all others concerned about the impact of sex education on ‘Indian culture’:

50 years ago we only had Binaca Geetmala on All India Radio. Today we have item girls in bikini tops and chaddis jiggling it on prime time television.

50 years ago Bollywood couples only danced around trees. Today they kiss, have sex and sometimes even get pregnant before marriage. Then, proudly carry around their bump.

50 years ago most Indian girls attained puberty at age 13-14. Today, it’s as early as 9.

A recent survey by the Madhya Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (MPVHA) of 250 girls in the 10-19 age group in 12 districts found that 70 % want sex education to be made a part of curriculum in schools.

The survey found that over 60 percent of the girls were facing a communication gap with their parents due to shyness and fear, and 80 percent were unaware of physical changes in their bodies during adolescence.

As many as 47 percent of the girls indicated that they were sexually harassed outside their homes. Of these, 53 percent said they had never complained to their guardians about it.


NCERT’s AEP (Adolescence Education Programme) includes activity sessions to learn about sexual molestation and its prevention. The program also has modules on homosexuality being a preference rather than an abnormality. And questions like: “When did you first have wet dreams? Did that change your approach to girls?”

I haven’t seen the actual syllabus but it hardly seems as if giving this kind of information is ‘encouraging’ sexual activity. If anything, young people get their doubts answered by a credible source rather than hearsay.

Secondly, class IX to XI students are around 14-16 years of age and ‘not too young’. In fact, if anything, it’s a bit late in the day and they already know.

I personally think by age 9-10 the biological aspect should be explained by parents to their kids, along with some of the value-based, emotional and cultural issues which come up in adolescence.

We can’t pretend that sex is possible only after marriage because kids will find out that’s a lie. But we can communicate that in our culture, as well as experience, it is better to wait. That having sex is a big decision, with emotional repercussions, and must not be taken lightly.

However I find a lot of parents – even urban, educated types – would rather ignore the issue altogether or wait till the child is ‘old enough’. For some, that day never really comes. A parent recently told me that some mothers arranged a session with a gynaec for their girls in class IV and V. So she could explain to them ‘everything’ and answer any questions they had.

This particular mom did not feel comfortable sending her 10 year old. I’m not sure why. She’ll simply get hand-me-down information from the girls who did attend… So why be shy??

The parents vs the state
The does-sex-education-encourage-sex debate is not confined to our country alone. There is a huge controversy in the US on this issue as well. There is a divide between parents who believe schools should impart only ‘abstinence education’ and professionals who believe it is imperative to also impart information on birth control.

Abstinence education was created in the early 1980s by Marion Howard, a professor at Atlanta's Emory University. Apparently, when Howard asked 1,000 sexually active teenage girls what they most wanted to know about sex, 84 % said they wanted to learn "how to say no without hurting the other person's feelings."

So was born the Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) which uses acting, mimicking, and role-playing to tell 5th, 6th and 7th graders that they are too young to have sex. The unique aspect is the message to abstain is best delivered by kids of their own age. Sessions are conducted by trained ‘peer leaders’ under teacher supervision.

Formal evaluation of the program reveals that PSI makes teens less likely to indulge in sexual activity in the year following abstinence education. And 4 years later, in the 12th grade,1/ 3rd of participating girls are less likely to become pregnant.But that sounds like a pretty vague statistic to me.

According to MSNBC 66% of American high school students have had sex by their senior year. And these same teens are paying the price by contracting dangerous — and sometimes deadly — sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, 65 percent of all sexually transmitted infections contracted by Americans this year will occur in people under 24.

Yet only 18 US states and the District of Columbia require schools to provide sex education The WHO believes that there is no evidence that comprehensive sex education programs encourage sexual activity. This was their conclusion after a study of 35 such programs around the world. And I am inclined to agree...

The way forward
Since a majority Indian parents are unlikely to be comfortable talking about sex with their kids, a formal sex education programs has its merits. A Indianised version of the ‘abstinence’ program can be added on to satisfy those worried about sex education affecting Indian culture.

The truth however is that formal sex education has little or no impact on the decision to have sex. The external environment such as peer group interaction, media imagery and individual personality – sex drive, appetite for risk etc which responsible. And those are factors beyond the state’s control.

Yes, a value system or belief system can be influenced by what parents and elders say or do in the impressionable growing years. But as a young adult your child may accept or reject those values – that’s his or her choice.

In any case, the situation is not as ‘grim’ as our cultural warriors believe. The % of young people having sexual intercourse below the age of 18 appears to be relatively small.

A study of medical college students found sexual intercourse had been experienced by 11.8% of respondents. The mean age of first sexual intercourse was 17.5 years. Along similar lines, a National Institute of Health and Family Welfare study concluded that that premarital sex varies from 17% among schoolchildren to 33% among young workers in the typical north Indian population.

Among those who had sex, the average age for first sex estimated by the researchers was 17.4 years for boys and 18.2 for girls. 60% of respondents said that they had sex ‘rarely’.

The study was conducted among 1500 young people in the slums of Delhi and Lucknow. A rider: both these studies were conducted circa 2000-2001. Yes, the figures would definitely have gone up. Here’s a more direct indication:

In 1996, the Durex ‘global sex sex survey’ found that the average Indian male had sex for the first time at age 25. The same annual survey concluded in 2005 that Indians, on average lost their virginity at the age of 19.8.

Of course I would not take this at face value (academicians call it a ‘quick and dirty survey’ with a sample which does not represent the general population as it’s only online!).But some of the pop statistics do seem close to the truth.

Indians were the ‘oldest’ to lose their virginity – at age 19.8. We also had the fewest sexual partners n the world (just 3, vs a global average of 9).

So the culture brigade can feel ‘happy’ at our relative conservatism or alarmed (at our relative promiscuity, compared to previous generations). Either way, we can’t blame ‘more sex education’ for these behavourial trends.

Killing the education bit won’t reduce the propensity towards sex. But it just might end up killing safe-sex-ignorant young people.

32 comments:

  1. Save your breath, Rashmi. The moment someone uses the argument 'It is against our culture' as a point of defense in a debate, you know it is useless to argue with them.

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  2. Statistics, "does-sex-education-encourage-sex" and syllabus are completely irrelevant red herrings in this debate, unless you are out to prove that most of Indian society is facing grave danger from sexually transmitted diseases.

    The real problem is lack of parental choice. Let each school make its own decision w.r.t sex ed, in consultation with parents. NCERT need only recommend good material.

    Applying a nationwide standard on such a cultural, religious issue impinges on individual freedom and is also impractical. Like you say, the biological and cultural aspect could be explained by parents at some age. Of course they are free not to.

    P.S: In your article, the title "parent-vs-state" should be a few paras above where it is? Currently it's followed by unrelated stuff.
    Also, the "huge controversy" in US links to the Madhya Pradesh article.

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  3. to me what is most surprising -- no, astounding -- is the number of girls i've read about, even in the last 6 months, who showed up at the hospital in the throes of labour, and delivered healthy babies, but claimed they did not know they were pregnant.

    ("i had a bloated tummy/thought i was constipated" seems to be the going line.)

    what?!?

    these ministers/culture cops can ignore reality for as long as they like. but the fact is that our way out tends to be the "pay rs. 100, abort the *(&% thing, noone will find out, home on same day, no pain" and the "hai hai our daughter has shamed us, she is spoiled now, let's take her back to our native place" rather than logical reactions/methods like sex education, prevention, STI awareness, easy availability of birth control, etc.

    sex is everywhere today. if girls are getting pregnant, then somewhere there are boys who are getting them pregnant. it's simple biology. only one sex gets to bear the stigma, the other sex gets to pass ridiculous laws and diktats. and noone seems to be able to acknowledge what's going on because of "our culture".

    where did the 1.1 billion people come from, i ask you!? for a nonsensically blind populace, we certainly do well in the bedroom.

    the hypocrisy depresses me.

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  4. I am sick and tired of hearing the same debate over and over again. It's a waste of time. I'm sick and tired of hearing the "indian culture" argument. So much that every time someone uses that phrase, I view that person with suspicion. Every time some one gives me the "Indian culture" argument, I simply ask him/her to define that phrase. I have never got a satisfactory answer.

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  5. come on guys.. it all sounds cliched.. for once i ache for someone to post a comment here saying.. sex is against indian culture... we do not have sex.. sex education is polluting indian minds... we should protect our children from the vagaries of western culture.. come on guys.. somem variety.. the debate is lopsided right now... still the sad part is we are losing the battle on ground.. its all a farce.. all these blogs et al.. these forums.. a total waste .. a complete farce!.. completely powerless.. we might beat the drum with one incident or somethign.. but in the end its all a farce...

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  6. the above aditya (not me) is not the same as the aditya in the second post (me)! :)

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  7. I truly enjoyed reading your article on "sex education debate". I also agree with you on the issue that the watchguards of "Indian culture" need to rethink the issue in the wake of social change that is in part fuelled by media. But I think these people who oppose "sex education" do not actually understand the problem. Secondly, it is natural for old generation teachers to feel uncomfortable to talk about such topics to children. And instead of thinking of solutions (like having new generation younger teachers for such topics) they find an easy solution to not have it. I think there is a greater need for a public debate and to create awareness of such topics.

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  8. A recent blog posting at http://dinahproject.com/blog.asp brings up a good argument that we dont have a choice about providing sex-ed in schools because the competing sources of information are dangerous!

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  9. Well, I am in favour of providing sex education to children. With the right information they can make right decisions...

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  10. http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/18/stories/2007031801670400.htm

    `Withdraw manual on sex education'

    Staff Reporter

    BANGALORE: If the State Government has its way, students in standard VI and upwards will learn "how to protect themselves from HIV-AIDS infection".

    The Government has prepared a teaching document, "Life Skill Module," sourcing inputs from National AIDS Control Organisation, UNICEF, UNESCO and NCERT. The manual for the Sex Education Programme in schools has activities such as "Immune System Dance".

    A boy asks a girl to dance with him, symbolising physical union, and the girl makes the boy wear a condom cap (Page 187 of the manual). In the Wildfire Game (Page 195), the students are asked to enact the game of being afflicted with AIDS, and the ways of avoiding being trapped in its tentacles.

    A convention organised by All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO) and the All India Mahila Samskruthika Sanghatane (AIMSS) here on Friday, has demanded that this manual be withdrawn immediately. A resolution to this effect was passed by the convention, which called for a debate involving parents, teachers, educationists and psychologists on the issue before "experimenting" with young minds in this manner.

    The former Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University M.S. Thimmappa said: "Typically, adolescents can be considered to be physically, mentally, and emotionally fit to receive such inputs. The manual has been prepared to impart sex education for 10 and 11-year-olds. This is only an invitation to disaster."

    Advocate Ravi Verma Kumar, former Chairman of the Backward Classes Commission, said this syllabus for sex education must be rejected totally as it was "age and culture inappropriate." V.N. Rajashekhar, Secretary, AIDSO Karnataka, said studies in the U.S. where sex education had been introduced at the school level in the 1960s, have shown that as a means to fight the spread of AIDS, sex education was a "remedy worse than malady".

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  11. Phew! Looking at the number of comments, I would think that's the best argument for sex education:)Nothing like this 3 letter word to get people going.
    I have a friend who along with his wife, frequiently visits schools etc for projects build around gender sensitivity, media characterisations, environmental awareness etc. One of his anecdotes was about this school in south delhi he went to, where, at the end of a class they invited questions. Noone raised a hand, as their (male)teacher was at hand.
    My friend decided to act, and invited the teacher for a discussion outside, while his wife stayed back. And lo! She was flooded with questions. The most poignent one? This 15 year old girl asked her a really perplexing question. "Maam, will I have to sleep with my brother in law after my marriage?" Shocked, my friend's wife asked her wherever she picked up this notion from. According to the young girl, "But that's what they show on TV in (serial name)" I don;t remember the serial name, but i think you could fill in a lot of names in the blank without being far off the mark.

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  12. I live in NJ, in one of the states that mandates sex education. They teach it rigorously and without shame from middle school and onward.

    Our cure? They show a video of a woman giving birth EVERY year during health class, all its bloody glory. You can bet that turns all the girls off in class.

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  13. Good post! I learned about sex at age 10. Thank goodness I got a 'proper' version of events because the girl who told me had just been told by her mother. My first reaction to being told what sex was all about was 'Cheee I will NEVER do that'. So not telling kids about sex doesnt help any. If someone wants to find out they WILL find out.
    Sex education is imperative. And since the sexual organs are very much a part of the body they should be included in basic anatomy lessons. Despite knowing about menstruation, I was in a kind of shock for a day or so after getting my first period. My mother and some other people I know were never told about menstruation and so they sat in the bathroom and cried, terror stricken, thinking they were going to bleed to death. To not talk about sex and a basic function of the body can only promote ignorance and we all know that ignorance is NOT bliss.

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  14. I do agree. Parents think that children don't know but they gather it from 'here and there' and sometimes so much of it is real and so much fantasy that if parents get to know they will faint.
    I was barely 7-8 when my class mates began discussing sex. There were weird things and amazing info in circulation. It is better if properly things are taught. Otherwise moviews, internet and watching the horses and donkeys perform on street, kids learn enough, just that it may not be safe for them

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  15. Before you form any opinions about me let me clarify that I am a very open minded person.
    Now,coming to the point, whatever you said is totally fine.
    But the point is when a child's parent is shy of explaining the intricasies of sex or other such physical issues, wouldnt it create an un necessary anxiety in the child after he learns about these things at school. Consider a situation when the child has a doubt lingering in his mind about something that he was taught at school, and he doesnt find support at home to clarify his doubts, wouldnt it lead to an unnecessary pressure in the child's mind and in turn may lead him to commit something thats uncalled for.
    I feel it would be better of if we educate the children first to respect the other sex, a boy must learn to respect a girls feelings and vice versa, and only then will we be able to create sufficient awareness in the children about these sex related issues.The solution that I am talking about has to be implemented at the junior classes itself so that by the time the children reach XI or XII they will be aware of the other sex's sensibilities and hence will be able to grasp things in a much matured fashion.

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  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. i am a passout from m.p. board boys school...
    And i can imagine how difficult it would be for a bio teacher being a lady to teach us that chapter on sex.... but i really appreciate the boldness of our teacher... Once she started teaching us that chapter frankly... guys were actually learning rather than as like always making jokes of it...
    We even had a lecture on adolscence and sex education in our school when i was in 11th..
    And the outcome was quite surprising... Most of the guys wanted to know about the after effects of shagging !! Not just that but there were some silly probs even... wch they ppl couldnt ask anyone else... and even hesitated with their peers to ask such things..
    It was by actually some group called "PAHAL"... which regularly did this in various schools...
    They told about some of the important facts which we were unaware of even after going thru those long chapter in biology about sex...
    I feel its really necessary to have sex education in the curriculum of classes 9th and 10th itself.. As this is the present age when guys n gals get to know bout these things from everywhere around...
    So rather than letting them develop misconceptions about sex we must better teach them wats right and wats wrong...
    About that arguement regarding teachers feeling absurd about teaching these things in class... i think they can work more on giving it thru groups like pahal...
    as these ppl will be strangers to students so they will be more comfortable talking bout sex.
    To those ppl making too much hype on indian culture... jus show them the condition of Africa whr Maximum ppl die bcoz of AIDS due to lack of sex education (or jus say even education)...

    ReplyDelete
  18. its a great article..success for you man !!


    Dr Phenis Vagy
    Sex Secret academy

    ReplyDelete
  19. Nice article. The probelm is that irrespective of what statistics you provide about sexual behavior, we are actually dealing with pre concieved notions about sex which are product of our so called ancient culture and then religion of course. As long as that mindset about sex being a hindrance to god, sinful etc does not chnage, majority of people in India (I am taking about Baharat, those who loive in villages and tows and are not as cosmopolitan as you and me) would not accpet sex education.

    No sex for us Please, we are indians

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  20. good post rashmi. i think this "indian culture" argument against sex education is similar to the "indian spirituality" argument offered to not wanting change in the society or to justify our personal inertia.

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  21. Let me point out some statistics from countries where both sex and sex education are not taboo.

    UK leads the pack of countries which have a high rate of teenage pregnancies. In 2005 there were 39,683 conceptions by girls between 15 to 17 years of age. That translates to about 40 girls per thousand. The conception rate for those between 13 and 15 years was around 8 per thousand. If this was the conception rate I shudder to think about what the abortion rate might have been?

    In a survey carried by the United States Department of Justice in Dec 2000 to study the sexual victimization of college women, it was found that for every 1000 women there may well be 35 incidents of attempted and completed rape in a given academic year.

    The statistics for child abuse, paedophiling, incest, molestation and domestic violence are equally depressing.

    It is moral and not sex education that is the need of the hour. I appeal to give innocence a chance.

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  22. To what Arshad says about statistics in UK and USA about teenage pregnancies, he is right. We obviously need to learn from those countries. But to say that things like incest, rapes, child abuse does not happen in India because we are so moral is ludicurous indeed. In guise of morality worst kinds of crimes are committed in our culture.

    Sex education ban in India

    ReplyDelete
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    Online Sex Education.

    ReplyDelete
  24. It's very nice to read and also knowledgeable.

    how to greet other in India? read this article

    http://indiankulture.blogspot.com

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  25. agree with some points raised, disagree with others:) my biggest concern is this unrelenting effort to fit analysis from one part of planet (usually USA) to another (in this case India). e.g. US is a more monolithic society than India - 'One size fits all' is never a good solution, neither for US and INDIA, nor for Mumbai and Malihabad.

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  26. I recently heard a prominent politician go on national TV and say that sex education would lead to a society with single parents! Now I have no idea where he's getting this from but it smacks of ignorance. It's people like him who would rather have a child have their first impressions of sex through freely available pornography but not through a structured sex education program. Such hipocracy is possible only in India, I mean after all 100 crore people weren't grown on trees.

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  28. Adults are uncomfortable with sex, because they themselves don't understand how to deal with it.

    "Our culture" dictates girls to get married when they are 13-14 and produce lots of children. This was very wise in the last century...when mortality rates were high and life was much simpler.

    Yes this reality is not part of our culture, and like every culture we have to adapt to it.

    Also, we should think about what kind of sex-ed to give our children. Often its not just about sex, but self-esteem and peer pressure and media images as well. Educating people about only about biology is not enough.

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  29. In the 1960's the sportsbook United States experienced a powerful and publicized sexual revolution following the invention and distribution of the birth control pill. bet nfl This revolution has influenced a debate with sex curriculum in schools. This has been a continuous battle throughout the states since
    1912 when the National Education Association called for sex education in American public schools. sportsbook In 1940, the concept of sex education was promoted by the U.S. Public Health Service. However, sex education programs never developed until 1953. Currently, two styles of teaching – abstinence-based education and safe-sex http://www.enterbet.com education are taught within the United States, and both types receive federal funding.

    ReplyDelete
  30. In the 1960's the sportsbook United States experienced a powerful and publicized sexual revolution following the invention and distribution of the birth control pill. bet nfl This revolution has influenced a debate with sex curriculum in schools. This has been a continuous battle throughout the states since
    1912 when the National Education Association called for sex education in American public schools. sportsbook In 1940, the concept of sex education was promoted by the U.S. Public Health Service. However, sex education programs never developed until 1953. Currently, two styles of teaching – abstinence-based education and safe-sex http://www.enterbet.com education are taught within the United States, and both types receive federal funding.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Sex education may also be described as "sexuality education," which means that it encompasses education about all aspects of sexuality,sportsbook including information about family planning, reproduction (fertilization, conception and development of the embryo and fetus, through to childbirth), plus information about all aspects of one's sexuality including: body image, sexual orientation, sexual pleasure, values, decision making, communication, dating, relationships, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and how to avoid them, and birth control methods.Sex education may be taught informally, such as when someone receives information from a conversation with a parent, friend, religious leader, or through the media. It may also be delivered through sex self-help authors, magazine advice columnists, sex columnists, or through sex education web sites. Formal sex education occurs when schools or health care providers offer sex education.Sometimes formal sex education is taught as a full course as part of the curriculum in junior high school or high school. Other times it is only one unit within a more broad biology class, health class, home economics class, or physical education class. Some schools offer no sex education, since it remains a controversial issue in several countries, particularly the United States (especially with regard to the age at which children should start receiving such education, the amount of detail that is revealed, and topics dealing with human sexual behavior, eg.march madness safe sex practices, masturbation, premarital sex, and sexual ethics).In 1936, Wilhelm Reich commented that sex education of his time was a work of deception, focusing on biology while concealing excitement-arousal, which is what a pubescent individual is mostly interested in. Reich added that this emphasis obscures what he believed to be a basic psychological principle: that all worries and difficulties originate from unsatisfied sexual impulses.When sex education is contentiously debated, the chief controversial points are whether covering child sexuality is valuable or detrimental; the use of birth control such as condoms and hormonal contraception; and the impact of such use on pregnancy outside marriage, teenage pregnancy, and the transmission of STIs. Increasing support for abstinence-only sex education by conservative groups has been one of the primary causes of this controversy. Countries with conservative attitudes towards sex education (including the UK and the U.S.) have a higher incidence of STIs and teenage pregnancy.The existence of AIDS has given a new sense of urgency to the topic of sex education. In many African nations, where AIDS is at epidemic levels (see HIV/AIDS in Africa), sex education is seen by most scientists as a vital public health strategy. Some international organizations such as Planned Parenthood consider that broad sex education programs have global benefits, such as controlling the risk of overpopulation and the advancement of women's rights (see also reproductive rights).According to SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, 93% of adults they surveyed support sexuality education in high school and 84% support it in junior high school. In fact, 88% of parents of junior high school students and 80% of parents of high school students believe that sex education in school makes it easier for them to talk to their adolescents about sex. Also, 92% of adolescents report that they want both to talk to their parents about sex and to have comprehensive in-school sex education. Furthermore, a "study, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research Inc.www.canadacasino.com on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are ineffective."

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  32. Actually I have not seen the show live and real but I feel as if you give this information, I think rather than what it does is to "promote" sexual activity and eventually the use of pills like sildenafil to increase r such sexual activity.

    ReplyDelete

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