Since the early days, sex education as a topic has brought up several heated debates in our society. There have been controversies in schools related to the morals behind sex education and how they need to be portrayed in the classroom. However, with the progressive changes in the society we have seen changes in the ways sex education is taught in schools over time.

In the early 90’s, the main focus of sex education was inclined towards the concept revolving around marriage and role of family members. However, with time the definition behind sex education has changed to a great extent. The school nowadays are more focused towards educating teenagers about prevention of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. There has been a significant shift in the concept revolving around sex education from marriage and family members to personal preventive health.

Being sexually literate is very essential as it helps society change their views on the concept of sex education and develop a broader perspective about the same. These changes occurring around the curriculum of sex education will help the society and school students understand the importance of sex education in their day to day lives.

However, in current times, the society and especially school students make maximum use of technology- sex scenes that are heavily portrayed in some movies and TV shows can have a significant impact on teenagers and their thinking. Internet plays a significant role in the lives of teenagers as well. With the internet being so accessible to all, when one clicks on a particular link to a website, advertisements containing sexual messages and pictures are posted to the side of the pages as if they were normal. Due to this, teenagers can easily stray to such websites and unknowingly receive incorrect information about sex.

In this modern era, sex scenes are portrayed as casual and harmless and seemed to bring no severe consequences, causing the teenagers to view such media to be fooled easily. It is true that without proper knowledge, sex can become irresponsible. Even in the 21stcentaury some parents’ refrain from discussing sex-related issues with their children which drives them to the Internet and other unreliable media sources to find out more about the topic, as they have no other sources to get more information. Hence, it is crucial that sex education is imparted in schools through channels that are most commonly used by teenagers. So that teenagers can receive the information they need from the right sources; namely, teachers who are well informed about the topic.

Teachers can take advantage of this widespread use of technology and integrate sex education lessons and videos to educate students and lastly show ‘sex education’ in their course pedagogy. The Netflix show- “Sex Education” is an excellent example of how students and teenagers can be educated about sex and the stigma around it. Technology can be harmful if not used in the right way. This show portrays different angles of sex and how to deal with it. The concept revolving around the show talks about the benefits of being educated about sex and how to reduce the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers. In this show, the lead character Otis inherits ways of teaching other students of his school about sex, and he gets the guidance from his mother who is a sex therapist herself. This show is very informative, and it is targeting the right kind of audience(teenagers) which is educating teenagers about HIV/AIDS and the required precautions to take before being sexually involved.

Research has proven that by providing the right knowledge on a crucial topic like sex education in the classroom reduces sexual activity amongst teenagers as they are made more aware of the risks of unprotected sex. If not appropriately educated, teenagers tend to be exposed to the lie that sex is harmless, and this further leads to an increase in their sexual activities which can impact their health to a great extent.

To conclude, it’s not about what’s wrong or right with sex but it is about spreading information about taking necessary protective measures. Education should be about preventing irresponsible sex and not sex. It must be in a manner which is more suited to modern era students and teenagers.

The Importance of Sex Edu from an Early Age in Schools

Read about why schools need to provide sex education to school students from an early age.

• Awareness about STDs

In India, over 31% of the population is infected by HIV and over 2.3 million people who are above 15 years have the infection. Lack of awareness on how the disease spreads and how to prevent it is the primary reason behind the situation. Comprehensive sex education from an early learning stage in school not only makes children aware of the different sexually transmitted diseases or STDs, and how they spread, it also teaches them about the resources to get health check-ups and preventive measures against such diseases. These include safe sexual practices and knowledge of contraception among others.

• Knowledge About “Living skills”

A part of the comprehensive sex education curriculum in high schools of Nagaland is “Living skills”. In this class, students from both genders are taught about consent, emotional connection, sexual health and various safe sex practices. The entire details of the course are there in a form of a textbook too.

The approach to such topics from an early age further puts forth the importance of sex education. Students who attend the classes were much more open about discussions related to sexual pleasure and sexuality in their adulthood. Furthermore, their capabilities to differentiate between right and wrong approaches towards sex were improved. As a result, students exposed to such training had a better capacity to tell apart good and bad touches as well as protect themselves better.

• Reproductive and Sexual Hygiene

Girls as young as 15 being married off to much older men in parts of rural India is a sad truth in our country. These practices lead to high-risk pregnancies among adolescent females. Not only do they experience multiple pregnancies even before they cross the threshold of adulthood, but the delivery process and overall hygiene standards maintained are mediocre throughout the phase, leading to high maternal mortality between the ages of 15 to 24.

This brings us to the importance of sex education in rural schools from an early age. The curriculum will not only break age-old stereotypes surrounding the topic but also make children more aware and through them, their parents. This curriculum not only includes safe practices to prevent unwanted pregnancy at an early age but also everything about hygienic menstrual well-being. The secrecy around the subject, especially in rural areas is shattered when the topics are breached in school in a scientific and age-appropriate manner.

• Say “No” to Sexual Abuse

Young children and women are the most vulnerable to being sexually violated, often by close acquaintances, especially if they are not aware of sexuality as a whole. This is especially true for children who are yet to understand the differences between “good” and “bad” touch. In school, the curriculum for comprehensive sex education, at the most basic level, teach children the differences between good and bad touch and how to classify abuse. They are taught at an early learning stage, what should be done in case they go through such a situation. Simply by including the topics into the regular school curriculum, many children can be saved from lifelong psychological trauma as they can now be the master of their own bodies.

In short, the importance of sex education is undeniable at any age and making it a part of the school curriculum like any other regular class will only add to securing the child’s future and help them grow into more responsible and empathetic adults.