Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Abstinence Yesterday, Protection Today

How should we categorize teen pregnancy, as the lack of fear for God or the lack of education? In the society we live in today, there is a wide divide in personal stance of the older and the newer generation when it comes to this particular subject. How do we compromise with the growing culture of openness in sexuality and the instilled ‘shush’ attitude of the Asian clan?

In 2005, our government proudly announced that they have agreed to implement sex education in the school’s syllabus in January 2006. However, until today, in the year 2008, we have yet to see any progress in this matter. We were supposed to be among the first Muslim countries to implement the subject in our system. What is it that is holding us back from moving forward?

As preparation, surveys of all sorts were conducted in our community; from primary school children to working adults. In my opinion, if a survey was conducted every 5 years, the results will vary because of the changing generations. What was not known in the past is common knowledge today. For example, the all-time favourite question, “Where did babies come from?” Kids know their parents had something to do with it. No story of the stork delivering the baby to a home will sell, even among kindergarten children.

Bethany Connection 2008

In this information-rich society, we can no longer fool ourselves by not acknowledging the change in believes and practices. One of the main reasons sex education was initially considered was the worry of AIDS becoming an epidemic in the world. However, our focus here is teen pregnancy, an increasing medical concern. In Malaysia, the Organisation for Economics Co-operation and Development reported in 2007 that the percentage of teen pregnancy has and will reduce in the years to come. This is also true for the Western countries.

Surprised? How is it that this is possible when the Population Reference Bureau reported that more teens are sexually active today than 10 years ago. And they claim that this number will keep increasing in the years to come. One does not have to pull their hair out to figure out the answer. EDUC

ATION.

The preaching of abstinence is slowly being replaced by talks of safe sex, using contraceptives and fidelity. Even though sex education is yet to be in the Malaysian education system, teenagers and youths throughout the country are in a world where knowledge is just a mouse click away. It is no surprise if a boy who looks like he just attained puberty walks into 7-11 to purchase condoms. The reason he needs it in the first place maybe of concern to some but to others, the concern is one step further. Does he know how to use it?
CondomProtection.com

The existence of protections may be common knowledge but steps of using it and the dangers or possible inefficiencies of an IUD or condom may not be known to most. This is why sex education is important and is in fact vital in today’s society. Youths should know exactly what are the possibilities of being sexually active and the responsibilities of getting pregnant for both the male and the female counterpart.

This is exactly why sex education is necessary. Education is the key to solving problems in the society such as sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy. To ensure the correct information is being obtained by youngsters, it ought to be made available by reliable and credible sources and where better than schools.

Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex

Labels: teen pregnancy