With teenagers getting exposed to all kinds of information through the internet and mass media these days, the question is, at what age should sex education begin? The British believe that it is necessary for children as young as 5 to be educated about the birds and bees. When the new policiy is implemented, Britain which has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Europe, will see sex education brought to all schools, including kindergartens.
Here are some excerpts:
"... At the very earliest stage, sex education will mainly be about self-awareness, he said.'We are not talking about five-year-old kids being taught sex,' he said. 'What we're talking about for key stage one (ages five to seven) is children knowing about themselves, their differences, their friendships and how to manage their feelings.' "
" ... 'I am not the parent who calls her son's penis a wee-wee. But I should decide if the word penis enters my child's vocabulary at five or not,' said Ms Elizabeth Talbot, of London, who has two sons, aged four and six months old. ..."
"... 'When parents fail to educate their kids properly, the government has every right to step in,' said Ms Gayla Coil, a Londoner and mother to two kids aged 13 and 10. 'Me, I welcome the help.' "
In Singapore, there is Breaking Down Barriers - a broad-based sex education programme taught at Secondary 3 level, that is disseminated through science, health education and civic classes. The Ministry of Education will also be introducing a customised programme which aims to raise awareness of STIs in November this year (2008).
Whose responsibility is it to educate our children? Should parents have a right to opt out of a programme if they feel their children are not ready for such lessons? Should sex education in Singapore be targeting teens from Sec 1, since research shows that out of 833 pregnancies in girls 19 years and under last year, 16 are below 15 years old. What do you think?
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