Sexual Education

hey yall...i feel like updating but i'm so lazy to type and all due to massive typing i did in the past 2 weeks..dont even ask...
umm..
so this is one of the assignments that i did...its for study skills...


Introduction
Sexual education is often taken as an inappropriate subject in Malaysia due to religious views in sex among the teenagers. Nowadays people don’t seem to understand the need of sexual education. They are under the impression that sexual education only teaches teenagers how to have sex. Well, it’s not. There is more to sex education that meets the eye. In order to introduce this subject in schools, we must educate the citizen especially the parents that it’s not a taboo and sexual education is a very important subject nowadays.

"We are faced with various forms of sexual crimes: Internet pornography,
incest, pre-marital sex, sexual abuse and harassment, and paedophilia.
The guidelines address all these... All must take sex as a serious issue."
[Former Minister of Education, Dato Seri Hishammuddin Hussein]

What is Sexual Education?
Sexual education could also be called as sexuality education or sex and relationship education. It is the learning activity that acquires information and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, relationships and intimacy. It develops teenager’s skills and inform them that they have choices of their behavior. Teenagers have a right to sexual education because they are educated on how to protect themselves against abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, sexually Transmitted Diseases(STD) and HIV and AIDS.

Aim of the subject.
This subject is aimed to decrease the risks of possible negative outcomes from sexual behavior. Some of the examples which can be given is unwanted pregnancies and transmission of viral diseases including HIV. It is also aimed to enhance the quality of relationship among youngsters and inform them that they have the choices to make decisions in their life. Sexual education which is effective should be the one which can have both these aims, thus helping youngsters to enjoy their relationship.

What should sex education teach?
In order for sex education to be effective, it should develop skills in the youngsters as theories only would result in hardship for them to act.

Being able to communicate, listen, negotiate with others, ask for and identify sources of help and advice are some of the general life skills that should be developed as youngsters are introduced to this subject. It is also some of the useful life-skills which can be applied to sexual relationships. There are also other important skills such as being able to recognize pressures from other people and to resist them, dealing with challenging prejudice and being able to seek for help.

Sex education will equip young people with the skills to tell the difference between accurate and inaccurate information, and the range of moral and social issues and perspectives on sex and sexuality could also be discussed in this subject. This includes cultural attitudes and sensitive issues like sexuality, abortion and contraception.

Forming attitudes and beliefs
Youngsters are easily manipulated by conditions which are contradicting and confusing for example wide range of attitudes and beliefs in relation to sex and sexuality. The things that they always get confused about are the messages that are exposed to them trough media for example in certain magazine it stated that being sexually active makes a person more attractive and mature. Youngsters and educators must have a strong view on what attitudes people should hold because sex and sexuality are sensitive subjects. They should also consider what moral framework should govern people’s behavior. Moral and cultural frameworks that binds sex and sexuality often welcome opportunities to talk about issues where people have strong views like abortion, sex before marriage, lesbian and gay issues and contraception and birth control. It is important that these issues are discussed in a balanced way.

It is important not to let youngsters being influenced in a negative way because usually the educators for sex education have their own attitudes and beliefs in sex and sexuality. For example when a person thinks that young people should not have sex until marriage, this has nothing to do with the importance of safe sex and contraception. This will narrow down the views about sex and sexuality among youngsters. This will lead to failure of sexual education. Rather than trying to scare them, it is always a benefit to introduce effective sex education. This includes work on attitudes and beliefs together with skills development that enables youngsters to chose when they want to have sexual relationship taking note of the consequences.

Effective sex education should provide youngsters with an opportunity to explore the reasons why sexual intercourse occurs. They have to be educated in such way they will understand that sex involves emotions respect, decisions and bodies. The youngsters should also explore the gender difference and how ethnicity and sexuality influences people’s feelings. They should be able to tell the positive qualities of relationships and how bullying, stereotyping, abuse and exploitation can bring negative effect in a relationship.

What information should be given to young people?
Youngsters are getting the information about sex and sexuality from a wide range of sources which are intended to be sources of information about sex and sexuality. Some are accurate and some are not. Therefore introducing sexual education is a way to add their knowledge about sex and sexuality and correcting which are not.

Information is very important because it can develop well-informed attitudes and views about sex and sexuality. These are the topics which young people need to know.
• Sexual development and reproduction - the changes that teenagers are going through is related to puberty and sexual reproduction. This includes fertilization, conception and sexually transmitted disease.
• Contraception & Birth Control – they will learn everything about contraception and will ask anything about them.
• Relationships – what kind of relationships are there, love, commitment, marriage, partnership and all the laws associated to sexual activities including sexual behavior as well as the range of religious and cultural views on sex and sexuality.

Other than that, informations on abortion, sexuality and self-confidence should be given to youngsters as well as the advices and support from community and nation.

When should it start?
In order for sex education to be efficient, the subject should be introduced early. Before youngsters reach puberty and before they develop established patterns of behavior. It’s important for youngster to start early and for it to maintain. This is to provide the foundation to be ready for a more complex knowledge is built up over time.

Most people are worried that giving information on sex will lead to sexual experimental. According to studies in of comprehensive sex and STD/HIV education programs in US, sexual education does not increase the sexual activity in fact, it reduces the sexual activity or increase rate of condom usage or contraception, or both.

Usually in Malaysia, parents feel uncomfortable to talk about sex to the children. It is important for the parents to have an open relationship with the children. This will open an opportunity to ask questions when they have any doubt. Parents should start the conversation because youngsters need to feel secure when they want to talk about it. Logically, parents will feel embarrassed to talk about sex to their young ones but providing information about sex and sexuality can be helpful in a way that they are getting is from someone trustable. An 18 year old teenager, Chan Kit Sze who attended the youth forum and the Ministerial Consultation said “Sex education should be made compulsory in schools if governments and adults are serious about protecting our wellbeing, health and our future. We need trained teachers to teach us. Teachers who can teach us the facts without being embarrassed or judgemental”,
Who should provide sex education?
There are many ways of approaching this subject either its formal or informal. In these contexts different people have different way of approaching this subjects thus different way of giving opportunity and responsibility to provide sex education.

Like all other learning skills, sex education can start at home. Here they can easily have a personal discussion with parents which specifies in certain scope of sex education. It may not be formal but it will be enough to provide information about sex and sexuality. The youngsters can have lots and lots short conversation with the parents. But Dr. Hera, who hails from Canada and has been teaching in Malaysia for six years has a different point of view said

“The issues are the same so it’s not really about
Asians being more closed up about the subject,
it’s about the culture of openness. I’m sure there
are parents in Asia who are comfortable talking
about sex with their children,”.


But however, the Methodist Pilley Institute’s principal and CEO Judy Wong told StarMetro that it was the responsibility of parents to ensure that their children receive proper sex education either directly through them or indirectly through those who work as youth counsellors.

In school, an organized blocks of lessons often provides the interaction between teachers and youngsters. It is not suitable to advise the indibidual as it is to providing the information from only a certain point of view. Therefore acknowledging the different contributions could be one of the effective ways to introduce this subject. Our Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said "We also need to know the right methodology to train the trainers, the people who will be implementing these guidelines."

Effective School based sex education.

Youngster’s knowledge, attitudes and behavior can be enhanced effectively by school-based sex education. There is an extensive understanding that formal education should include sex education and what is useful based on well-researched manuscripts. There are some elements which evidently suggest the effective school programs:

• A focus on reducing specific risky behaviours
• A basis in theories which explain what influences people's sexual choices and behaviour
• A clear, and continuously reinforced message about sexual behaviour and risk reduction
• Providing accurate information about, the risks associated with sexual activity, about contraception and birth control, and about methods of avoiding or deferring intercourse
• Dealing with peer and other social pressures on young people; providing opportunities to practise communication, negotiation and assertion skills
• Uses a variety of approaches to teaching and learning that involve and engage young people and help them to personalise the information
• Uses approaches to teaching and learning which are appropriate to young people's age, experience and cultural background
• Is provided by people who believe in what they are saying and have access to support in the form of training or consultation with other sex educators
(Sex Education That Works, N.D.)

The increase of youngster’s levels of knowledge on sex and sexuality can be proven after introducing formal programs with all these elements.

Sexual health services support the effective sex education, moreover it takes into account the messages about sexual values, behavior that youngsters get from other sources mostly friends and media.

Taking the Subject forward

Introducing sex education can be tricky since it is accepted as a taboo here in Malaysia. It can seem intimidating because it involves sensitive issues and participance of a variety of people such as parents, schools, community groups and health service providers. There are a lot of opportunities to contribute because sex education takes place in a wide range of setting and time and it comprises many personal actions.

The relationship, role and expertise can really influence one’s contribution to youngsters. For example, parents are there to give moral support, school-based education are there to give information and develops skills and attitude clarification. Whereas sexual health and other health services can provide specific information, advice and support. And last but not least the mass media can bring awareness to the seriousness of sex health issues.

Joining these elements in a rational way could contribute straight to the development of sexual education. Attention are also to be given to those who are in a specific group for example young parents, young homosexuals or bisexuals as well as those in remote areas who are out of touch with the services provided.

The situation and background obtainable to parents or other sex educators differ from place to place. The certainty of some country may limit the information provided to youngsters but the basic principles outlined here apply everywhere. By making our own contribution and valuing that made by others, and by being guided by these principles, we can provide more sex education that works and improve the support we offer to young people.


i would say that its one of my successful piece of writing of course its a review of the whole issue so it is cited from varied sources..hope u are all well educated with this..u are always free to ask question..i'll try my best to answer...