Sex education in Malaysian schools
So far, Benghui hasn’t asked me about sex. However he did make sounds when Colin Firth got close to Renee Zelweger in a scene. It startled me as I didn’t realize he understood the meaning of courtship rituals. It was from the movie ‘ Bridget Jones : The Edge of Reason ‘.
Pic courtesy of the Borneo Post 04/01/07
Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein had announced recently that the cabinet had approved the Guidelines on Reproductive Health and Social Education - sex education in schools.
As expected it produced a wide spectrum of reactions from society from those who advocated transparency to the other end who felt that sex education should come naturally as children come of age.
The thrusts of the programme are Human Development, relationship, Marriage and Family, Personal Management Skills, Health and Sexual Behaviour and Community and Culture.
Under the plan, sex education will start for preschoolers from the age of four up to teenage and young adults. Subjects will include rape, sexual abuse, abortion, infanticide and the spread of HIV/AIDS .
As a child, most of us adults never had sex education. I still remember the pains, the aches, confusions and the guilt I felt as I was growing up. I never had any body to counsel me or tell me about sex.
All kinds of rubbish I heard was accepted as truth. Please watch the Singaporean movie, ‘ Little Kids not Stupid ll ‘ to get a general picture of how taboo the topic is among Malaysian and Singaporean families alike. The reproductive system was taught by a lady science teacher who skimmed through the topic as she was as embarrassed as us students.
At the age of eleven I attended a movie that showed a woman strip tease dancer. Nobody stopped me from entering and it was probably ‘general audience’ rated.
I saw my first adult movie at a pub. It was screened openly and I remember asking myself…why are these people not looking concerned or shocked? It was sordid and dirty and probably downloaded from some third-rate website free. All those who were there were busy eating and drinking and none seemed to be even watching it.
We learned what we did from friends, from books and from pornography. Kids today have more exposure to the real world. How many parents actually oversee their children’s surfing habits?
Do they know where their kids are at any given moment? Most parents are too engrossed in the race for the mighty ringgit in the race for survival. Thus, ignorant kids can get into a lot of trouble. We cannot totally protect them but at least we can arm them with knowledge.
Examples of reactions from the public on sex education in Malaysian schools ( from the Borneo Post 4/1/07 ) :
1. I am not aware.
2. It is good to teach them the difference between boys and girls
and know where they came from.
3. Transparency is important.
4. Important to learn to respect the opposite sex and respect
their bodies.
5. It’s a good move.
6. Academicians should know better on how to approach the
subject with children.
7. Children without knowledge can easily make irreversible
mistakes.
8. Subject matter must not be too heavy.
9. Positive move to educate and lead the young.
10. Saves parents of the embarrassment of doing the job
themselves.
11. School subjects more important.
12. It remains to be implemented and I am a little worried.
What about you? What is your reaction?
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Related issue : The morality issue in sex education
Morality of sex education ( Wikipedia’s view point…)
-one approach is to view it as necessary to reduce risk behaviours such as unprotected sex, and equip individuals to make informed decisions about their personal sexual activity. .
-what is at stake in sex education is control over the body and liberation from social control. Proponents of this view tend to see the political question as whether society or the individual should teach sexual mores.
-providing individuals with the knowledge necessary to liberate themselves from socially organized sexual oppression and to make up their own minds.
-the political question is whether the state or the family should teach sexual mores. They believe that sexual mores should be left to the family, and sex-education represents state interference.
-claim that some sex education curricula break down pre-existing notions of modesty and encourage acceptance of practices that those advocating this viewpoint deem immoral, such as homosexuality and premarital sex.
-many religious conservatives believe that sexuality is a subject that should not be taught at all. They believe that the longer a teenager is kept unaware of sexuality, the less likely they will become involved in sexual behavior.
-other religious conservatives believe that sexual knowledge is unavoidable, and so desire to teach curricula based on abstinence.
Some believe that when a person explains sexual matters to a teenager without a formal education program and without consent from the parents that it is inappropriate, and may in some cases be interpreted as child grooming.
Information for National Conference of Sex Education IIUM …please click here
Hi,
Sorry for interrupting, but maybe you are interested to check out this link, about the National Conference on Sex Eduation 2007 in International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur:
http://www.iiu.edu.my/events/event_detail.shtml?eventid=152
Thank you.
My son had his “sex education” (they called it “social hygiene”) when he entered 5th grade last year and I thought it was a joke when I watched it, they suggest parents watched the video first before they signed the consent forms. The video talks about puberty and the science of conception and how important to take a shower and wear deodorants now that your body is changing. They even distributed sample deodorants. The video was over in 20 or 30 mins and that was it. Questions like how does the sperm enter the body were met with answers like “This you have to ask your parents” then the teachers turned to look at us, winking.
My take on this is that whatever they have plan for our kids, the parent should have the opportunity to view it first and also have the choice to give their consent or not. In my son’s school some parents refused to sign the consent forms so their kids just went to the library when the video was showed.
Opting out is very important and that choice should not be taken away from parents as we know our kids best (or at least we think we do).
Wow..this is new info to me. Thanks. I am sure to the other readers too. So it is not just to the teacher only but us as parents too. I will find it very difficult though.
Yeah, new info for me also. True, parents should view it first so that they are aware of what will be taught and be prepared for any questions that might be asked by their kids.
Not saying that I looked down on Malaysia but judging from the education system, things will be just chaos per usual. Like the switching from BM to English thingy in 2003.
Moreover we are not well-prepared yet. And in my humble opinion, the subject will barely touch the surface only. Don’t forget Malaysia is still a country with conservative lot. In such society, sex eduation remains a taboo no matter how the government wanted to teach the younger generation.
Well, just my 2 cents worth.