Sex education
SUJATHA SHANMUGAM
Does this ring a bell? With Television being the dominant conduit, it is extremely hard to stay oblivious to the enormous media attention this case has just grappled. A 7th grade boy who just turned 13 is now the father of a child. And not too surprisingly, the mother is about the same age as the boy, his 15-year old baby sitter.
The British Government is bent upon minimising teen pregnancies. Conventionalists blame the parents for the child’s uncalled for act. The common man blames the media and the obscenity involved in it. Social activists call for prosecution of the young parents. How many of these children could be ‘prosecuted’ when they can’t even get its spelling right? The young boy just lowered the boom on the consequences of children being ignorant rather neglected from intrinsic sex education.
The media, which highlight the perpetrators, instead should propagate the need for a substantial change in the education system. Sex education talks about ethics and morale and where does the question of culture arise here? The chastity of women is being talked about and condemned, while the literacy on it is barely anyone’s interest! In the name of tradition and culture, the call for a better and imperative sex education is being sidelined. A majority of the population of India being rural, it is crucial to bring in the literacy on safe sex and ethical codes which is not possible without bringing it on print. It’s about time the government stood against all the odds and brought about such indispensable changes in the curriculum and henceforth a social wakefulness, especially among the rural. Sex education is no ‘westernisation’ of culture!
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