Recent controversy regarding Richard Gere and Shilpa shetty at an AIDS awareness programme, sparked up a controversy that engulfed the interest of an entire nation, the media coverage associated with it along with the mikka-rakhi case goes to prove that trivial issues like kissing controversies attract popular attention but no one talks openly about graver problems like sex education in open,its considered a blasphemy!
Why isn’t sex education given the media coverage, these “masala” news get. The recent upsurge in premarital sex with the “western” influence in this rapidly globalizing world has brought to the centre stage problems like AIDS (STD), depression and suicidal tendencies among the youth,to counter such problems most countries round the world have legalized consensual sex among minors. My question is that, in this age of the internet can we remain aloof of the global scenario, there have been similar demands in India too, but all have been obscured and not given popular attention. All this has forced me to express my views on this recently very highly debated topic that relates to Sex Education among minors.
In India, a country of a billion plus population, there is lots of hue and cry bout sex education. Why does India take a backseat in such problems, why cant our policymakers take a stern action? but I don’t think its government failure alone, if India today is the second most populated country in the word and is the home to the 2nd largest number of HIV AIDS patients, it is because of lack of cooperation from the society regarding such matters.
History is evident of the fact that only symbiotic effect of Government action and Social cooperation can bear desired fruits, I need not quote examples of western countries to prove this point, states like Kerela and Himachal Pradesh where education is the topmost priority of parents for their children, we find low fertility rates, gender equality and better standard of living of the masses in general.
Its a so self contradictory when people say that “sex education” is not a part of our culture and is a thing of the WEST, these orthodox minds sternly oppose sex education on the pretext that it is against the so called “bhartiya sabhyata” n cultural heritage of India. They also fear that sex education will pollute the impressionable minds of young children and lead to higher rate of rape n molestation.
Well those who say that sex education is anti-indian culture, need to walk down memory lane and look back into history. We are the land of Harrapa n Mohenjudaro, which popularized the art of “naked” sculpture throughout the world, we are the source of so called "pornographic" art, it is we who gave to this world the book of Kamasutra.
I believe sex education to be of paramount importance n the reason is that contrary to popular belief it isn’t a kamasutra class, Sex education is about protection and prevention, it encompasses a wide range of interrelated topics including topics like: what is safe sex, how to avoid the trap of unsafe sex, use of contraceptives, sterilization and the economic incentives related to it, prevention from AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD). It will also promote a sense of respect for the fairer sex by giving more chances of “open communication" without the feeling of shyness by building mutual respect and tolerance and thus ultimately reducing exigencies like rape and molestation, thus bringing down the rate of crime against women.
All in all over a certain period of time it will carve a niche, handling and effectively countering graver problems like population explosion and the vicious circle of problems like poverty, illiteracy, urban agglomeration and slums, malnutrition and a host of environmental hazards associated with it. Thus it will slowly but surely contribute towards India's economic development, indirectly.
Thus, We need to break the traditional shackles and adopt a new method to deal with this age old problem, we need to educate our youth and let them decide what is right and wrong for them as Coercion in this dynamic democracy has never worked, nor it ever will.
Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:52 pm