Introduction of sexuality education lessons in public elementary and high schools
According to the United Nations Population Fund (2021), comprehensive sexuality education aims to provide young people with the knowledge and skill set in practicing bodily autonomy and creating meaning with this autonomy to decide for their bodies. Furthermore, it also advocates for the health and well-being of the individual as well as human rights, equality, and empowerment. While there may be a lot of stigma and misconceptions surrounding sex education, especially in a conservative country in the Philippines. It is important that our society learns to be accepting of such topics since it is one of the most effective ways to empower reproductive health and identity. Comprehensive sexuality education is not in any way encouragement for sexual practices among young people, but rather an avenue for them to develop an understanding of their anatomy and development, the basics and importance of reproductive health, the use of contraceptives, and facts about childbirth as well as sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV which has become prevalent in our societies (UNFPA, 2021). There is no substantial disadvantage arising from allowing comprehensive sexuality education to be taught among young people, so long as the knowledge, information, and skills to be provided by this program will be in close coordination with community health programs in order to fully realize its purpose.
Personally, I believe that my locality is still far from implementing sexually education in its curriculum. In fact, despite the existence of RA 10354 or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, there have been three regions in the country so far who has incorporated comprehensive sexuality education in their curriculum. These regions thought to have the highest cases of teenage pregnancies in the country served as baseline assessments for the effectiveness of CSE in the K to 12 curricula (Joven, 2021). Hopefully, the experiences and learnings from this implementation will contribute greatly to the full implementation of CSE in the entire country’s curriculum.
References:
Joven, J. (2021). Do we actually have sex ed in Philippine schools?. CNN Philippines. https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/Education/2021/11/5/sex-education-philippine-schools.html
United Nations Population Fund. (2021). Comprehensive Sexuality Education. https://www.unfpa.org/comprehensive-sexuality-education#readmore-expand