Healthy public policy

Introduction of sexuality education lessons in public elementary and high schools

Introduction of sexuality education lessons in public elementary and high schools

by Anne Maegan Ayala -
Number of replies: 0
  1. identify the target population, 2) cite advantages and disadvantages (if any), and 3) do you see it being followed/implemented in your locality?
  • Introduction of sexuality education lessons in public elementary and high schools

Over the past decade, the Philippines has seen a 237% increase in annual new HIV infections, making it the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the Asia and Pacific region, as of 2020 (DOH, 2020). There are also the issues of teenage pregnancy, sexual violence, and prevalence of other sexually transmitted diseases. With all of these, the Department of Education issued DepEd Order No. 31, series 2018 (DO 31), which are the Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE). This policy aims to: (a) enhance holistic wellness of Filipino adolescents, (b) effectively address their needs for health and protection by equipping them with comprehensive information and life skills to advance gender equality and empowerment, (c) clarify their values and attitude, and (d) reduce risks related to poor health outcomes.

The target population of this public health policy would be the public and private elementary, junior high school and senior high school students and teachers. The teachers would also have to be trained on what content regarding sexuality education to teach, and how to teach it.

The advantages for the introduction of sexuality education lessons in public elementary and high schools are as follows:

  1. Sexuality education provides the youth (who are more prone to risk-taking behavior) with more knowledge on using contraceptives for preventing STDs and unwanted pregnancies.
  2. They will be equipped with the information and skills to protect themselves against HIV infection.
  3. Sex education helps the youth recognize signs of grooming behavior and sexual assault by teaching them what is right and what is wrong.
  4. Sex education provides a space for adolescents to communicate listen and negotiate with their partners, as well as asking and identifying sources of help and advice.
  5. It improves attitudes related to sexuality and reproductive health, seeing as they will be taught evidence-based information, especially on issues such as abortion and the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
  6. Comprehensive sexuality education also delays sexual initiation and reduces risk-taking behavior (UNESCO, 2018), since they have a more informed view on sexual relations and it’s consequences.
  7. The youth will be able to help them discern sex myths and unsafe practices that they see in social media or the Internet.

The disadvantages would be as follows:

  1. Sex education is a broad topic— including, but not limited to biology of sex and reproduction, STDs, contraception, and pregnancy prevevntion techniques—and a curriculum would have to be made and tested. This might take time, human resources, and multiple trial-and-error phases.
  2. The conservative culture of our country might make it painful or discomforting for educators to discuss the topics in school.
  3. Sex education is often seen as a “recreational” activity; thus, sex education might not be taken seriously by students.
  4. Artificial contraception or discussions about sex might be against an individual or institution’s moral or religious beliefs.
  5. Parents believe that sex education may corrupt a student’s moral standing and incline them to engage in sexual activity due to exposure.

In my locality, I do not recall this being implemented in my elementary or junior high school years. The extent of sexuality education that we’d have was just a short biology discussion. In fact, the only time I’d encountered information about STDs (in a school curriculum) was in a specialized health course in SHS, and during my college years already.

 

References:

DepEd. (2018). Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Developing responsible youth vs rising risks. https://www.deped.gov.ph/2018/08/04/comprehensive-sexuality-education-developing-responsible-youth-vs-rising-risks/

DOH. (2020). A Briefer on the Philippine HIV Estimates 2020. https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/publications/A%20Briefer%20on%20the%20PH%20Estimates%202020_08232021.pdf 

UNESCO. (2018). International technical guidance on sexuality education. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentViewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196&id=p::usmarcdef_0000260770&file=/in/rest/annotationSVC/DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/attach_import_d8d4de18-19d0-4a35-8eb2-ab5eaa5ca5d3%3F_%3D260770eng.pdf&updateUrl=updateUrl4466&ark=/ark:/48223/pf0000260770/PDF/260770eng.pdf.multi&fullScreen=true&locale=fr#[{"num"%3A115%2C"gen"%3A0}%2C{"name"%3A"XYZ"}%2C0%2C842%2C0]