Introduction of sexuality education lessons in public elementary and high schools
It is important that sexuality/reproductive health education must be incorporated within the curriculum of every school. Sexuality education is not just centered on the concept of “sex” itself. Sexuality is a holistic approach which encompasses the physiologic, emotional, social, and cultural aspects of an individual. In short, sexuality defines the whole individual in terms of what makes them that “them.” Sexuality education also provides comprehensive lessons that would help an individual prevent various issues such as teenage and unwanted pregnancy, STDs, HIV, unsafe sex, and overpopulation.
In the Philippines, it’s fortunate that sex education is gradually being incorporated to both public and private schools due to the passing of RH law or RA 10354. I think that the population who would benefit most from this are the elementary and high school students since they are vulnerable to issues like STD and teenage and unwanted pregnancy. Ever since the implementation of sexuality education in the Philippines, we can say that it has been effective in resolving some of the aforementioned issues. The latest statistics from 2020 have shown the significant drop of adolescent pregnancies by 13%, lower birth rates from 47 to 31 per 1,000 girls. (Commission on Population and Development, 2020).
There are advantages and disadvantages on sexuality education. The previous paragraph has already mentioned the decreased rate of teenage and unwanted pregnancy in the latest 2020 statistics, which is an advantage since sexuality education contributed towards the increase of knowledge and understanding of students regarding it sex and reproductive health. Another advantage is it helps promote safe sex due to having knowledge on different family planning methods, preventing STDs. Sexuality education also promotes the use of contraceptives which greatly minimizes the chance of getting pregnant.
Meanwhile, the disadvantages of sexuality education include its accessibility to all children and adolescents nationwide. There are some young individuals who are not able to attend school due to various reasons, such as financial incapability, poverty, and child labor. With that, these individuals are deprived of chance on sexuality and reproductive health education. Another disadvantage is that sex education may more likely initiate sexual behaviors whenever an individual seeks to find an answer due to their curiosity. This may place an individual more prone to having more sexual relationships. Lastly, sexuality education does not favor all of sectors, most especially Catholic Church. They fear that sex education and the distribution of contraceptives may only increase the incidence of sexual relations, knowing that sex outside marriage is greatly prohibited in their doctrine practice (Nichols, 2020).
Currently, I recently learned that the City of Santa Rosa (my locality) has already initiated its implementation since 2016. The minutes from the 23rd regular session tackled about the provision of gender and development in Santa Rosa, which includes the implementation of sexuality education and gender responsive education. However, the finalization of detailed lesson plan of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) just happened only last 2020 which aims the CSE implementation in the School Year 2020-2021 (Garma, 2020). There has also been an online program entitled “Comprehensive Sexuality Education - Adolescent Reproductive Health (CSE-ARH) Convergence!” that was launched via FB live in order to strengthen the relationship between the schools and health care providers regarding sexual and reproductive health (DepEd Tayo Santa Rosa City, 2021).
References:
City of Santa Rosa. (2016, June 27). Ordinance No. 2044-2015http://santarosacity.gov.ph/file-manager/files/ORDINANCES/2015/2044-2015.pdf
Commission on Population and Development. (2020). POPCOM: Adolescent pregnancies in PHL drop by 13% in 2020; Sexual behavior changes, Covid concerns drive teen birth rate down to 31%. https://popcom.gov.ph/popcom-adolescent-pregnancies-in-phl-drop-by-13-in-2020-sexual-behavior-changes-covid-concerns-drive-teen-birth-rate-down-to-31/
DepEd Tayo Santa Rosa City. (2021, September 9). National Launch of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education - Adolescent Reproductive Health (CSE-ARH) Convergence. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/depedsantarosa/videos/1034313887321213/
Garma, M.S. (2020, February 28). Writeshop on the Finalization of Detailed Lesson Plans (DLPs) for the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE). https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NCR_RM_s2020_113.pdf
Nichols, Z. (2020, December 15). Sex Education in the Philippines. The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/sex-education-in-the-philippines/
Official Gazette (2012). Republic Act No. 10354. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2013/03/18/implementing-rules-and-regulations-of-republic-act-no-10354/
Rahmani, A., Merghati-Khoei, E., & Fallahi, A. (2018). Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Sex Education in Young Women: A Qualitative Study. International Journal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction, 7(2), e57221. https://doi.org/10.5812/ijhrba.57221