ELC501: ENGLISH FOR CRITICAL ACADEMIC READING

Portfolio on:

Do you agree on implementation sex education in school?

Faculty: Administrative Science and Policy Studies

Group: AM2252A

Students’ Name Matric Number

Ain Natasya Binti Mohd Redwan K Gobee 2021474046
Nur Aina Batrisyia Binti Asfazafrin 2021488672
Siti Nur Tibyan Binti Abdullah 2021888616
Nur Izzati Binti Mohd Ibrahim 2021467648

Prepared for:
Profesor Madya Khas Dr Angeline Ranjethamoney R. Vijayarajoo

Submission Date:
Week 13- Week 14
 1.0 Table of Contents

Time frame 2

Panelist 2

Outline 3

List of articles :-

Article 1: Sex Education Continues To Beat Around The Bush, Leaves Students Lost 12

Article 2: Sex Education Should Not Be Taught In Schools, Say More Than Half Of 13
Parents

Article 3: Why Sex Ed Is a Matter of Public Health 14

Article 4: Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Sex Education in Young Women 16

A Qualitative Study

Article 5: Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Sex Education in Young Women 17

A Qualitative Study

Article 6: Pros and Cons of Sex Education in School Children: Review 18

Article 7: Sex Education Makes Teenagers More Promiscuous 19

Article 8: Sex Education is a Must 20

References 23

1
2.0 Time frame
Date and Time
8th April 2022 (8-10 am)
8th April 2022 (11 am-12 pm)
24th May 2022 (1pm-3pm)
27th May 2022 (1pm-3pm)
3rd June 2022 (11 am-12 pm)
10th June 2022 (9pm-10pm)
2nd July 2022 (9pm-10pm)
6th July 2022 (9pm-10pm)
3.0 Panelist
Name
Ain Natasya Binti Mohd Redwan K Gobee
Nur Aina Batrisyia Binti Asfazafrin
Siti Nur Tibyan Binti Abdullah
Nur Izzati Binti Mohd Ibrahim
Task
Forum and portfolio briefing by Dr Angie
Delegation of article research duties (2 articles for
each member)
Sitting together for research for information
Discussion of outlining the forum discussion
Discussion of counter-arguments and flow of the
forum discussion
Practice of forum discussion
Practice of forum discussion with moderator
Final practice of forum discussion
As
Dr Ain Natasya
Senior Lecturer of FSPPP UiTM Seremban 3
Prof Aina Batrisyia
Head Counselor of FSPPP UiTM Seremban 3
Miss Siti Nur Tibyan
President of Student Representative Council
UiTM Seremban 3
Miss Nur Izzati
President of FSPPP UiTM Seremban 3
2
4.0 Outline for Forum Discussion
Claim Premises
Prof Aina Batrisyia ● Schools which
(Head Counselor of
contraceptive methods, and even
FSPPP)
provide students with
Agree with the
condoms, do not see
implementation of sex
education in school students having sex from an
earlier age. Nor do they have sex
Sex education doesn’t
encourage students more often. This is a myth with no
involved in sex.
empirical evidence to support the ● The review looked at 87 studies
claim.
● There are many studies that show
the benefits of teaching children
about contraceptives in schools.
● Teens that use condoms the first
time they have intercourse are
half as likely to contract ● This research has show that if the
chlamydia and gonorrhea over the
course of the following seven
years. This shows that those that
start off using contraceptives,
stay safer for longer than those
that don’t.
● The argument that sex education
normalises sex and therefore
shouldn't be taught in schools is
also flawed. Sex is already
normalised at a young age. Teens
are exposed to it every day on TV,
in video games, on social media
and in their friendship circles.
Counter-Agreement
teach Dr Ain Natasya
(Senior Lecturer)
free ● A review by UNESCO (United
Nations Educational Scientific and
their
Cultural Organization) provides
some hard data on how sexuality
education can influence behavior.
from around the world and found
more than a third of the sexuality
education programs increased
condom or contraceptive use,
while more than half reduced
sexual risk-taking.
student aware on how to have a
healthy and safe sex, they will
intend to do sex and did not have
to worry about the result. It is
because they know how to prevent
and protect themselves in doing
sex.
3
 ● Teaching it in school isn’t going
to have any impact on
promiscuity, it is simply going to
ensure that when teenagers start
having sex, they know how to
protect themselves.

Prof Aina Batrisyia ● Early exposure to sex education

(Head Counselor of
could prevent children from
FSPPP)
becoming victims.
Agree with the
● If they do not know what is wrong
implementation of sex
education in school or right, they could fall victim to
people who would take advantage
Sex education can
prevent students from of them.
being abused.
● It was important to detect such
abuse cases early to protect the
children physically and
emotionally, besides the urgency
to collect evidence, such as bodily
fluids required to charge the
culprits.
● The growing concern about the
high number of child sexual
abuse cases had prompted some
to introduce sex education in
preschools.
● There was no specific curriculum
on the topic, but preschools were
encouraged to teach children as
young as 2 about the dos and
don’ts when they came across a
situation where they could be in
danger.

4
 ● Controlling a sex education class Prof Aina Batrisyia
Dr Ain Natasya (Head Counselor of FSPPP)
can be a very tricky situation.
(Senior Lecturer)
Young students do not ● Supported by international
Disagree with the
necessarily want to maintain agencies, Zambia has introduced
implementation of sex
education in school discipline and the subject might an ambitious nation-wide
be embarrassing to them and/or program for comprehensive
Controlling The
they might get overly excited. sexuality education (CSE) to be
Classes Can Be Very
● The students can resort to implemented into ordinary
Difficult
laughing and passing school activities by teachers.
inappropriate comments, creating ● Individual teachers make
an inhospitable environment for decisions on their own regarding
the sensitive subject. what and when to teach CSE.
● Students may still be subject to ● Use of discretion has resulted in
embarrassment or excitable by arbitrary teaching thus affecting
subject matter. This can make for the acquisition of comprehensive
out of control classrooms if sexual and reproductive health
students laugh or make knowledge among learners.
inappropriate comments. ● Studies in Botswana, Nigeria and
● Unfortunately, when most South Africa have shown that
students are done with sex sexuality education may
education classes, they do not contribute to overcoming the
have a clear understanding of adolescents SRH challenges that
contraception and safe sex Zambia and other countries face.
practices and the benefits they ● Zambian sexuality education
allow for. policy is the idea that there is a
substantial need to support
adolescents in delaying their
sexual debut, to reduce the
number of sexual partners and to
increase safer sexual practices.
● It is anticipated that the positive
effects on knowledge, skills,
attitudes and values will

5
 empower adolescents to realize
their health, well-being and
dignity; to develop respectful and
pleasurable social and sexual
relationships; and to understand
and ensure the protection of their
rights throughout their lives.
● The average numbers of hours
that the teachers teach varies
from about 20 h per week in
primary school to about 25 h per
week in high school. Classes are
made up of about 60 learners.
● Teacher expertise was largely
grouped in two; those who taught
basic sciences including
mathematics and those who
taught social science related
subjects such as social studies
and religious education.

6
 ● By educating kids on sex at an
Dr Ain Natasya
early age, it pollutes their minds
(Senior Lecturer)
and enhances their curiosity,
Disagree with the
leading to try it out once or even
implementation of sex
education in school forcing someone to do it.
● The subject of the classes can not
Can Hurt The only hurt the moral and/or
Religious Beliefs Of
religious beliefs of an individual
The Students
but make him/her want to
discontinue classes.
● Also, several religious beliefs and
practices include abstinence,
marriage before sex, etc., while
most sex education classes teach
the art of practicing safe sex.

Miss Tibyan ● Sexual education is a matter of Miss Izzati

(President of Student (President of FSPPP)
public health. Students must be
Representative
Council) informed of the dangers of ● Sex education is not simply a
unprotected sex and the measures matter of public health and
Agree with the
implementation of sex they can take to prevent the attempting to teach it in this way is
education in school
spread of sexually transmitted damaging and dangerous to the
diseases. sexual development of young
Sex education
● Teaching teens about adults.
promotes healthy
living contraception is a must for ● An amoral approach that teaches
promoting a healthy lifestyle so sex education as part of a public
their children are more likely to health program separates human
have low possibilty to abortions sexuality from its connection with
in which reducing the number of love and emotional affection. This
teenage pregnancies. can lead teens to behave in a more

7
 ● 20 million new STD cases promiscuous way.
emerge in 15-24-year-olds every ● They are part of the emotional and
year, costing around $16 billion moral development of a child and
annually in healthcare costs and therefore fall under the educational
pose a major threat to the purview of the parent, not the
individual’s long-term school.
reproductive health .
● STD is significant health that
need attention because No
comprehensive sex ed no reliable
information on how STDs are
transmitted and no understanding
of how to prevent them lead to
severe reproductive health
complications.
● Apart from that, Failure to teach
kids the use of condoms can
expose them to HIV disease and
an unprecedented spike in new
syphilis infections as well.
● Without implementing sex
education in school actually
leaving the public at risk of
destroying their lives and their
fertility.

Miss Tibyan ● Most parents want gender and

(President of Student
sexual diversity education in
Representative
Council) schools as part of relationships
and sexual health education.
Agree with the
implementation of sex ● Based on the research that
education in school
supported by an Australian
Parents want sex Research Council (Discovery)
education in schools

8
 found 94% of parents want
Relationships and Sexuality
Education delivered in
government schools and 82% of
parents support the curriculum
inclusion of gender and sexuality
diversity topics for all school
students, from kindergarten to
Year 12.
● The parents support parents,
schools and teachers all being
involved in Relationships and
Sexuality Education.
● Most are comfortable about
relationships and health
education reflecting the spectrum
of human sexuality and gender
● Hence,the majority of parents in
the study rated gender and
sexuality diversity-inclusive
content as of high or moderate
importance.

Miss Izzati ● More than half of parents do not Miss Tibyan

(President of FSPPP) (President of Student
think sex education should be
Representative Council)
Disagree with the taught to children at school. It is
implementation of sex ● Failure to teach sex education as
inappropriate to teach children
education in school
part of a comprehensive health
about sex, whilst others think it
Sex education is not program in schools leaves them
should be a parents' choice to
important for
vulnerable to disease and fertility
children to know. inform their own child.
problems in later life.

● 59 per cent do not agree with the

fact that sex education is often

9
 taught to children in schools,
even from a young age. Almost
half (48 per cent) of those
questioned said children should
be at least 13 years old before it
is appropriate to teach them
about sex.
● Of those that don't agree that sex
education should be taught in
schools, 41 per cent said it was
inappropriate to teach youngsters
about the subject.

● It is a sensitive subject and

parents have their own way to
approach it and want to control
what their children know, even
more so at a young age.

Miss Izzati ● Sex education normalises sex Miss Tibyan

(President of FSPPP) (President of Student
among young adults and sparks
Representative Council)
Disagree with the their curiosity. In doing so, it
implementation of sex ● Schools which teach contraceptive
cultivates an unhealthy
education in school
methods, and even provide
relationship with sex and can
Sex education makes students with free condoms, do not
lead to promiscuity. Sexually
teenagers more
see their students having sex from
promiscuous. active students agree abstinence-
an earlier age. Nor do they have
only sex education has them
sex more often. This is a myth
turning to Netflix shows and the
with no empirical evidence to
internet for answers.
support the claim.
● The argument that sex education
● Informing teenagers about
normalises sex and therefore
condoms and the ways to prevent
shouldn't be taught in schools is
sexually transmitted diseases and

10
 unwanted pregnancies, could also flawed. Sex is already
embolden them and make them normalised at a young age.
more promiscuous. ● Teaching it in school isn’t going
to have any impact on promiscuity,
● Instead of receiving sex it is simply going to ensure that
education, students experience when teenagers start having sex,
bullying, sexual abuse or risk they know how to protect
contracting sexually transmitted themselves.
infections or other adverse
effects of uneducated sex.
● Abstinence-only sex ed is
dangerous and ineffective
because it misinforms children
and teenagers about the reality of
sex. If parents and teachers
continue to teach what they
learned as children, students will
lose faith and continue to be at
risk of unprotected and unwanted
sex.

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5.0 List of Articles
Articles that has been referred to:
Article 1: Sex education continues to beat around the bush, leaves students lost.
Sexually active students agree abstinence-only sex education has them turning to Netflix shows
and the internet for answers.

When asked about their sex education experiences over Instagram DMs, a handful of UNL
students said they saw the curriculum focus on shaming women for their sexuality, a focus on
gender being a choice between male or female and telling students to choose abstinence overall.
All while the school is left wondering how the curriculum fails when a teenager gets pregnant
or STD rates go up.

Thirty states in the United States require sex education. However, according to the nonprofit
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States’ website, Nebraska is not
one of those states. If any sex ed is taught at all, there are no standards or requirements besides
making sure abstinence is leaned on.

“Sex education is not currently mandated in Nebraska, and schools that choose to teach sex
education must emphasize abstinence,” the site reads. “Because Nebraska schools are not
required to provide sex education to students, school districts are left to decide what type of
sex education — if any at all — they provide to youth.”

Gov. Pete Ricketts addressed the issue of sex education last June, and again in September when
the Nebraska Department of Education was trying to propose teaching “radical sex education
material.”

“The draft health education standards were politicized and contained non-scientific concepts,”
said Ricketts in his September statement. “The State Board of Education was right to postpone
them, however, the battle over what our kids should be taught in schools is not over. The State
Board of Education could bring these controversial standards back at any time.”

According to Omaha Women’s Fund research and policy director Tiffany Seibert Joekel, the
education standards being proposed, even if added to learning material, would not be required
material.

“Providing a comprehensive health education framework helps students navigate sexual

development, protect their health and safety and plan for their futures,” Joekel said in an email.

12
Joekel added instead of receiving sex education, students experience bullying, sexual abuse or
risk contracting sexually transmitted infections or other adverse effects of uneducated sex.

In another press release in September, Ricketts encouraged parents to review the proposed
framework and see if it aligned with family values.

Article 2: Sex education should not be taught in schools, say more than half of parents
More than half of parents do not think sex education should be taught to children at school,
according to a new survey.

Many think it is inappropriate to teach children about sex, whilst others think it should be a
parents' choice to inform their own child, according to a poll by baby product website
babychild.org.uk.

The survey, which questioned more than 1,700 parents of children aged five to 11, found that
59 per cent do not agree with the fact that sex education is often taught to children in schools,
even from a young age. Almost half (48 per cent) of those questioned said children should be
at least 13 years old before it is appropriate to teach them about sex, the survey found. Of those
that don't agree that sex education should be taught in schools, 41 per cent said it was
inappropriate to teach youngsters about the subject, while one in four (28 per cent) said it
should be the parents' choice to teach their own child. A similar proportion (27 per cent) said
there was no need for children to know about sex.

Contraception was the most popular topic that parents said should be covered in sex education
lessons (chosen by 65 per cent), followed by puberty (49 per cent), homosexuality (48 per cent)
and sexually transmitted infections (47 per cent).

Babychild.org.uk co-founder Andy Barr said: 'I am not surprised by the results of the study,
with the majority of parents against the idea of sex education in a school environment. This is
a sensitive subject and parents have their own way to approach it and want to control what their
children know, even more so at a young age.' At the moment, both primary and secondary
schools have to teach pupils age-appropriate lessons about the biology of sex in science.
Schools must also have a sex education policy, although the subject is not compulsory.

13
Article 3: Why Sex Ed Is a Matter of Public Health
By Dr. Gloria Brame, Contributor, Apr 15, 2015
We don't need studies to tell us that people who don't understand how to prevent pregnancy
end up either as underage parents or abortion statistics. The key to reducing the need for
abortions is reducing the number of pregnancies.

I've been tweeting about recent national news that HIV has reached a crisis in one county in
Indiana, and that Texas just voted to divert HIV prevention funds to pay for abstinence-only
education. One of the points I've hammered home is that the ultimate cost of refusing to teach
youngsters the facts about sex translates into the spread of STDs.
A few critics have questioned why I link HIV in addicts (the HIV crisis in Indiana is probably
a result of shared needles rather than sexual contact) to sex education. On the surface perhaps
they do sound different to people who themselves haven't had a comprehensive sex education.
To sexologists, though, the links between any number of social problems and the lack of
evidence-based sex education are glaringly obvious.

Here are just two ways in which the absence of comprehensive sex education impacts public
health in America.

1. This is an STD pandemic in the United States.

According to the 2013 CDC STD overview, new infections are pandemic STDs are a
significant health challenge facing the United States. CDC estimates that nearly 20 million
new sexually transmitted infections occur every year in this country, half among young
people ages 15-24, accounting for almost $16 billion in health care costs. Each of these
infections is a potential threat to an individual's immediate and long-term health and well-
being. In addition to increasing a person's risk for acquiring and transmitting HIV infection,
STDs can lead to severe reproductive health complications, such as infertility and ectopic
pregnancy.

No comprehensive sex ed = no reliable information on how STDs are transmitted and no

understanding of how to prevent them. This includes all the drug addicts who, without proper
education, may think of HIV as a "gay disease," or otherwise not understand the risk of being
exposed to another person's blood.

14
Failure to teach safe sex is literally leaving the public at risk of destroying their lives and
their fertility. Failure to teach kids about condom use, and what they can and cannot protect
you from (condoms will not prevent HPV; on the other hand, they will prevent HIV, etc.)
adds to the problem. Failure to educate is currently responsible for an unprecedented spike
in new syphilis infections as well.

Meanwhile, for the cold-hearted, you can also boil this down to big, big numbers because
the amount of money the U.S. spends to treat STDs and their potentially tragic outcomes
(infertility, cancers, blindness, and death to mention a few) is a multiple of the $16 billion
mentioned above by the CDC.

2. Unwanted pregnancies are linked to lack of comprehensive sex education.

Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle found that teenagers who received
some type of comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to get pregnant or get
someone else pregnant. And in 2007, a federal report showed that abstinence-only programs
had "no impacts on rates of sexual abstinence." ... Additionally, research shows that
abstinence-only strategies could deter contraceptive use among teenagers, thus increasing
their risk of unintended pregnancy.

We don't need studies to tell us that people who don't understand how to prevent pregnancy
end up either as underage parents or abortion statistics. The key to reducing the need for
abortions is reducing the number of pregnancies. It's oddly simple: teach your kids how to
use contraceptives and most of them will choose to avoid getting pregnant.

Abstinence doesn't work. Even Evangelical Christians have premarital sex at the same rate
as non-religious Americans. Meanwhile, abstinence programs have been shown to increase
unwanted pregnancy rates. States which offer comprehensive sex ed see a decline in teen
pregnancy. Yes, strange but true: it's sexual conservatism that drives up the abortion rates
and underage pregnancy, not liberal thinking.

I could spend the rest of my life explaining the public health crisis engendered by anti-sex
ideology. (That's why I write books, so I don't have to bore you here.) Whether it's the anti-
15
 sexual reasons circumcision became enshrined in American paediatric medicine, the overuse
of episiotomy in childbirth, the lack of post-natal sexual health care for new moms, or the
billion-dollar industries of charlatans and quacks who offer wrongful therapy, phony pills
and other snake oils to Americans desperate for sexual remedies, the lack of sex ed leads to
misery for adults. It's almost as if politicians deliberately keep the general public ignorant so
that pharma-religious forces can keep raking in the profits for treating problems that would
not exist in the first place if the public was better educated.

What really kills me is this: people who oppose sex ed do so largely because they think sex
itself is shameful, embarrassing, and irrelevant to "the way things should be." They can't
accept that humans are as much products of biology as intellect or spirituality.

Don't be a tragic sex statistic. Educate yourself and educate your kids on the realities of sex
-- that includes not just how to prevent bad or unwanted things, but also how to enjoy the
gifts of joy and satisfaction our bodies can provide when we engage in safe, consensual,
healthy sex. You can start by reading one of my books.

Article 4: Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Sex Education in Young Women

A Qualitative Study

By Azam Rahmani, Effat Merghati-Khoei, Arezoo Fallahi

Disadvantages of sex education is motive for initiating sexual behavior and can hurt the
religious beliefs of the students. Sexual education, in many cases, goes against an individual’s
morals and beliefs. Also, most schools do not teach ‘abstinence’. Instead, they focus on having
safe intercourse, which many religions and family values object to before marriage. Some
participants believed that sex education could operate as a sexual stimulus.

A religious participant, Razieh (31 years), who has not received sex education, seemed to
express this conservative objection well:

‘With providing sex education, books and classes will become a channel for people’s sexual
gratification. Sex education is not like education of history or geography. We have sexual
organs and with getting information, it is possible that we desire to stimulate ourselves…’
16
Also, some participants believed that providing primary information about sexuality will
stimulate individuals’ curiosity to search for more sexuality information. Soraya (27 years)
stated that:

‘When a person is prone to initiate her sexual relationships, receiving sexual information will
make her thirsty for more information and motivate her for initiating sexual relationship’.

These young women believed that they might initiate their sexual relationships if they receive
sex education because they view sex education as a motivation for sexual awareness. By
educating kids on sex at an early age, it pollutes their minds and enhances their curiosity,
leading to try it out once or even forcing someone to do it. The subject of the classes can not
only hurt the moral and/or religious beliefs of an individual but make him/her want to
discontinue classes. Also, several religious beliefs and practices include abstinence, marriage
before sex, etc., while most sex education classes teach the art of practicing safe sex.

(Azam Rahmani, Effat Merghati-Khoei, and Arezoo Fallahi. International Journal of High Risk
Behaviors and Addiction. 2018 June; 7(2):e57221)

Article 5: Pros and Cons of Sex Education in School Children: Review

By David Mandigo

When teens are supported in their quest for birth control, they may feel as though they have a
ticket for sexual freedom. Controlling a sex education class can be a very tricky situation.
Young students do not necessarily want to maintain discipline and the subject might be
embarrassing to them and they might get overly excited.

The students can resort to laughing and passing inappropriate comments, creating an
inhospitable environment for the sensitive subject. Students may still be subject to
embarrassment or excitable by subject matter. This can make for out of control classrooms if
students laugh or make inappropriate comments. Unfortunately, when most students are done
with sex education classes, they do not have a clear understanding of contraception and safe
sex practices and the benefits they allow for.

Teachers appointed for the task are mostly untrained as to how should they go about teaching
sex education to children. As a result, they end up adding in their own morals and beliefs into
the subject matter, rather than focusing on the facts.

17
(David Mandigo. International Digital Organization for Scientific Research ISSN: 2550-7931.
IDOSR JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES 5(1) 42-45, 2020. Department of Sociology,
Faculty of Social Science, Mahatma Gandhi University, Rwanda.)

Article 6: Most parents want gender and sexual diversity education in schools – study

by The Educator,23 Mar 2022

Most parents want gender and sexual diversity education in schools, a new nationwide study
has found.

The study, by Western Sydney University (WSU) researchers, involved 2,000 parents of
public-school children from Kindergarten to Year 12. It found that over 80% of Australian
parents support the teaching of gender and sexuality diversity in schools, as part of relationships
and sexual health education.

Led by Associate Professor Jacqueline Ullman and Associate Professor Tania Ferfolja from
the University’s School of Education, it is the first comprehensive survey of parents on whether
they believe gender and sexuality diversity should be included in classroom discussions.

Published in the journal ‘Sex Education’, the survey was conducted to be as representative of
the broad Australian population as possible. Participating parents came from a variety of
religions, cultural backgrounds and education levels.

The research, which was supported by an Australian Research Council (Discovery) grant,
found that:

● 94% of parents want Relationships and Sexuality Education delivered in government

schools.
● 82% of parents support the curriculum inclusion of gender and sexuality diversity
topics for all school students, from kindergarten to Year 12.
● Most parents want to see gender and sexuality diversity introduced in the curriculum
in primary school and the early years of high school.
● The majority of parents support parents, schools and teachers all being involved in
Relationships and Sexuality Education.

Associate Professor Ferfolja said the findings show Australian parents largely support the
teaching of sexuality and gender diversity in schools.

18
“Most are comfortable about relationships and health education reflecting the spectrum of
human sexuality and gender,” Professor Ferfolja said.

“What makes this study so significant is that it’s the first nationwide and representative
research of parents of school-aged children on this subject.”

According to Associate Professor Ullman, the majority of parents in the study rated gender and
sexuality diversity-inclusive content as of high or moderate importance.

“Sexual health, safety and wellbeing were similarly ranked. There are implications here for
teachers,” she said.

A recent Australian study of high-school sex education teachers found gender and sexuality
diversity was the subject they were least comfortable teaching. Nearly two-thirds said they
were careful around the topic due to possible adverse community reaction.

“Teachers would clearly benefit from more support to feel confident that discussing these
topics is in line with the views of the majority of today’s parents. Our research findings support
this.”

According to the researchers, the findings suggest Australian schools could update some
aspects of Relationships and Sexuality Education, particularly as evidence shows routine
discrimination against diverse young people.

“This research highlights the need for education departments and curriculum developers to
recognise that the majority of parents support education that incorporates gender and sexuality
diversity topics in government schools,” Associate Professor Ferfolja added.

The original version of this article was published by the WSU News Room.

Article 7: Sex Education Makes Teenagers More Promiscuous

Every study carried out on the topic has indicated that this is untrue.

Schools which teach contraceptive methods, and even provide students with free condoms, do
not see their students having sex from an earlier age. Nor do they have sex more often. This is
a myth with no empirical evidence to support the claim.

19
On the other hand, there are many studies that show the benefits of teaching children about
contraceptives in schools.

In 2007, a study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that teens that use
condoms the first time they have intercourse are half as likely to contract chlamydia and
gonorrhea over the course of the following seven years.

This shows that those that start off using contraceptives, stay safer for longer than those that
don’t.
The argument that sex education normalises sex and therefore shouldn't be taught in schools is
also flawed. Sex is already normalised at a young age. Teens are exposed to it every day on
TV, in video games, on social media and in their friendship circles.

Teaching it in school isn’t going to have any impact on promiscuity, it is simply going to ensure
that when teenagers start having sex, they know how to protect themselves.

Article 8: Sex Education is a Must

By Olivia Miwil and Teoh PeiI Ying

Tucked in a police file somewhere is a statement recorded from a well-educated young woman
who thought that a kiss could make her pregnant.What she didn’t know, as she claimed after
being caught abandoning a new-born baby, was that she could get pregnant by having sexual
intercourse.

Federal police Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division assistant principal director
Assistant Commissioner Ong Chin Lan said it might sound silly but that was the social reality
in Malaysia. Child sexual offence cases remained high in the country, where last year, there
was an average of about five cases per day although not too long ago, in 2012, the average was
eight cases per day.

Ong believed greater awareness of sex crimes was needed to increase vigilance against sexual
predators, along with stronger laws as a deterrent for others, such as the newly passed Sexual
Offences Against Children Bill 2017.She also believed moral-based teachings needed to be
enhanced along with the present academic-based curriculum, and that there was a need to take
another look at the approach to sex education in schools. The cases of young women dumping
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newborn babies also highlighted the crucial need for a more comprehensive syllabus on sex
education.

In the last two weeks, two cases were recorded.One was in Kuching, Sarawak, yesterday, where
a newborn was found at an apartment garbage collection area, while the other was on March
30 in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah, where a college student and her boyfriend are now facing
murder charges.

The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry recently revealed that 104
newborn babies were dumped last year, of whom 61 were found dead. Ong said the case of the
girl believing that a kiss could get her pregnant might not be the first or the last, and pinned it
on the lack of early sex education by parents. “The girl believed her mother that she could get
pregnant if she was kissed by a man. “Sex education is crucial and parents must communicate,
and be sensitive and observant towards their children. It should not be a taboo to discuss sex
with them,”

Ong added.There were also cases where mothers turned a deaf ear or even “closed an eye” to
their children who are sexually abused for fear of losing their breadwinner and lover. “I have
come across such terrible cases, too,” she said of such betrayal by parents. “They need to listen
and trust their children apart from being open about the subject.”

Ong revealed there were very few child rape cases where the victims did not know their
assailants. “Most of the time, they know who raped them but are caught in a situation where
it’s hard for them to speak up.”

Sex education in schools as an alternative to sex education, the Education Ministry introduced
the Reproductive and Social Health Education (PEERS) in secondary schools in 1989 and
extended it to primary schools in 1994. Sabah Education director Datuk Maimunah Suhaibul
said the term “sex education” was not used because it was deemed a taboo to society and that
the subjects were only taught verbally. “The content of the curriculum is more to teaching the
science of male and female reproductive systems, fertility and childbirth, and identifying and
handling unwanted sexual attention,” she said.

Last year, Education director-general Tan Sri Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof said the PEERS
content would be upgraded. He said the upgrade would include equipping students with the
knowledge to prevent them from falling victim to sexual harassment and abuse. “Lessons on

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sex education can be carried out in the context of health and body awareness by focusing on
safety aspects. Sometimes, they (children) are too friendly with strangers.”

Khair had also said sex education could also be revamped through school modules, adding that
students were mostly aware of the dos and don’ts when it came to their bodies, but they could
cave in to social pressure. Seven topics had been proposed for the National Health Education
Standards to expose students from kindergarten to adolescent level to minimum but essential
content on sex education. The topics include anatomy and physiology, puberty and adolescent
development, identity, pregnancy and reproduction, sexually-transmitted diseases and HIV, as
well as healthy relationship.

Early exposure to sex education could prevent children from becoming victims, according to
the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect team leader Dr Ng Su Fang of Likas Women and
Children’s Hospital. “It is natural for young children to listen to adults or family members.
“So, if they do not know what is wrong or right, they could fall victim to people who would
take advantage of them. “What is worse is when they are told to keep such things a secret and
they can be considered lucky when other adults notice behavioral changes,” she said. Dr Ng
said it was important to detect such abuse cases early to protect the children physically and
emotionally, besides the urgency to collect evidence, such as bodily fluids required to charge
the culprits.

Sabah Taska Association vice-president Zubaidah Sidek said the growing concern about the
high number of child sexual abuse cases had prompted some to introduce sex education in
preschools. She said there was no specific curriculum on the topic, but preschools were
encouraged to teach children as young as 2 about the dos and don’ts when they came across a
situation where they could be in danger.“Among others, we instill the idea of gender difference
during daily routines at school, whereby boys and girls bathe, and take afternoon naps
separately. “They are also being taught body areas which are meant to be private or not shown
to anyone, as well as to tell if they are uncomfortable when being touched,” she said.

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6.0 References

1. Daily Mail Reporter. (2011, May 5). Sex education should not be taught in schools, say
more than half of parents. Mail Online. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383930/Sex-education-taught-schools-say-half-
parents.html

2. Hummel, R. (2022, February 14). Sex education continues to beat around the bush,
leaves students lost. The Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from
https://www.dailynebraskan.com/magazines/sex-education-continues-to-beat-around-the-
bush-leaves-students-lost/article_fda6f7f6-8224-11ec-9a20-bf14f18ed228.html

3. Azam Rahmani, Effat Merghati-Khoei, Arezoo Fallahi ( 2018). Perceived Advantages

and Disadvantages of Sex Education in Young Women A Qualitative Study. International
Journal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction. 2018 June; 7(2):e57221).; The Risk Behavior
Institution, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322477026_Perceived_Advantages_and_Disadvant
ages_of_Sex_Education_in_Young_Women_A_Qualitative_Study

4. David Mandigo. (2020). Pros and Cons of Sex Education in School Children: Review.
International Digital Organization for Scientific Research ISSN: 2550-7931. Idosr Journal Of
Applied Sciences 5(1) 42-45, 2020. Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Science,
Mahatma Gandhi University, Rwanda from https://www.idosr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020
/02/IDOSR-JAS-51-42-45-2020.-UN.pdf

5. Sex education is a must | new straits times. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2022, from
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/04/229703/sex-education-must

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6. P. (2022). Sex education makes teenagers more promiscuous - Parlia. Parlia.
https://www.parlia.com/a/sex-education-makes-teenagers-promiscuous

7. Dr Gloria Brame. (2015, April 15). Why Sex Ed Is a Matter of Public Health.
https://www.huffpost.com/Entry/Why-Sex-Ed-Is-a-Matter-of_b_7065176

8. The Educator. (2022, March 23). Most parents want gender and sexual diversity
education in schools. https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/News/Most-Parents-Want-
Gender-and-Sexual-Diversity-Education-in-Schools--Study/279855

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