When it comes to sex education and children, child rights activist and member of the Child Protection Task Force, Hazel Thompson-Ahye, is not only concerned about teenage pregnancies or unsafe sex, but also about sexual exploitation and abuse.
In a recent interview with the T&T Guardian, Thompson-Ahye spoke of the issue being one of the major priorities on the task force's list of things to urgently address.
"As a member, I recommended age-appropriate education on sexuality and pregnancy be included in both the primary and secondary curricula, since children as young as twelve were becoming pregnant and in some instances did not know that they were pregnant nor how they got that way," says Thompson-Ahye.
She believes all professionals who were working with and for children, must bear in mind that for many young people sex is not a matter of choice, but frequently, a matter of coercion.
"Too many children have no one to protect them and are thus vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation even within their homes. They may not be safe in school and other educational institutions, as teachers or lecturers sometimes prey on their vulnerability and exploit them sexually. HIV and other STD transmission can come from voluntary sexual activity as well as forced sex," explains Thomson-Ahye.
She says forced sex may not always involve physical violence but can also result from peer pressure, which is mainly psychological pressure. And what was needed was to constantly instill in children that it takes greater strength to resist peer pressure than to go wit the flow.
"It is never true that 'everyone is doing it.' Our children need to learn how to protect themselves from increased vulnerability flowing from abuse of alcohol and drugs and how to protect themselves."
Do not disapprove sexeducation in schools
The Convention on the Rights of the Child requires states to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Under the Convention, children have the inherent right to life, survival and development. They also have rights to education and to information. Thompson-Ahye said therefore, children must be educated on sexuality and how to protect themselves from sexual exploitation. And they must receive information on HIV/Aids and STDs which threaten their very lives, survival and development.
But there is a pickle in achieving this as Thompson-Ahye notes, even today parents and religious leaders disapprove of sex and sexuality education, and not every teacher has the competence or willingness to deal with the issue.
"It is perhaps for these reasons that sexuality was largely ignored when teachers had to teach the Health and Family Life Education (HFLE), Curriculum," Thompson-Ahye opined.
She added, With the glamorisation of sexual activity by the media, particularly television, and entertainers, children and young people are bombarded with sex and frequently succumb to temptation.
"Youths are by nature, risk-taking. The various types of trauma to which they are continually exposed increases the likelihood of risk-taking behaviour and the consequences of such behaviour," she points out.
She states, ignorance of what sexuality education entails causes parents and others to object to children and young people getting the education they deserve.
"Unesco has designed a curriculum which identifies age-appropriate learning objectives for various levels. Peter Gordon, an independent consultant from the UK, in his paper, Sexuality Education and the Prevention of Sexual Violence 1, explains what Unesco's learning objectives embrace, and none of it teaches children how to have sex, or encourage them to experiment with sex, as some parents fear," says Thompson-Ahye.
more info
Unesco International technical guidance on sex education states, the primary goal of sexuality education is to equip children and young people with the knowledge, skills and values to make responsible choices about their sexual and social relationships in a world affected by HIV. It goes further and advises that, in addition to learning about the risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), children and young people also need to learn about the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse in order to recognise these when they occur, to protect themselves as far as possible and to identify and access available sources of support.
