Should sex education be made compulsory?

Savithri Gunasekera, the Colombo University’s former Vice Chancellor, made an important statement recently. She said that lessons on child abuse, domestic violence and sex education should be made compulsory in school curriculums. “Some tend to think that it is not in our culture to discuss such matters, but educating children on these issues at school level will give them the information they need to keep them from harm’s way. We also now have a legal system which supports this,” she added. Prof Gunasekera also noted that adolescents acquired autonomy at 16 years of age, but there was little recognition of this fact in Sri Lanka.

I believe Prof. Gunasekera has a valid point. Out of the three issues, this article concentrates only on the third, sex education. Unfortunately, as outdated as it may sound, it is still the belief of many that openly discussing sex and its ramifications will cause our teens to go astray. Is this a fact or a fallacy? When we think about the amount of sex that teenagers are exposed to each day- all of which is glorified, does it seem like a bad idea to at least provide them with the foundation, tools, and knowledge to help them make more responsible decisions?

Especially when we consider that given our own demanding schedules, and our aversion to the conversation itself, we often leave the youth questioning and looking for answers from the older kid across the street who has a ton of fancy theories of his own. These stories are likely to be believed by the gullible youth because they have never been taught or exposed to anything different.

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