The Growing Years

So much hoo-ha about sexuality education in school these few weeks. I was surprised to read the following:

1. Parents said they did not receive information about what their children would be taught and did not know that they could opt out of the programme.

Thought it is obligatory for schools to send out info and to give parents the opt-out form. We definitely got those handouts. The school listed the topics that would be covered, with a few sub-points about what would be discussed for each topic.

I suspect that the school also tweaked the timing of the Science lessons to fall in line with the sexuality ed programme. Many schools did the topic of 'Reproduction' for P5 Science in Term 1 this year. However, the boy will only do it in Term 3, after the Growing Years lessons (i.e. the sexuality ed programme) have been completed.

So, get them thinking about the social and moral perspectives first before learning about the scientific mechanics. Good idea, no?

2. A teacher said she(?) was made to teach the programme after one day's training.

For many people, this kind of topic is not easy to 'teach' or even 'facilitate'. You know, like if the teacher is, say, a geography teacher, she probably studied geog for 3 or more years in uni, and also at A and O levels, so she has quite a lot of preparation for teaching geography. So how can we expect teachers to deliver effectively, with only one day's training, a very important values-linked programme?

3. A teacher was reportedly so embarrassed that she(?) cut her lesson short.

Now, if a teacher is not suitable (by nature or whatever it may be), is not comfortable and so on, can't he/she be let off? This is not like teaching Pythagoras' Theorem or something, where there is nothing to be embarrassed about (not that I can think of anyway) and where your personal values don't come in (not in a major way anyway).

If any principals or heads of department think this is not an issue, they should go into those classes and try teaching the sexuality ed lessons themselves first.

4. Parents complained about both the presence and absence of values in sexuality education.

I read comments ranging from 'why teach them how to use condoms?' to 'why didn't they teach about condoms and forms of contraception?' to 'I won't stop my children from having pre-marital sex if they want to'. Obviously, a nation of a few millions will have people with quite diverse views and values. And obviously, a programme in mainstream schools will very likely be conservative and also practical. So if you have views and values that are different, you just have to discuss them with your children.

In addition, if your child attends a mission school, wouldn't you expect there to be a certain slant in sexuality education there? So if you have different views and values, just tell your kid lah. Similarly, if you are of a certain religion with certain views and values about it, and your child is in a non-religiously-linked school, then you have to teach your kid the views and values of your religion lah.

5. Some parents said that sexuality education is no big deal and do not see why there is a hue and cry about values.

I don't know what to say, man...

Finally, I wonder if many parents realise that it is not just in sexuality ed that they have to step in and guide their children. There are numerous areas/topics in school where the values of the home may be different from that of the school, such as gender roles, family values, a lot of stuff in National Education, what makes a good friend and attitudes towards competition, just to state a few.

Happy parenting, everyone...

(picture source)