Is There a Place for Sex Education in Pakistani Educational Institutions?
Before arguing on the validity of the topic, it is important to know what sex education actually is, as there might be confusions among many regarding what sort of education it incorporates. Sex education programs are of two types, Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Program. Comprehensive Sexuality Education Program is one that starts in kindergarten and continues through high school. It brings up age appropriate sexuality topics and covers the broad spectrum of sex education, including safe sex, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), contraceptives, masturbation, body image, and more. Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Program emphasizes abstinence from all sexual behaviors and do not cover information on contraceptives, STDs, masturbation, etc (Witmer). Although, education is essential to raise awareness among people regarding issues that significantly impact their lives, nevertheless sex education has very little or no scope in Pakistani educational institutions because this education is considered meaningless in our cultural set up and even if it is incorporated, it would lead to increased frustration and curiosity, intensified sexual desire and would ultimate be a waste of resources.
Hunger for sex is natural in human beings, educating them about sex would make them curious to try what they have been taught. If you tell a teenager that you have a bottle of wine in your cupboard but tell him that though there’s great pleasure in drinking it but don’t go for it as it is injurious for health. This might ignite the level of curiosity of that teenager to try and taste it because of what you have told him. Instead you could have just not told the teenager that such a thing even exists in your cupboard. Same goes for sex education. Providing sex education to teenagers would make them curious to do it. A study at Columbia university institute of social research backs this argument as it indicates that 90% of the teens who make abstinence pledge break it.
Another contributing factor that boosts teenagers to have premarital sex is lack of fear as with sex education they would know that the use of contraceptives can enable them to have safe sex. Fear to carry out an action with unknown consequences refrains a person from doing it. Once you know the negative consequences of pre marital sexual intercourse and know how to avoid them by the use of contraceptives then there remains no restricting force of discouragement. So what’s better? To educate teenagers how they can have safe sex and tell them to abstain from it or simply not to tell them anything about it so that the fear instills in them.
To discuss the effectiveness of such a program in our Pakistani education system, let’s first review the American comprehensive sex education program and its effectiveness. “In every American school, public or private, sex education is being given from grade 2 to 12” (Sex Education for Muslim Youths