Nagpur: With the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) recently suggesting teachers to sensitize kids about sex abuse, academicians from the city have supported the importance of sex education and spoke up on various aspects attached to it.
NCERT asked teachers to create awareness about the issue among primary and high school students.
Sana Siddiqui, a teacher at Delhi Public School, said, “We are an orthodox society and the word sex is still a taboo. Nonetheless, we cannot deny the importance of sex education today. Looking at the state of the nation, it is evident that adults and children of both the sexes are unaware about appropriate behaviour towards each other which makes it even more necessary.”
“Education is a comprehensive term. Everyone is getting educated everywhere which is why discussion should happen at school and home,” Siddiqui added.
About live-in relationship, which is popular among the present generation, Swati Chouhan, principal of CIPS Kamptee said, “Sex is very much part of life and it should be talked about probably after the child enters grade six. Live-in relationships are going to be very common after a decade and it is better to prepare kids for their own well-being.”
“Parents should upgrade their thinking. Though they are growing by the day, they still need to understand that if they don’t talk about it, the children will anyway learn about it from various other mediums,” she said. She advised parents to be friendly about these things so that their children open up more to them than some other person.
All the academicians agreed that sex education can begin from the age of 12 to 14 as that is the age full of curiosity. Lillian Makasare, principal of Bishop Cotton School, said if children are not educated at the correct age, it later becomes difficult to wash out incorrect substance from their head and inculcate facts.
Speaking on unwillingness among teachers and parents when it comes to sex education, Siddiqui said removing barriers is necessary and talking is the only mantra to educate kids on the matter.
Jayshri Bhake, principal of Raisoni School, and Mala Chembath, principal of Narayana Vidyalayam, said the unwillingness comes from the fact that things were very different earlier and the elders were not offered with such talks by their parents. While most of the teachers agreed to the existence of at least a bit of reluctance, Lubna Rashid, teacher at Edify School, said, “I don’t think there is any reluctance because sex education started long back.”
Unlike most who thought of teachers and parents as equal partakers in sex education, Rashid believed that schools are the major elements in imparting any kind of education. However, she said that the concept of good touch and bad touch should be introduced by the parents at tender age to help kids open up in case something feels inappropriate.
Jaspal Singh, principal of Guru Nanak School and Junior College , said parents are the main contributors and should responsibly guide the kids. “Parents are the ultimate sufferers if the child gets involved in sex abuse,” he said.
Christopher Alvares, teacher at SFS High School, said limits must be known and said, “We need to know how much is too much.” Mrunalini Dasture, principal of South Point School, agreed to the sensitivity of the topic and said how children must be taught in a tactful manner. She also suggested parents to not suddenly talk to children about it if the relations are not that amiable. She advised parents to consult the school in such cases.
(With inputs from Tejas Mundhada)
