There is a huge gap in addressing children’s sexual education requirements, says Fr. Thomas P.D., Director, Trivandrum Don Bosco Veedu Society and Childline.

Fr. Thomas admits that schools are reluctant to offer sexual education and parents hesitant to broach it with their wards. “Children lack proper knowledge. They are receptive to hearing about sexual education, but parents are not so open. They still cling to notions that talking about it will lead their children astray.”

Focus areas

Sex education addresses issues of safety, responsibility, consequences, interpersonal relationships, consent, respect, and confidence. It is an important intervention, he says, citing the case of a child who was being abused. Deeper investigation found that the parents had never spoken of such things with her. Cases of students entering into physical relationships within days of meeting someone are more common than believed. Soon, they are sending photos, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.

Mereena Emmanuel, coordinator, Childline, says adolescents have information that they get through friends, mobile phones, or the Net, but it is inadequate and inaccurate.

“We know instances of boys supplying birth control tablets to girls. But it ends there. There is so much more children should know and the right way.”

Schools are addressing the issue to an extent by giving students classes on hygiene and so on, but it is woefully inadequate. Counselling sessions in schools also have their limitations. While anganwadi and social workers can help make younger children aware of ‘safe touch’ to prevent abuse, few older children attend such sessions, she says. Moreover, anganwadis reach out only to one section of students.

Parents, she says, are the best agents to create awareness among children, and this is one of the things that the government’s responsible parenting campaign aims at.