The debate over the relevance of sex education in schools is gaining new heights

. The discussion mainly relates to ethical and cultural issues prevailing in our
society at large.
Sex education mainly contains issues relating sex, sexual habits, drives and des
ires, its physiological and anatomical description and also, psychological impac
t on children.
It is doubled by many that such curricular would instigate sexual desires, which
would in turn be harmful. But, optimists believe that sex education is not a ta
boo, but urgent necessity in the current scenario.
In the modern world, technology is fast changing. Now we observe decentralizatio
n of technological reach. Now children are more exposed to scientific discoverie
s. Transmission of information, visuals, etc. are now easier compared to previou
s decade.
Nevertheless, many a times because of such wide ranging exposure to various medi
a like satellite channel, internet or comic books, children come in touch with v
arious sexually explicit images, prints or dialogue. At a tender age, like adole
scence, their inquisitiveness to know about them may increase. There may be many
feeble minded students, whose sex drive would make them restless and they may e
nd up committing sexual offences. As they say, little knowledge is a dangerous.
It is one such ground that sex education becomes so very much important. It is m
ainly to grant children a healthy understanding of a natural biological process.
It is also one way to remove any kind cultural deadlock observed in students fr
om heterogeneous background.
Keeping in mind the truth of heterogeneous background, it should be recalled tha
t each and every student might not wavelength. So, it would be better if the met
hod of teaching process is a systematic step by step manner.
Again, the selection of teaching staff is very crucial .Sexually offensive terms
used by an elderly doctor at Sardar Patel school cautions all. Teachers, parent
s and student community. Such mistake should be controlled. So, it is better if
teachers selected for such responsible tasks to have a clean image through. Ther
e should be strict observance by the head of the school to check that no teacher
misuse children s innocence by using vulgar language , which is not desirable. In
stallation of CCTV in classes, where sex education is imparted is necessary. It
is for strict observation.
Sex education should not only confine to imparting knowledge about physiological
and anatomical description, dos and don ts, etc. But, it should also let the stud
ents understand kinds of sexual abuse, molesting, etc. This is prominent in toda
y s society, irrespective of nationhood, state, language, caste, race, etc.
It can make children aware of the gestures and movements of lusting hawks and ho
w to be careful. It would be better if they also learn to be fearless enough to
raise an alarm if they fall into such ugly trap. Sometimes such ugly trap can be
laid even by family members like cousins, uncles, aunts, grand-parents or even
parents.
Many a times, conservative cultural background also restricts children to be fea
rless in such account. Both teachers and parents should co-operative to help chi
ldren in breaking such nut-shell.
Again, Sex education should not be confined to schools and colleges only. Rather
, it should reach even to places where children do no get privilege to reach pre
mises of schools. Sexual crime, particularly against children is prominent in sl
um area. The Nithari incident called as India s Shame is a burning example of how po
or and illiterate children fall trap of lusting hawks.
As we all understand knowledge is empowerment from ignorance. So sex education i
s also a part of knowledge transmission. Every child has a right to know about t
hemselves and their safety. So, it should never be misunderstood. But, the curri
culum should be designed in such a way that children s mindset is not misdirected.
This can go a long way in controlling many problems like AIDS, sexual crimes, p
re-marital unhealthy Sex relation and the like. These problems are faced by the
whole world. Sex education is very important in India, particularly North-east,
where number of AIDS patient is ever-increasing, particularly among the Y-genera
tion. Along with that, the children should also be taught how to control themsel
ves through yoga, meditation, etc.