Sex
Education for Children in Formal Education
Nowadays,
the phenomenon about the attitude of children which is getting worse can be caused
by the curriculum of formal education. Children become very easily to be
knowledgeable because of the development of technology. They can get
information as much as possible. The problem is that not all information they
get is good, information about free sex for example. As the basic ability of
children is replicating what they have seen, it is obvious that the possibility
of doing bad attitudes they get from any media is widely opened. Since all of
their activities cannot be controlled by parents, the action of preventing
their attitude to become worse should be taken by school as the second place of
their educational life. They must be taught what is dangerous or not dangerous
of sex. Therefore, sex education for children is urgently needed to be applied
in curriculum of formal education.
The
idea of refusing the implementation of sex education in formal education
oftentimes appears due to the lack of trust to the system of education. Parents
may be afraid of educating their children about sex because it will only bring
inspiration to replicate what are taught. However the study is conducted with
the guidance of the teacher. Besides, students are also good at remembering so
that they will be able to remember anything the teacher told them. In addition,
the lesson containing sex education will not be given vulgarly. It can be
arranged from the simplest lesson such as what is the difference between male
and female, what female or male should do or should not do, and which part of
body they should protect.
Some
people may be afraid of giving sex education for children because it possibly
becomes a way of adding bad information. Furthermore, they worry if the teacher
makes mistakes in giving sex explanation. Nevertheless, the availability of sex
education in formal education is well designed by the educational institution
and well integrated with other relevant lessons, such as biology, PPKN, and
religious education. The teachers also will be given some training before they
practice to deliver the materials about sex in the class.
Some
parents assume that giving children knowledge about sex is taboo. May be
talking about sex with their children is impolite because they will need to
explain about genitals or other private parts of the body. Nevertheless, by
talking about sex with parents using simple language in casual conversation,
children will clearly understand which attitude will cause bad impacts.
Children can also criticize some bad attitudes shown in visual media, such as
television, you tube or movie. Furthermore, telling them the truth about
genitals is not an impolite action. Children will easily understand the true
condition of their body if they are told the truth rather than imagery
language. For example, boy must know what actually his genital is called. If
parents tell him that it is bird not a phallus, he will assume that bird is the
same taboo as his genital. Therefore, it is better for parents to tell children
the truth rather than let them to assume that those things are taboo. It is
also should be applied in formal education so that children will get deeper
comprehension about genitals and sex.
It
may be dangerous for children to know about sex in their early age because it
can cause early marriage. However, by knowing sex in their early age, children
will be able to know what they are supposed to do or not supposed to do. By
integrating the lesson with other moral education, they will be aware of what can
bring benefit to their future. Giving sex education even can make children
realize that doing sex activity in their early age does not bring them any
advantages.
In
conclusion, sex education is necessarily taught to children since at the early
time they enter school. However, what matters is the trust of parents towards
the education curriculum in term of sex education. They still worry about the
side effects of the application of sex education in school curriculum.
Actually, parents do not need to fear it as long as the way of delivering sex
education is done appropriately. It is indeed curriculum designer(s) who can
take this task; creating a curriculum in which sex education is involved
without promoting sexual abuse.
