Sex Education

Sex Education

Sex education, also known as?sexual education,?sexuality?education,?or?sex Ed, is the instruction of issues relating to?human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy,?sexual activity,?sexual reproduction,?age of consent,?reproductive health,?reproductive rights,?sexual health,?safe sex, and?birth control. Sex education which includes all of these issues is known as?comprehensive sex education and is often opposed to?abstinence-only sex education, which only focuses on?sexual abstinence. Sex education may be provided by parents or caregivers or as part of school programs and public health campaigns. In some countries, it is known as Relationships and Sexual health education.

Types of sex education

For adolescents

There are about 190 million adolescents in India - a demographic in which over 30% of people are illiterate. Disparities in gender at this age can often be explained by relatively poor access to reproductive health care and the fact that girls often have less access to food, which adversely affects their growth patterns. Additionally, adolescent girls often work long hours in the home with no opportunity for employment (Selvan et al.).

Adolescents, both male and female tend not to be informed about sexuality. This is often caused by a lack of education in general (but sex education in particular) and conservative attitudes towards sex.

Family planning for adults

Family planning in India has had a varied history. During?India's emergency period?in the 1970s, the government implemented a population-control policy that targeted lower-caste individuals.?Because the United States used food aid as leverage, India was incentivized to create a program that would influence lower-caste individuals to not have children. This program was eventually disbanded because of the lack of hygiene associated with the procedures and the nearly coercive techniques that were used.

India's family planning programs are mainly run by the government in conjunction with NGOs. Because these programs are often quota-based, they take two forms: sterilization programs and contraceptive programs (Gray et al.).?Both use an incentive-based approach, where families are often given kitchen items or cash to undergo procedures (Bhatnagar et al.).

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Public opinion

A survey conducted in Britain, Canada, and the United States by?Angus Reid Public Opinion?in November 2011 asked adult respondents to look back to the time when they were teenagers, and describe how several useful sources were in enabling them to learn more about sex. By far, the largest proportion of respondents in the three countries (74% in Canada, 67% in Britain, and 63% in the United States) said that conversations with friends were "very useful" or "moderately useful." The next reputable source was the media (television, books, movies, magazines), mentioned by three-in-five British (65%) and Canadians (62%) and more than half of Americans (54%) as useful.

In 2011,??Angus Reid Public Opinion?said that half of Canadians (54%) and Americans (52%) found their sex education courses at school to be useful, and only 43% of Britons share the same view. And while more than half of Americans (57%) say conversations with family were useful, only 49% of Canadians and 35% of Britons said so.

In?India, there are many programs promoting sex education including information on AIDS, sex, and sexuality in schools as well public education and advertising. AIDS clinics however are not universally available.

India has a strong prevention program that goes hand in hand with care, support, and treatment. We have been able to contain the epidemic with a prevalence of just 0.31%. We have also brought about a decline of 50% in new infections annually.

UnTaboo, a company dedicated to sex education, however, has age-appropriate programs on sex, sexuality, and safety awareness education which are conducted in schools and in small private groups outside of schools. Sexual reproduction and different contraceptive methods are taught in grades 8 and 10 (age 14 and 16) compulsorily.

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HIV/AIDS and STD prevention education

Because HIV/AIDS has been deemed a health crisis in India, prevention techniques have been set as a priority by the government, pushing NGOs to implement programming that focuses on training, support, and outreach.?HIV/AIDS prevention education in India has been focused on educational materials like newspapers and pamphlets as well as conversations with educated professionals.

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Parental rights in education

Recently, some states have opted to restrict topics about LGBT matters and people. One of the most controversial laws passed has been labeled the "Don't Say Gay" law which has most recently been passed in Florida. The bill seeks to ban gender and sexuality issues being presented to students while in lower grade school in an effort to allow parents to make the decision as to when or if they will introduce their child to Gender and Sexuality subject matter.