When I was a ten or eleven, I did not know what puberty or sex was. Neither did I know how people got pregnant, how everything worked or how to prevent AIDS. Luckily for me, I live in a protected family. My parents protect me from strangers and drill into me not to get involved with drugs, boys and undesirable kind of people. Luckily for me too, when I was that age, it was 1996 and sexual crime rates were not as horrifying as they are today. Imagine what an ignorant little girl can get herself into today!!!
Nowadays, the world is more liberal than ever and the porn industry earns billions every year by exploiting people. Some people even prefer child porn and child prostitutes. For the past century, there have been countless children victimized by this industry, mainly because of their sheer innocence and trust for adults. Wouldn’t they have been able to protect themselves better if they had understood what they were being forced to do??
Another thing is what people call ‘Sugar Daddies’. They are people old enough to be a child’s father or grandfather, yet keeping a minor, often below eighteen, as mistresses. Mostly, these minors come from poor or rural areas where money is hard to come by and sexual education is a taboo among the people there. Lured by the riches of the ‘Sugar Daddies’, these girls become their mistresses for money. Some even become mistresses to more than one man and the ‘Sugar Daddies’ are literally pimping them!! A RESEARCH DONE ON THIS PARTICULAR SUBJECT HAS LINKED IT TO THE RISE IN AIDS CASES. THE REASON GIVEN IS THE FAILURE TO NEGOTIATE PROTECTED SEX DUE TO THE LARGE DIFFERENCE IN THE AGE OF THE MAN AND THE GIRL. Had they been more aware of consequences if they contracted the HIV Virus, would they have done it?? Had they been given a little education about sex and respecting their body and self, would things have been different???? Think it over!!!
In fact there are many ways where a child can be exploited sexually and where sexual education could have made things different. Children are too naïve sometimes that they fall easily into traps laid out nicely for them. Luckily, I learnt about sex, HIV and Aids from the Internet, Science subjects, and other references. However, not all children are so fortunate to own PCs, television, or get to finish secondary education. Even if they did get secondary education, the content of the school books still depends on the level of open-mindedness of the society in which the child lives in.
For many, sexual education is still more of a taboo. This is especially true in Third World Countries and certain developing countries. HOWEVER, TABOOS ARE MORE RELATED TO CULTURES THAN TO RELIGIONS. PEOPLE DO NOT TALK ABOUT SEX OPENLY MAINLY BECAUSE OF RESTRICTIONS THAT STEM FROM TRADITIONAL AND CONSERVATIVE IDEOLOGIES. Nevertheless, the society today should be more aware that hiding away topics like that will only bring more harm to children as this will make children victims of sexual crimes without them knowing the consequences or the harm done to them.
So, how can we create awareness towards this issue?? One way is to put sexual education into the school curriculum, directly or indirectly. Schools can either put Sexual Education as a subject by itself or teach students about sex, pregnancy, AIDS and such through subjects like Science, Biology, and Moral Education etc. However, Sexual Education should be implemented in schools as early as possible, maybe as early as when a child is nine or ten. This is because as technology is advancing, so are bad influences like unprotected sex, and unhealthy sex practices. This is the age when most children have abilities to understand a lot of things but are still very easily impressionable and may not be able to tell what’s good or bad. If these influences exist without the presence of sexual education, just imagine what disasters might happen!!!!
IT IS NOT ENOUGH, HOWEVER, IF CHILDREN ARE INFORMED ON THIS SUBJECT. IN FACT, MANY MAY FALL PREY TO MATERIAL TEMPTATIONS. THEREFORE, THE ONLY WAY TO PROTECT THEM IS BY ENABLING YOUNG GIRLS WITH STRONG PRINCIPLES OF LIFE AND BROAD MINDS... THAT IS, THROUGH FORMAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. HERE, SCHOOLS CAN PLAY A BIG ROLE. WITH PROPER EDUCATION, GIRLS WILL BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THINGS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE AND WILL BE ABLE TO WEIGH THE PROS AND CONS OF EVERY ACTION TAKEN. WHY THEN DO SCHOOLS PLAY A VITAL ROLE?? SCHOOLS ARE ONE OF THE PLACES WHERE STUDENTS OF SAME AGES ARE GROUPED, THUS, MAKING IT EASIER FOR ACTIVITIES LIKE CAREER TALKS. SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE SHOULD FREQUENTLY GIVE TALKS TO CHILDREN IN ORDER FOR THEM TO HAVE A ROLE MODEL TO LOOK UP TO AND HOPEFULLY, TO FOLLOW.
Everyone should pay attention to this issue as children victimized by sexual crimes often grow up to become adults with problems, sexually and mentally. A nightmarish experience like rape or molestation may also cause a child to experience shock and trauma which will cause stress related mental problems and low self-esteem in the future. We should definitely NOT sit back and relax, thinking that it will not happen to us. We should think of our younger siblings or our children, now or in the future…….Surely, we will not want them to experience such a traumatizing incident in their lives and will want them to have the happiest childhood untainted by such crimes!!!! Definitely!!!!
To save children, now and in the future, we should do all we can to ensure that these children gain sexual education. The social stigma towards topics on sexual education should be wiped off from the face of the earth. We have no time for protecting cultures and old traditions or philosophy if our children are unsafe. In fact, the world will have no future if the new generation - children of today and tomorrow - are victims of old thinking and mindset!!!! There should be a shift in paradigm throughout the world for children of today to be safe tomorrow... Hail Sexual Education!!!! Hopefully children won’t have to learn about sex, AIDS and pregnancy the HARD way...
Lee You Tze, 17, Malaysia.
