While experts have welcomed the Union Health Ministry’s move to introduce adolescents to issues that deal with sexual and reproductive health, injuries and violence and mental health among others, schools in the city are still a long way off from having comprehensive sex education classes.
The SAATHIYA Resource Kit, reports say, tells adolescents that a feeling of attraction for a friend or individual of the same or opposite sex can happen and that it is normal to have special feelings for someone. It says that relationships are based on mutual consent, trust, transparency and respect. It also imparts information on menstruation, HIV and sexually transmissible diseases and gives clear instructions about what consent means, according to reports. Peer educators are to be trained across the country to use this kit.
The move, says psychiatrist Lakshmi Vijayakumar, is welcome. She said that young people feel very vulnerable about their sexuality.
“There is a lot of confusion at that age. To know that a lot of people go through such feelings, to know that they can approach someone for help and to realise that their problems do not mean the end of the world — this is very important. It is when they cannot reach out for help that they become depressed. Openness in talking about such subjects is beneficial for mental health,” she said. The organisation she founded, Sneha offers counselling to people to overcome suicidal thoughts.
Child psychiatrist Shiva Prakash Srinivasan also said the move was appreciated, especially in light of the fact that an increasing number of adolescents were engaging in high risk behaviour. “Peer educators are a great idea as young people may not want to listen to older people and those younger than them may not be in a position to provide appropriate advice,” he said.
Sex education classes include sessions on reproductive rights and menstrual health and hygiene are, however, not implemented in a majority of private and government schools. While most schools have a counsellor on the premises, not all the institutions have separate sessions or talks about this.
The headmistress of an all-girls corporation school from the city said that there hadn’t been any classes or sessions conducted by the Education Department.
“At the school level, a few teachers as well as headmistresses take interest and speak to the girls from classes 6 to 10. We are encouraging the formation of health clubs in the school where the senior students can talk to the younger girls and get them to open up to them about any questions they might have. Many girls come from underprivileged families and often look up to teachers and seniors in their school with regard to concerns about menstruation and abuse,” she said.
In 2005, the CBSE had drawn up a programme for its affiliated schools called ARSH (Adolescence Reproductive and Sexual Health) project which had been met at that time with a lot of hesitation from schools.
“Across State boards and CBSE, many schools circumvent the necessity to address sex education and stick to basic health and hygiene lessons, which should not be the case. Sometimes, we have also faced opposition from parents who do not want their children to be “exposed’ to such information,” a principal said, on condition of anonymity.
