Sexuality Programme: Guided or Misguided?

Today ran this story on 1 May 2009:

Guided or misguided?
Alicia Wong and Lin Yanqin

THE debate over the sexuality education programme by the Association of Women for Action and Research boils down to a 15-minute segment of its three-hour workshop, Today has learnt after obtaining on Wednesday pages of the group’s Comprehensive Sexual Education: Basic Instructor Guide.

The section in question defines terms such as “anal sex”, “virginity”, “teenage pregnancy”and “homosexual”. As part of the workshop exercise, students are asked to associate these terms according to three categories: Positive, neutral and negative.

Today had approached Aware’s old guard to verify the material, after receiving it from a source outside the group, and compared it with hard copies of the actual guide, which has separately been put on the Internet.

The rest of the guide deals with topics such as body image, HIV/Aids, contraception and relationships. But it is the description of terms such as homosexuality and anal sex (see graphic), that appears to be at the heart of the contention raised by self-declared “feminist mentor” and senior lawyer Thio Su Mien.

She took issue with homosexuality being seen as a neutral, not negative, word.

What the Old Guard say

Founding Aware member and its first president, Lena Cheng, met with Today and said that the group had consulted religious groups, academics, social workers and teachers when they adapted the guide from the 25-year-old International Women’s Health Coalition, which promotes and protects girls’ and women’s sexual and reproductive rights and health. “We’re not some feminists who just thought this up,” she said.

Aware’s former programme manager Deeksha Vasundhra said the definitions are for instructors to facilitate discussions.

The “private and confidential” guide is never given to students, she said.

Students can also place the terms in question in more than one category and they are not pushed to accept certain views.

“I tell trainers, it’s not up to you to teach values. Decisions are made based on family, culture and religion,” she said, and added that children are always advised to speak to their parents or teachers.

Since the material caters to a wide age group, the onus remains on instructors to focus on the relevant topics, said Ms Vasundhra.

Aware’s 10 trainers are selected for their maturity, open-mindedness and ability to manage young people. They go through a stringent selection process, training sessions and examinations.

One trainer told Today, discussions are “very student driven”.

“We basically ask students, ‘what’s your views?’ We don’t say anything, and let them hear all the different ideas ... I only make sure everybody respects each other. We don’t believe in imposing any viewpoints,” she said.

During class, trainers use the word “partner” instead of “husband”, for instance, so that lesbian students do not “tune out,” said Ms Vasundhra. Ditto for homosexuality, which is not defined as abnormal so students do not feel excluded.

Ultimately, the aim, said Ms Vasundhra, is to “help kids see that everybody is different and help them to accept that”.

What parents say

Today contacted five schools about the programme. Four neither confirmed nor denied if they had the programme, and one said yes but did not reply to queries.

Today also showed 13 parents with teenage students the copy of the training material.

While the majority saw the importance of educating their children on sexuality and making the right choices, many also questioned the handling of controversial topics and the explicitness of the material.

“It’s okay to let them know (about sex) but not to this extent. I don’t want my son to learn such explicit things,” said Ms Nor, a mother of three.

Father of six, Rizan Jantan, 45, felt children could approach parents and “we can explain to them (right from wrong).”

A mother of two boys said it was “all natural”, while businessman Chung Toh Keong, 56, felt such issues should be taught, since we “don’t dare talk about such taboo topics”.