Can you recall when you received sex education? Or did you even receive sex education? Sex education is a topic that must be uttered in whispers but it is an essential component of human education and must be discussed out loud. It is considered a taboo in society but the need to change the perspective is necessary.
In this article, we will be looking at is sex education necessary. The importance of sex education and how you should implement it. The focus will be on the benefits of sex education for girls and why it is necessary to guide them through it. So, let’s dive in to understand sex education and its importance for girls.
What Is Sex Education?
Just like any other subject be it biology, mathematics, commerce, etc, the knowledge of sex and related topics is also essential in the era we are loving it as here the internet is the source of every information no matter if it is right which pushes the children to wrong habits and poor sexual health. Let’s know what is sex education for girls or boys.
Sex education is the teaching of topics related to sex and sexuality which addresses the wide spectrum of areas related to sex like relationships, anatomy, diseases, consent, etc. It is one of the goals of sex education to help children have a holistic development regarding sexuality and sex. Therefore, let’s know why is sex education important.
Importance Of Sex Education
There are various goals of sex education as it aims for the holistic development of an individual in sexual knowledge. Here are some reasons why is sex education important:
1. It Yields a Healthy Relationship
A healthy relationship is the key to good sexual and personal life. To build a healthy relationship, it is important to communicate, have boundaries and be aware of consent. The importance of sex education lies here as it works towards educating people about the worth of healthy relationships both physically and sexually.
A healthy relationship means understanding the meaning and including consent, respect for each other and communication as a priority in a relationship. With sex education, teenagers are taught to seek permission, talk openly about different problems in relationships and value each other’s decisions and thoughts to develop a healthy relationship.
2. Contribute to Safe Sex And Awareness of Protection
Do you know what is safe sex and how important it is to practice safe sex? Sex is one of the ways to gain various infections like sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) which can adversely affect your sexual life. Many individuals are not aware of the hygiene tips to follow before and after sex which is crucial to prevent STDs.
They are also not aware of contraceptive devices, different protection and other safe sex methods which are important to prevent any future risks. So, if you ask why is sex education important, this is it. With sex education, you get to know about safe sex and how you can practice it so that you can have a risk-free sexual life.
3. There is a Positive Delay in Sexual Activities
Another importance of sex education is that it leads to abstinence or delay in sexual activities. Many youngsters or teenagers are not aware of the harmful effects sex can have on them and their bodies and hence they indulge in sexual activities way before they should let themselves into the world of sexual pleasures.
It is one of the goals of sex education that it teaches young individuals about when is the right time you should have sex and how abstinence from sexual activity for a certain period can help you. It is always advised to avoid sexual activities in the pre-tens or early teen era as the body is not ready for emotional and hormonal turbulence.
4. Awareness About Desires And The Correct Method to Fulfill it
Being aware of your sexual desires and fantasies also comes under the importance of sex education. Many people don’t enjoy sex or are unaware of that pleasure because they don’t know about what they want and how they want to have sex. This unawareness about your feelings often makes you suppress your sexual urge.
Every individual has sexual fantasies and desires that they must fulfill, but what if they are not aware of the same? With sex education, you learn to acknowledge your desires and fantasies and know the correct way to exercise them along with understanding and acknowledging your partner’s desires.
5. Clear Knowledge of Gender Identity
Are you sure of your feelings and gender identity? Addressing sexual identity is one of the goals of sex education. Often individuals are not aware of their gender identity and their feelings towards the other person whether it is for the opposite gender or the same gender and this causes chias in their lives.
An individual may acknowledge themselves with the identity of being gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, etc if they properly channel their feelings and are taught about it. This is why is sex education important as it helps you to know your gender identity. You can also go for LGBTQ counseling to be sure about yourself.
6. Safety From Sexual Abuse And Violence
Many females and even males have to go through sexual abuse or violence at a young age because they are not aware of the fact that they are being molested. Girls at a young age are often touched inappropriately because they are not taught about good and bad touch which is the reason why sex education must be introduced.
Were you taught about resisting someone whenever a touch didn’t feel good even if it is by someone close? Here, the importance of sex education comes upfront, it aims at teaching children from the beginning about sexual abuse and violence, identifying if you are being subjected to one or not and what to do if you are facing it.
Benefits Of Providing Sex Education To Girls
Though sex education is for everyone, here we will be focusing on the benefits of sex education for girls. Here, we list certain benefits of sex education, confining to the boundaries of girls.
1. Understanding Female Anatomy And Periods
The need for sex education, especially for girls lies in understanding female anatomy and periods. The lack of knowledge regarding their body parts, especially genitals and periods makes them surrounded with myths about girls’ periods and thus makes them end up harming their bodies or doing wrong practices.
Giving the girl child sex education, helps them understand their body and genitals, caring about them along with understanding the happening of periods, how it helps in reproduction, the female emotional status and what to do during periods in case they don’t know (for the first time) about it and find themselves helpless.
2. Knowledge of Contraception And Abstinence
Do you know about contraception and female condoms? Many females are not aware of the protection and contraceptive devices available to them and rely on their male partners to look for protection. This is why sex education for girls is important. It makes them aware of how they can avoid STDs, unwanted pregnancies, etc.
Are you also always confused about whether should you take 72 pills or not? The inclusion of sex education for girls helps them move past this confusion and understand the concept of abstinence, unwanted pregnancies, female condoms and other devices so that they can take charge if their partner refuses or forgets the protection.
3. Builds a Healthy Mother-And-Daughter Relationship
The need for sex education is also taken into consideration as it builds a healthy relationship between mother and daughter. It is often said that mother and daughter must become friends and the daughter should be able to speak about everything to her mother, but how? The icebreaker can be sex education.
This is the benefits of sex education as a mother talks and teaches her girl child about sexual and other related aspects. The bond and intimacy increases between them helping them develop a closer relationship along with understanding femininity and all about the different stages of life. It may be difficult but with a little courage, it can go well.
4. Helping in Setting Boundaries in a Sexual Relationship
Do you find it difficult to say no in a relationship or make boundaries? It is essential to have certain limits, or boundaries in a relationship. One of the benefits of sex education is it helps the girls understand that it is essential to make boundaries and not let anyone in any condition cross them, simultaneously teaching them to say no.
Even in their sexual life, girls hesitate to open up and set limits or communicate about things that they don’t like. With sex education, they are taught about how they can speak and create boundaries for people. If there is something off in their sexual life and they can’t talk about it they can also go for sex counseling.
5. Awareness of The Harmful Effects of Teen Pregnancy
Is sex education necessary? Some people often ask this question unaware of the benefits of giving their child sex education. It is necessary to prioritize sex education for girls as it gets them aware of the harmful effects of teen pregnancy both emotionally and physically and this is one of the benefits of sex education.
Teen pregnancy is not only harmful for the mothers but for babies as well. Teenage mothers are at higher risk of eclampsia, depression, and infection and babies also have low birth weight, preterm birth, etc. It can also contribute to STDs. Do you know what causes HIV? It is unprotected sex! Hence sex education is necessary.
How To Implement Sex Education?
You must by now know the answer to the question is sex education necessary? It is high time that we implement it in our education system, but how? Here are some tips:
1. Parents Must Gradually Teach Their Children
How to implement sex education? It is the most basic question that comes to the forefront whenever sex education is discussed. It is said that every teaching begins from home so why not sex education? As the child starts to understand and know about things parents should gradually start giving them sex education.
Teach them about their genitals, what they are, their functions and also about good touch and bad touch. With the increase in age, try to talk about things like curiosity about masturbation, relationships, boundaries, free space, consent and other things. It may seem difficult but it is essential to cut through the awkwardness and talk openly.
2. Implement Sex Education As a Subject in Schools
Were you taught about sex education in schools? No, right. Be it sex education for girls or boys or combined it is not usually integrated with the school system which is also one of the reasons why children have to go to their friends or the internet and gather wrong information about it. It is a necessity to have sex education in schools.
When it comes to how to implement sex education in schools, teachers can go for basic teaching from standard 2 or 3 when children are aware of their body parts and teach them anatomy, and touch. With higher class things like periods, masturbation, consent, respect, and privacy should be taught together or if necessary then girls and boys separately.
3. Open Discussions And Addressing The Taboo
You might have noticed that girls and even boys hesitate to ask questions about certain things openly, so what can you do? Now that you know whether is sex education necessary or not, thoughtful brainstorming is required to know how to address such queries that are not asked. Here are some ways to adopt:
Encourage open discussions, question-answer sessions or have a question box where students can put their questions which can be addressed later during the discussion. You should also address taboos and talk about things what is female dysfunction or erectile dysfunction in college and university to help students know what they must do.
4. Encouraging The Children And Teens to Ask Questions
To know how to implement sex education, it is necessary to adopt different methods and tricks. When you talk about things freely children can gather the courage to ask queries and questions. Address the audience with appropriate words and correct knowledge so that things do not become awkward or wrong.
Encourage the students and make them understand that it is a part of the natural process and there is nothing wrong in addressing or asking the doubts that come into one’s mind. Make it more of an interactive session with open discussions and question-answer sessions, you can also go for a query form which is to be filled out by the students.
Conclusion
By now you must have known the need for sex education for girls. It is essential to inculcate an understanding of sex and sexuality in the minds of teenagers so that they don’t get diverted to the wrong path. However, look at the choice of words, and avoid personal comments or discussion of someone’s problem.
The need for sex education lies in addressing sensitive yet important topics so that teenagers can understand the meaning of respect, privacy, consent, gender identity and other important aspects of sex and sexuality. It is high time that we neglect and corner the importance of sex education in the name of society.
FAQS
1. What are the obstacles to implementing sex education?
Though there is a need for sex education, there are still many obstacles to it, like parents finding it awkward to address the topic to children, boys and girls finding it difficult to ask questions in front of each other, and a lack of highly qualified teachers in the respective field to guide the students or teenagers.
2. How do I give sex education to my daughter as a parent?
It is necessary to have sex education for girls but many times even a mother finds it difficult to address it to her daughter. Take it slow, start with explaining her good touch and bad touch, then the body parts to her, and move gradually to periods so that she knows about it, with little steps you can then approach the more sensitive issues.
3. At what age sex education be given?
The need for sex education begins from a young age like teaching about the body parts and the genitals from the third year. When they are 4 to 5 years old they should know about privacy, respect and permission. Around 6 to 12 teach about periods, STDs, pregnancy and under 13 to 18 years they should know in detail about nightfall, sex, sleep orgasm, etc.
4. How to give sex education to boys?
There is a reason why is sex education important, but it is also important that you know how to impart it. When it comes to giving sex education to boys, introduce them to their genitals, teach them about privacy, permission, respect, and boundaries, and then talk about menstruation, masturbation, and later in detail about sex, and pregnancy.
5. What are the things to include in sex education?
Things that should be included in sex education for girls and boys are the introduction to body parts with correct names, bad and good touch, consent, privacy, respect, pregnancy, periods, masturbation, gender identity (homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual), nightfall, sex, STDs, contraception, other sexual problems, etc.
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