Sex Education & More...

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Disclaimer: Strictly for open-minded people.



Sex Education made its way to the CBSE curriculum around 2005-2006. But, even after 15 years of implementation of Adolescence Reproductive and Sexual Health Education through that one curious chapter in the Science textbook in class 8th and the details in class 10th, the Government and Central Board of Secondary education feels they have provided the scientific information to the growing adolescents and it is enough.

But do you think it is enough?

If yes, you need to read it till the end. If no, do let me know if we can add anything more to the content below.

Let's start with some facts: A Study states that the mean age of menarche (beginning of menstruation) is 13 ± 1.1 years with wide variations, i.e., 10–17 years.

A 10-year-old should be in 5th grade and by 17 years they should be in 11th Grade. CBSE provides reproduction details in 8th grade (13-year-old child) and in-depth details in 10th grade (16-year-old child).

So, with that information in hand let’s focus on the issues at hand.

We know for a fact that puberty begins earlier in girls than in boys. Trends in Puberty in the last decade in India have shown that young girls have started to get their periods around 9-10 years more frequently. So, in this case, 3 years earlier than the scientific information is received by the adolescent.

But the problem lies with Male Awareness (Teens), nobody explains to them about menstruation till they reach grade 8th. The information they have at hand will be from peers and porn. Why aren’t they explained about menstruation as early as in grade 5? Think about it.

Let’s read a fictional experience about a girl who got her period at 10 years.

A young girl in India got her period in grade 5 in school. She wasn’t aware of what is happening with her body. She got a bloodstain on her skirt and everybody looks at her with keen eyes which makes her uncomfortable. Her teacher helps her with the situation and she receives a sanitary napkin from the school medical room. But, she does not know what to do with it. She’s explained how to use it but when she returned to her class everybody looks at her as if she was an alien. The school concludes for the day and she tells her mom about what happened to her during the crazy school day. She’s told to hide if she gets her next period in school. She’s asked not to discuss any of it with her male friends. She’s also forbidden to enter a religious place or participate in any religious activities when on a period as a girl is considered to be dirty and impure during it. She’s banned to enter the kitchen as a girl on period is said to be unhygienic and unclean. Hence, any food she might prepare or handle can get contaminated. She is not allowed to touch a cow while she is on her period as she might turn the cow infertile. She is also prohibited to touch pickle jars, tamarind, and eat raw onions. After listening to all the facts the young girl starts associating her own body as cursed and impure because of the restrictions. Though she does not receive the proper scientific information regarding her condition from her parent and she is left terrified. She is not made familiar with the fact that her body can reproduce if she starts indulging in sexual activities and also, no information is given to make that poor girl know that every month the period she will get is natural and nothing to be afraid of.

She does not understand menstruation so, female masturbation seems like light years ahead.

The topic of Female Masturbation is more of a taboo than anything I’ve ever heard. Though it is also, a scientific process and can help a female to know about her body and explore it.  But women in India are always expected to either never recognize their inherent sexual longings or to easily overcome their sexual desire. The feeling of experiencing sexual pleasure for a woman comes with the burden of shame, labels as ‘slut’ and guilt.

Most women in India don’t even know what Masturbation is and how to go about it, which is another story altogether. I was in class 12th when a discussion brought this topic up and my best friend wasn’t even aware that there is a process that can help to explore our bodies. I came across 20-30 women till now who didn’t even know it exists and when made familiar with it, considered it to be “dirty, shameful and unnatural”.  As far as I’m concerned, I feel it is necessary to know what you like or dislike to explore the full potential of your sexuality plus it does have scientific benefits. In case you want to try Female Masturbation and don’t know how to do it or have curiosity to know facts about female masturbation.Visit the links. 

Now, let’s talk about why is it necessary for young boys in teens to know about menstruation earlier than projected by school boards.

When a girl gets her period around 10 years and is terrified of what is happening to her body and nobody gives her exact details (sex education); she is left with a million questions. If she’s curious she might find the details online. But, isn’t it, our responsibility to provide her with correct and transparent details instead of unreliable sources on the internet. The curiosity of sexual intercourse can also be curbed and the details can prevent them from turning to pornography.

In today’s time, technology has made its way to anything and everything so much so that a 1st standard kid can be taught coding. So, it is high time to think that explaining them sexual intercourse and menstruation at the age of 10. The advantages of giving them the complete details in the 6th standard are two-fold. Firstly, a young girl can get comfortable with the processes happening to her and young boys can also understand puberty better. Secondly, they can understand the difference between right and wrong touch which can protect them from Child molestation.

If this suggestion of changing the curriculum is not taken seriously by the government,  it is high time that they need to provide mandatory sex education workshops in every school(Public & Private) at the age of 10 to make biological processes sound natural to these innocent souls.

I was in 8th standard when we(Girls) were provided a workshop in my school regarding periods and boys were not included in it. The reasons for not including the boys can be varied but if it was that they do not need to know about it because of no uterus, no opinion. I would consider that to be absurd.

I strongly feel young boys need to know about menstruation(not just the biological process but the behavioral impact on girls as well) as much as the girls because it will bring menstruation out of the taboo umbrella and education will make them understand the female folk better.

 So, do let me know what you think, do you agree 6th grade is better to explain sexuality to the children than 8th or 10th  or you still feel their childhood span will be shortened knowing these details as early as in 6th?

Think about it and DM/Comment. Your opinion is valuable.

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