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My school boasted about being the best in the city. My principal kept reminding us about the different extra-curricular activities and other opportunities that the school provided. And yet, my school did not have a SEX EDUCATION class. It just wasn’t part of the curriculum. They did not think it was important enough for us to learn about periods or condoms.
Sure, that was a moral science class where we were taught that all are classmates are like brother and sisters and why it is a sin to kiss or hug another person. They did not say the word SEX and but implied how it something dirty and not to be discussed. The TABOO around SEX started right there.
And that did not stop there. Our biology coursework included chapters on reproductive body parts, reproduction process, STDs, etc. But that was conveniently skipped over. We were not even taught the textbook definitions on parts of woman’s or man’s body. Apparently, that would have polluted our young minds.
So, what did we do? Few of my adventurous friends started watching porn and started propagating information during backbench discussions, in school bus, in washrooms. We are were naïve and curious, and super interested lo learn from our friends. 90% of that INFORMATION was INCORRECT.
So, we grew up, some of us watching porn, some discussing these topics with friends, some with relatives, parents and others on google search. Well, we never learnt about Consent, about gender neutrality, about respecting bodies of other individuals, about consequences of eve-teasing, sexual violence.
No one told us about GOOD TOUCH, BAD TOUCH, about how to seek legal and emotional support in case of any un-towards incidents. We learnt only to HUSH IT UP and that SEX IS BAD.
No one told us that PORN DOES NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS, no one taught us difference about GOOD and ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS. We were just told that having relationships before marriage is BAD. We learnt to hide it and suffer in silence, if things got worse. We scared ourselves, hurt our emotions and we grew up – still not aware about our bodies, about content, about healthy relationships and about other 100 things.
But should we provide the same learning environment to our kids? CAN WE DO BETTER? Can we teach our sons and daughters about puberty, about periods, about healthy relationships, about consent, about STDs, about safe sex? Or do we still choose to hide behind the walls of TABOO and “DUNIYA KYA KAHEGI”.