A recent survey has shown that 50% of the participants believe that sexual education should be fortified at a university level.

One respondent wrote, “maybe not actually classes but posters and workshops about more advanced things like STIs and STDs.”

However, 23% of participants thought that it should not be taught at university, as knowledge on sexual education would be there already and that it was too late to try to teach it.

“By the time people reach university, they are adults… the impact would not be as beneficial, as it was taught before children become sexually active. Most mistakes are made during the teen years when they are exploring.” 

The last 27% of participants were neither for nor against sexual education being taught at university. Despite this, many of them wanted there to be a seminar, where sexual education should be reinforced, especially that of STDs and safe sex practices.

All of the participants thought that sexual education should be taught at the secondary school level.

One participant who works with children wrote that “In working with young people, I’ve learnt that they tend to be more curious about information that is concealed, prohibited and or considered taboo. Teaching sexual education will help them to make wiser decisions and be more open to share their thoughts and get guidance on the topic.”

Most respondents believed that sexual education is supposed to be taught in the early teens, when the children are beginning to go through the process of puberty.

One participant said that “ it [sexual education] should be introduced at [in] its simplest form from the age of 8”, while another wrote “from the time they understand you, like around age 2, teach them about inappropriate touching.”

Even though university is too late to begin teaching on the topic of sex education, some form of reinforcing should be done for first year students.

 

Words by: Kenya Best

Image by: Kenya Best