{"id":100114,"date":"2020-03-18T17:50:10","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T00:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=100114"},"modified":"2020-03-18T17:50:10","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T00:50:10","slug":"importance-of-cultural-values-in-the-delivery-of-sexuality-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/18\/importance-of-cultural-values-in-the-delivery-of-sexuality-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Importance of cultural values in the delivery of sexuality education"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala Courtesy The Island<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

This is in\nresponse to two recent articles published in The Island that relate to the\naftermath of the debate about the suitability of the booklet titled \u2018Hathe Ape\nPotha\u2019 as supplementary reading material for introducing sexuality and\nreproductive health education for Grade 7 students in Sri Lankan schools, viz.\n\u2018Attempts to introduce reproductive health education in schools – Need to face\nthe realities\u2019 by Dr. Janaka Ratnasiri\/Midweek Review\/February 11, 2020 and\n\u2018Reproductive Health\u2019 by Citizen S\/Opinion\/February 12. Both refer to an\nearlier Opinion piece of mine carried in the same paper on February 7, Dr\nRatnasiri directly, and the anonymous writer obliquely. Citizen S\u2019s piece is a\nhighly commendatory response to Dr. Ratnasiri\u2019s. I too broadly agree with Dr\nRatnasiri\u2019s comments and share his hope that \u2018the new educational policymakers\nwill consider reintroducing this Booklet after editing it suitably\u2026.\u2019 (if they\ndon\u2019t have a better alternative, I\u2019d like to add).  However, it is my feeling that certain misgivings\nboth writers seem to have about my contribution to the discussion need to be\ncleared because those doubts or misunderstandings question the soundness of my\nideas about the cultural-political aspect of the issue concerned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, let me\nturn to Dr. Ratnasiri. He has chosen to comment on two pieces published in The\nIsland on February 7 on topics that have relevance to the question of bringing\nin preliminary sexuality and and reproductive health education for the benefit\nof Lankan school children. The two pieces of writing are my opinion piece\naforementioned and a news report about an International Women\u2019s Day (IWD) event\norganized by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL)  where the\nformer Supreme Court Justice Shiranee Thilakawardena, in her keynote address as\nchief guest, made an incidental reference to the alleged prevalence of teenage\nsex activity in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In Dr\nRatnasiri\u2019s judgement, my write-up about the controversy over \u2018Hathe Ape Potha\u2019\ndiscusses what he calls \u2018hypothetical situations\u2019, while the other (the news\nreport containing the retired Supreme Court judge\u2019s revelations) describes hard\nfacts. Dr Ratnasiri is right about the judge\u2019s speech (though the facts she\nrevealed are as they are relevant to the theme selected for the abovementioned\nIWD event this year: \u2018Countering Technology based violence against women\u2019. But\nshe referred, in passing, to children who are related victims of such violence.\nJustice Thilakawardana was reported to have remarked that \u2018children should be trained\nto decide what is good or bad relating to sexual matters in child appropriate\nlanguage\u2019, words highlighted in the news report by being chosen for its\nheadline. Actually, when I read this news item in The Island of February 7 (the\nsame day that my article also appeared there), I was happy to see that the\nimportant speaker\u2019s idea that children should be trained to distinguish between\nwhat is good and what is bad in sexual matters \u2018in child appropriate language\nand later on in more explicit terms to protect them from being exploited and\nharmed online and offline\u2019 was consonant with my own view regarding imparting\nknowledge about sexuality and reproductive health to school children. My\narticle, which had been composed several days before it was published in The\nIsland on February 7, referred to the monks\u2019 argument that \u2018….. the book\nseems to be designed to sexually titillate children at this tender age, rather\nthan educate them through proper instructional materials and methods to\nrestrain themselves from indulging in premature sexual activity\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(By the way,\nboth Dr Ratnasiri and the anonymous Citizen S seem to go on the wrong\nassumption that the monks are against sexuality education and that this is\nbecause they think that the subject is sexually titillating for them resulting\nin premature sexual activity, whereas what the monks actually argued was that\nit looked as if the book was so designed as to sexually titillate these\nadolescent children; they were not saying that sexuality education itself would\nproduce that effect. They do not object to the subject being introduced. I\ndon\u2019t expect anything better from an anonymous writer, but I do expect\nsomething better from Dr Ratnasiri.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I\u2019d like to\nmodestly claim that the honoured retired judge\u2019s attitude and mine accord with\nthe stand taken by the Buddhist monks who have criticized \u2018Hathe Ape Potha\u2019 for\nthe inappropriateness of its language and its disregard of the age and\ncomprehension ability of early adolescents. Retired Supreme Court Justice\nThilakawardana was widely known as an upright judge while still in service. Her\nwords carry a lot of weight with the rational responsible majority of the\npublic. Justice Thilakawardanana\u2019s phrase \u2018in child appropriate language and\nlater on in more explicit terms\u2026\u2019,  is most likely to be an allusion to\nthe controversy over \u2018Hathe Ape Potha\u2019 that featured those vocal Buddhist\nmonks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something that these monks take great pains to convince their\nopponents or potential critics including the experts and others who support the\nbooklet as originally compiled is that they are NOT against  the\nintroduction of sexuality and reproductive health education, and that, on the\ncontrary, they are all for it. None recognize the rationality of providing\nholistic sexuality and reproductive health instruction in schools more readily\nthan these monks. Their only demand is that this be presented to the children\nin a scientific, culturally acceptable manner. Curiously, however, those who\ndisagree with the monks deliberately ignore this fact, and, instead,  try\ntheir level best to portray them as reactionary dogmatists who are trying to\nthrow a spanner in the works where they have no business to be. Is it\nsurprising that the monks tend to suspect that this is yet another way of\nmisrepresenting the dominant Buddhist moral-cultural values of the majority\nSinhalese as a hindrance to the introduction of the subject of sexuality and\nreproductive health, instead of truthfully upholding the soundness of those\nvalues in the context of implementing a holistic sexuality and reproductive\nhealth teaching program? The existence of a real threat to the preservation of\nthe Buddhist religious-cultural foundation of the historical homeland of the\nmajority Sinhalese cannot be disputed. It is a hard fact, not a mere\nhypothetical situation. Dr Ratnasiri emphasizes the \u2018need to face the\nrealities\u2019.  The ever growing threat just mentioned, which is manifest in\nnumerous forms, too obvious to be named, must be prominently included among the\nrealities that Dr Ratnasiri says the nation must face. Opinions, hypotheses,\nassumptions or \u2018hypothetical situations\u2019 are as good as \u2018hard facts\u2019 if they\nare well supported by observations as mine are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citizen S being anonymous need not be taken seriously. A writer\u2019s\nanonymity in a context like this is an indication that s\/he is not confident\nenough to defend,  or acknowledge responsibility for, her\/his ideas. To me\nCitizen S sounds like a sneaky defender of Hathe Ape Potha however sound the\nmonks\u2019 criticisms are. S\/he doesn\u2019t seem to have any clear idea regarding what\nthe controversy is about, what sexuality and reproductive health involves, or\nwhy it is bound to be a highly contentious and extremely difficult subject to\nhandle with young learners in any \u2018civilized\u2019 society (society with a culture).\nCan there be any education with culture disregarded? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a National Center for Biotechnology Information\n(NCBI), US, research paper  titled \u2018Development of Contextually-relevant\nSexuality Education: Lessons from a Comprehensive Review of Adolescent\nSexuality Education Across Cultures\u2019 by Hildie Leung et al published in the\nInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, USA on\nFebruary 20, 2019 \u2018Sex education refers to an age-appropriate, culturally\nrelevant approach to teaching about sex and relationships by providing\nscientifically accurate, realistic, non-judgmental information\u201d. This\ndefinition acknowledges that the aim of sex education extends beyond the\ntransfer of knowledge on human physiology, reproductive system, or the\nprevention of STIs. Rather, sex education is conceptualized holistically with\nthe goal of empowering youths to better understand their sexuality and\nrelationships, which will ultimately improve adolescents\u2019 sexual health and\noverall quality of life\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The words quoted (by the authors of the research paper) in the\nabove paragraph are from UNESCO\u2019s International Guidelines on Sexuality\nEducation: An Evidenced Informed Approach to Sex, Relationships and HIV\/STI\nEducation, 2018. The initials STI stand for Sexually  Transmitted\nInfections.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers add that \u2018the content, messages and approaches of\ndelivering sex education vary across countries\u2019. What they say about the\nChinese context by way of illustrating the point may be recognized as something\nsomewhat similar to what is likely to be encountered by researchers in the Sri\nLankan context. They hold that in the global Chinese contexts the\nimplementation of sex education remains contentious in terms of public health\nand education policies on three grounds: first, the deep-rooted perception of\nsex as a taboo\u201d in itself, some arguing that sex education encourages\npromiscuity among the young (but informed Sri Lankan adults are not likely to\nraise that negative argument against a properly presented explanation of\nsexuality in a matter of fact scientific way in language appropriate to the\ntarget group of students; second, while policy makers, educators, and parents\nagree about adolescents\u2019sexual behaviour apparently getting out of contro \nthey disagree on how such unrestrained behaviour can be minimized; and third,\nwho should assume responsibility to discipline the youngsters. In addition to\nthis, the authors point out that \u2018there are various approaches to sex education\nincluding abstinence-only, abstinence-only-until-marriage, abstinence, and\ncomprehensive sex education\u2019, and also that these could be family based, school\nbased, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My opinion, for what it is worth, is that educational and health\nauthorities need not turn sexuality and reproductive health information into\nsuch sensational material among these innocents as to knock their senses off,\nmost of whom are already exposed to that kind of stuff anyway, if they are\ncurious enough, which they naturally are, on the internet. Perhaps, the\nsexuality and reproductive health topic should be subsumed under a broad\nsubject area covering physiology, health, and  hygiene, to be\nincrementally treated as other topics from lower to upper grades, but without\nany exam-orientation (SRH knowledge should not be a pass fail subject with viva\nvoce exams, practicals, grades, etc). Separate textbooks or supplementary\nreaders may not be necessary. Technology will come to play in school education\nmore and more in the future. The present generation of parents are more informed\nand can assume a candid, straightforward attitude more easily than their own\nelders  in dealing with factual sex and reproductive health information in\na civilized scientific way in loving intimacy with their growing chidren in the\nprivacy of their homes. Parents also can use the abundantly available internet\nsources as research tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhist and Hindu religious-cultural values are supportive of\nsexuality and reproductive health education. Dr Ratnasiri claims that Buddhist\nchildren are introduced to sex education when they daily repeat the Five\nPrecepts, the third of which is refraining from sexual misconduct. This is the\ntraditional translation or interpretation of  the third precept, which\nuses the word kama. But in Hinduism and Buddhism kama is not exclusively sexual\npleasure, it refers to the healthy gratification of sexual desire and other\nkinds of sensual pleasures without any sexual association. The eastern-spirituality.com<\/a> website has\na good definition of kama including the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018K\u0101ma is one of the four goals of human life in Hindu traditions.\nIt is considered an essential and healthy goal of human life when pursued\nwithout sacrificing the other three goals: Dharma (virtuous, proper, moral\nlife), Artha (material prosperity, income security, means of life) and Moksha\n(liberation, release, self-actualization). Together, these four aims of life\nare called Puru\u1e63\u0101rtha.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purusarthas are the four ends of human life according to Hinduism.\nThe Buddhist attitude is not different in this respect, with perhaps the\nexception of the last. The third precept recommends abstention from wrongful\nsensual gratifications, but not from wholesome indulgence in \u2018gihi saepa\u2019\n(wellbeing of a householder\/lay person, which includes healthy self-fulfilment\nin sexual life), which, though is not the ultimate goal of the seeker. Proper\nscientific sexuality and reproductive health education is entirely compatible\nwith the dominant culture of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qualities of self-restraint, fortitude, resilience and compassion\ndisplayed by people in eastern countries where the same religious culture\nprevails including China – the birthplace of the current Covid-19 pandemic,\nSouth Korea and Thailand, are trying to contain it with a degree of success\nthat is not found elsewhere.  Sri Lanka is still relatively safe – with\nnot many cases reported so far, and those too arrived from abroad – although\nabout 10,000 Chinese are there on work visas, as the minister in charge of\nhealth claimed. They have been asked to self quarantine, which request they are\nabiding by, she added. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – You Tube\ninterviewed the renowned US astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson a couple of days\nago. He was asked by host Colbert to comment on the dreadful Coronavirus\noutbreak that is sweeping across the globe. Tyson replied: \u2018We are in the\nmiddle of a massive experiment worldwide: Will people listen to scientists?\u2019\n\u2026\u2026.. (Doctors tell us that) simple hygienic practices like washing your hands\nthoroughly are all that is necessary to beat the epidemic. It is as simple as\nthat. But will people listen to scientists?…..  Life lived in fear is\nlife half lived.\u2019 Dr Tyson was speaking from his experience in his native\nAmerica. On our part, we may say that in countries like Sri Lanka, people\nusually live by cultural values that encourage them to listen to the wise\n(vinnu), which here translates as the kindhearted scientists (mainly doctors)\nwho are offering helpful advice in the present global crisis situation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala Courtesy The Island This is in response to two recent articles published in The Island that relate to the aftermath of the debate about the suitability of the booklet titled \u2018Hathe Ape Potha\u2019 as supplementary reading material for introducing sexuality and reproductive health education for Grade 7 students in Sri Lankan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}