“Most girls, including myself, already know about sex, but the session educated us on a completely different level,” she said of three hour-long sessions at the Lahore Grammar School’s Gulberg branch last May.
The classes, which had the support of most parents, have given rise to a debate about what kind of sex education is appropriate and at what age.
Of the 33 sixth graders at the Gulberg branch, 29 were given permission by their parents to attend the lectures on the risks of premature sex, unprotected sex and sexually transmitted diseases.
Sana’s mother said she had hoped the classes would focus on puberty and child development rather than the potentially unpleasant consequences of a sexual relationship between teens.
“With most parents letting their girls attend the class, I believed it would be a good thing for Sana to learn about sex at 11,” she told The Express Tribune. “Today’s children are far more learned, inquisitive and ahead in thinking compared to their parents at the same age. But it later struck me that a more appropriate age for such a subject is past 13 or 14.”
Sana, who recently turned 12, was happy with the class. “It was not too much detail and not too little. It was just right,” she said, adding that the class was serious. “Some girls giggled and joked as the teacher illustrated something. They were told off and asked to take it more seriously.”
But Narmeen, 10, walked out during the first session as she found the lecture “hard to absorb and disgusting”.
“I’m too young to be talked to like an adult. It was unbearable. Such topics should be planned in consultation with experts before they shock us,” said Narmeen, who was promoted to grade six one year early because of strong academic performance. “I would not advise kids my age to attend.”
Her mother, a Cambridge graduate, had pushed Narmeen to attend the lectures. “Girls mature before boys. It is wise to educate them as their curiosity about sex peaks as they hit puberty. Studying the subject helps curb confusion and uncertainty,” her mother said.
NGOs dealing with cases of child labour and sexual assault such as War Against Rape (WAR) and the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) support the idea of sex education.
According to a 2010 WAR report, sexual harassment of minors has surged considerably. Most victims cited were under the age of 12 while the attackers were close to 20 years old or above.
“The study revealed that most rapists are either immediate family members, distant cousins or a family acquaintance,” Rukhsana Siddique, rehabilitation officer at WAR, was quoted as saying by Sindhstudy.com.
“The Education Department should start classes informing children as well as youths about sex and the associated risks to effectively tackle the crisis,” she said, adding that WAR supported the idea of sex education in secondary schools.
But Sahiba Irfan of SPARC – an NGO working for child rights –said girls should not get sex education until they are in their teens.
“We need to teach children about the physical changes they are to undergo and traumas associated with puberty, not about how they should avoid getting into water fights as their clothes might get wet,” she said, referring to another piece of advice heard from the teacher during the sex education classes at LGS.
Dr Haroon Rashid Chaudhary, a clinical psychiatrist who has run a rehabilitation centre since 1971, said sex education should be purely scientific and avoid the kinds of advice mentioned above. “Else the child is distracted,” he said.
He too believed that sex education should be introduced after puberty, while preteens should be taught about safety. “Prevention is most important for a preteen. They should be educated not to open up to strangers, not to accept anything from them when their siblings or other family members are not around and to keep their distance from servants. These guidelines are pivotal.”
The LGS administration refused to talk about the classes or the curriculum, while officials at the Lahore American School and the International School of Choueifat refused to say whether they were considering starting sex education classes.
Their refusal to talk to the media was not surprising, said Tanvir Ahmed, the deputy managing director of the Punjab Education Foundation, which collaborates with 43 private schools across Lahore.
“Most private schools catering to the rich keep things like the curriculum confidential. This helps them avoid getting threats from radical groups,” he said.
He agreed that sex education classes in secondary school were a good idea, but said the foundation did not have the money to start such classes in its schools in 29 districts of Punjab. “Most schools affiliated with the PEF are for the underprivileged. Most of our funds are spent on other, more important needs.”
A coordinator at another LGS branch expressed surprise about the classes at the Kabana branch. In her 27-year teaching career, she said, she had never come across any school teaching such classes.
(Names of students have been changed to protect privacy)
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2010.
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