Talking sex

Among the crowds of revellers will be thousands of teenagers who themselves are now subject of a keen debate in the media as to how much they should be taught about sexual matters or not be taught.

The Ministry of Health last week told a parliamentary committee that 300 children of school age were infected with sexually transmitted diseases between 2012 and 2015 (and a handful were born with AIDS/HIV). That news provoked an immediate reaction from Education Minister Anthony Garcia against any call for a wholesale distribution of condoms in schools. National Parent Teacher Association president Zena Ramatali likewise did not support any wholesale distribution but voiced her great concern over an apparent lack of any human and family life education (HFLE) programme in schools.

One would have thought that the country would have had a uniform and well thought-out HFLE programme rolled out to the young pupils progressively over the years. This could start with simple ideas of “good touch/ bad touch” and “stranger danger” at lower primary levels, human anatomy and procreation at upper primary/lower secondary levels, and controversial issues in sexuality at upper secondary school.

Lessons at all levels should be underlined by a message that sexuality is not a toy nor a game but a matter to be approached with the greatest responsibility.

We urge a middle path between those who don’t wish for a society of ostriches whose heads are buried in the sand and oblivious to the realities of teen experimentation, and those who don’t wish their youngsters to be exposed to a barrage of messages that a condom is the panacea for all. Youth including of school age should be given as much factual information as possible and be told that divergent views exist on a range of sexuality issues, whether contraception, abortion and gay rights/homosexuality.

They should be taught the adage, “If you can’t be ‘good’, be ‘careful’,” whose TT public health equivalent has largely been manifested as the slogan, “ABC — Abstain, Be faithful, Condomise”.

Both sides in the current debate are deeply motivated by wishing the very best for their children, who must be protected from their own mistakes and from predators. With such goodwill all around we are confident that common ground can be found to have our youngsters informed so as to be able to make wise and responsible choices as they progressively develop over the years into sexual beings.

Meanwhile, with Carnival on our doorstep we urge the wider population to heed the public health warnings that will be issued by agencies such as the Ministry of Health. Last year’s data from UNAIDS indicates that 11,000 TT nationals are living with HIV. Other data reveals that HIV transmission in female teens is a whopping seven times the rate among male teens.

Great strides made against the virus include waning discrimination, plus an increase in testing and in the awareness of how it is contracted and combated by drug therapy (although not fully eliminated). Over the years hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in the thrust against AIDS/HIV led by the HIV Coordinating Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health, backed up by UNAIDS.

However, the ultimate responsibility rests on the individual, who we again urge to make wise choices amid the headiness of the Carnival revelry