Sex education should be a compulsory part of the secondary curriculum (6B Alex Luk)

Sex education imperative in secondary curriculum

'14-year-old girl being pregnant.’ ‘No sex education in secondary schools.’ In recent years, newspapers have been flooded with headlines as such. Not many years ago, the Hong Kong government also considers imposing sex education in the secondary school as a compulsory part. However, this can be a mixed blessing. Some are in favour of this notion because many teenagers nowadays seem to lack appropriate knowledge about sex. Despite this, in view of complex and hectic curriculum, whether sex education is made compulsory remains a big doubt. Both sides of the arguments are supported with sound reasons. It is worthwhile for us to examine why there is such a conflict and the following essay evaluates the pros and cons of it.

Imposing sex education compulsorily wastes time. It goes without saying that the new senior secondary curriculum is harsh due to the complicated, complex and bulky and content. More often than not, almost all teachers have to sacrifice their spare time to time students so as to tackle the public exam. Recent reports have stated, to many people’s surprise, that as many as 81 percent of secondary six students were extremely worried about their public exam on the grounds that not many of them have finished the whole curriculum. Therefore, they simply don’t have more time to be subjected to sex education.

Another argument against the imposition of sex education compulsorily is that it is useless to be done. I would like to raise a question. ‘Did our parents and teachers have lessons about sex education in their secondary schools?’ The answer is simply no. Consequently, the proposal seems to fail as human can learn sex education by themselves while growing up. Why can’t this new generation learn this by themselves?

However, whether imposing sex education compulsorily is a double-edged sword.

Nowadays, inappropriate information is more easily to teenagers owing to the advancement in technology. As we all know, teenagers are eager to explore themselves more in this stage. In addition, thanks to the rapid development in internet, most of us can easily get access to more information about sex. If they had received some pornographic photos or watches some uncensored videos, they development might have been adversely affected. Nevertheless, if they had received sex education in schools, they would have developed a sense that those messages are exactly wrong and then skipped those information.

Moreover, sex education not only includes physical aspect, but also includes mental and social aspect. As for the mental and social part, teens would learn how to get along with the others, especially with the opposite sex. What’s more, it also includes how to form a blissful family and play their roles. All these kinds of knowledge couldn’t be found in any subjects now. That’s why some suggest that sex education is imperative.

Judging from the arguments presented above, on balance, I am of the opinion that the advantages of imposing sex education compulsorily in secondary curriculum may offset some of the disadvantages. To put another way, students’ physical and mental developments are pivotal even reducing more time on studies. The government should not just look on with folded arms, instead, should give out more funds to schools to carry out sex education. There is an urgent need for the government to implement this in response to the growing youth problem arising from lack of sex-related knowledge.