Taiwanese parents believe that many topics relating to sexual education should start later than the UN recommendation, civil groups said yesterday.
Most parents in Taiwan believe that contraception and other topics related to sexual health should be taught in junior-high school, later than the time suggested by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in its 2018 International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education, a survey conducted by the Taiwan Association for Sexuality Education (TASE) and the Action Alliance on Basic Education (AABE) showed.
The groups sent an online questionnaire to parents of elementary and junior-high students inquiring about the appropriate age to teach a variety of topics on sex education. They received 1,203 valid responses between April 10 and May 12.
Photo: CNA
Of the 49 questions, most parents believed 13 of the topics should be taught in elementary schools, 32 in junior-high schools and four in senior-high schools, TASE vice chairman Feng Chia-yu (馮嘉玉) said.
While UNESCO advises teaching pregnancy and fertility-related topics at ages five to eight, and precautions such as condom use at ages nine to 12, 42 percent of Taiwanese parents surveyed said the proper age for both should be between 12 and 15.
Most of the parents said that teaching intimacy as a normal part of emotional expression and about how people experience pleasure through physical contact should be taught between ages 12 and 15, later than the UNESCO-recommended five-to-eight and nine-to-12 respectively.
However, the parents also believed that values, rights and cultural issues related to sexuality should be taught in elementary schools, earlier than the recommendation.
UNESCO in the guidelines says “it recognizes the diversity of different national contexts in which sexuality education is taking place, and the authority of governments to determine the content of educational curricula in their country,” said Yan Han-wen (晏涵文), TASE honorary chairman and a professor in National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Health Promotion and Health Education.
A good understanding of local needs is the key to effective sex education, Yan said.
The lack of professional sexuality educators in junior-high schools is of concern, as parents in Taiwan expect most sex education content to be taught then, AABE chairman Wang Han-yang (王瀚陽) said.
The local needs for sexuality education of parents, teachers and students should continue to be studied for educators’ reference, Wang said.
The planning of sexuality-related curricula should allow participation by parent groups that understand education affairs and care about sex education, Wang added.
Additional reporting by Kayleigh Madjar and CNA
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