Lets not make sex an elephant in the room. We in India live in an environment where ‘sex’ is always talked about in hushed tone. The moment a Condom advertisement flashes on screen the conspicuous expression of discomfort on every family member’s face takes over. For boys, who are granted a little freedom to explore their sexuality, women have been subjected to every societal rule formed to keep them under control. In India, sex education has never gone beyond the portrayal of a naked human figure and women’s uterus in biology class. Sex education is much more than that. Former Heath Minister DR. Harshvardhan’s comment on sex education as ‘so called sex education should be banned’ denies the youth of India the much required knowledge which they curiously gain from internet. Though internet has vast knowledge on the subject but its reliability always remains doubtful. Topic of sex is always aligned with morality, the argument that has no logical backing. Our culture has given us Kamasutra. By denying our young generation the knowledge of sex we are not acknowledging the fact that so many children are married off without any information about their body. So many children face sexual abuse in school and in residential environment. In my own personal experience most of the knowledge regarding sex, puberty, contraceptives came to me own its own through sources like friends, internet, television and much more. Lack of informed source exposes the children to the greater risk of being mislead by fallacious knowledge and misconceptions regarding sex and puberty. With huge information regarding sex available on the go it makes it even more important to promote sex education in schools, modicum of which has started to enter in our education system. The Population council of national study on ‘Youth India’ reported that only 15 percent of youth had information regarding sex from their teachers or parents.
Today, where we are surrounded by sex everywhere indirectly, it is important that we start talking about it too and have informed opinions and knowledge.