Term 3:

Social Issues:

Link for the original article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6949714.stm

This is one of those articles which I did without the purpose of an online portfolio even in mind. The article felt close to my heart and I could not help but comment on it.

Review:
Sex education has always been a matter of controversy in Indian schools. This is mainly because of the Indian culture, and the joint family system. Unlike Singapore, with small homes and nuclear families, people in India live in quite big families, where children have parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins to live with. In the west, the atmosphere is quite free, with the parents being quite open toward their children. But in India, due to the family system, it is not very comfortable, especially for parents to talk to their children about things like sex and dating in company of their parents.
I feel that it indeed was not correct of the Indian government to introduce sex education in the syllables of 5th and 6th grade students. Someone beautifully stated that children would lose their innocence if taught about sex at such a young age. Also, this curiosity about intercourse may lead to experimentation. Sex education is indeed necessary, but it is the moral of the story that should be stressed upon, and not the details.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has said that there is a westernizing influence on the government. I feel that this influence is good, but it must be restricted to the good part. The rational thinking and the inquisitive nature brought about by the westernization is good, but other things, such as bars, night-clubs, and the wrong usage, practical and verbal, of sex is a vary bad effect, putting a stain on India’s age-old culture.
However, there is also an argument by RSS that sex education on the pretext of awareness about AIDS is illogical. I feel that this is not true. Though it will arouse curiosity in the minds of the students, with sufficient emphasis on morality instead of facts, can help to very effectively raise awareness about HIV.
India is a country where respect is highly valued, equally for teachers and members of one’s kin. In such situations, teachers, too, would feel very awkward to talk to students about intercourse and such topics, which would consequently weaken the current bond between teachers and students.
The very main objective of this education to create awareness about HIV-AIDS in the minds of the public has been questioned. I feel that the government does have the peoples’ best interests at heart, but is not implementing the correct measures. There should be courses outside the school source, which teach students about intercourse and related topics. And these courses should preferably be optional. It may seem that this would not raise awareness, but it would actually be surprising to find out how many parents want their children to have correct information about sex.
And as I said, earlier, the government is currently trying to provide facts t the students, which could arouse curiosity. Again as I stated earlier, if the consequences and morality is sufficiently stressed, sex education can certainly prove to be very useful indeed to reduce danger of HIV-AIDS in India.