The T&T tendency to be reactive rather than proactive is once again on display, following the arrests of two staff members at a private school in east Trinidad for the alleged rape of 12-year-old girls. And once again, the focus has turned to sex education and whether it should be part of the school curriculum.
Just last year, the pros and cons of a comprehensive sex education programme were fiercely debated after social media videos surfaced with sexual content involving secondary school students.
But given the largely negative response to suggestions of updated content on sexuality and sexual health in the Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) programmes currently taught in schools, there isn’t likely to be any progress on that front. The gap between those who are for and those against is too wide.
On one hand, the Concerned Parents’ Movement of T&T (CPMTT) sees the value of including relevant, age-appropriate sex education content to teach children how to identify if they are being groomed or abused, among other things.
Then there is the T&T Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA,) whose president Martin Lum Kin believes sex education should start from the home and with the family. On that score, Mr Lum Kin seems to be on the same side with the majority of this country’s denominational school boards, who have proffered many moral and religious arguments against sex education in the classroom.
However, recent events suggest it is not that easy to keep sex out of schools.
That is why it makes more sense to heed the advice of professionals like child traumatologist and former Children’s Authority of T&T (CATT) chair Hanif Benjamin, who has continuously underscored the importance of making children aware of abusive or predatory behaviour and encouraging them to report cases of sexual abuse.
While there is a hesitance and, in many instances, strong resistance to teaching children about sex, predators are exploiting every means, including technology, to groom children. Paedophiles are taking advantage of the unrestricted access many children have to social media, luring minors with frightening speed and frequency.
With the pervasiveness of this depravity, it is important to equip children with knowledge that can save them from becoming victims.
Sex education in schools is not about exposing innocents to adult content. It does not involve pornographic content. Instead, in an age-appropriate way, children are taught about privacy and how to say “no” when they do not want to touch or be touched by others—even in non-sexual ways.
At present, the absence of such content in primary and secondary school curricula has not prevented many youngsters from premature sexual activity, which is one of the arguments often put forward by those opposed to sex education in schools. Conversely, children and teens who are provided with the necessary information are more likely to make the right decisions about relationships and have healthier attitudes about sex
Since that very contentious subject is back on the front burner, this is a good time to revisit curriculum content approved by the Ministry of Education as far back as 2006, to help children develop proper attitudes, morals and values. That is the type of education T&T needs.