Bali teens in dire need of sex education

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 09/05/2007 2:18 PM | National

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Youth activists have urged the local government to devise and implement a comprehensive, school-based sex education program after a recent survey revealed a significant number of Bali students were sexually active, despite having little knowledge of sex.

""This is a wake up call to local administrations and education-related agencies and institutions to pay more attention to this issue,"" I Wayan Suwarna, the volunteer coordinator of the group We Love Teenagers (KISARA), said Tuesday.

""A comprehensive sex education program, which is formally acknowledged and fully integrated into the school curriculum, is the proper response to this problem,"" he said.

KISARA is the youth division of the local chapter of the Indonesian Association of Family Planning (PKBI). Established 13 years ago to increase youth awareness of health issues, KISARA now boasts over 500 registered volunteers.

A month-long survey recently conducted by KISARA revealed a surprising number of Balinese teenagers were sexually active.

KISARA interviewed 1,412 tenth grade students aged between 15 and 17 from Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, Tabanan, Bangli, and Klungkung.

""Around 510 respondents admitted to having already experienced one or more steady relationships,"" Suwarna said.

Out of those 510, 32 percent admitted to having already partaken in erotic kissing, 27 percent in upper torso stimulation, 24 percent in genital stimulation, 18 percent in mutual masturbation, 24 percent in sexual intercourse and three percent in oral sex.

A surprising 27 percent said they would seek out an abortion if they became pregnant.

""Given the fact that a staggering 72 percent of total respondents admitted of having no knowledge of the meaning and definition of sex, their sexual behavior is simply worrisome,"" Suwarna pointed out.

""This behavior, I believe, is the primary reason behind the surging numbers of cases of unwanted pregnancies, illegal abortions, and STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) among our youth in recent years,"" he said.

Suwarna said educating teenagers on healthy dating, reproductive health, and safe sex were the most viable way to protect the sexual health of the island's youth.

A similar sentiment was also echoed by the executive director of Bali Community Care, Okanegara.

""Each year, there are 2.3 million abortions taking place in Indonesia, 20 percent of them involving teenagers. The government needs to act quickly and seriously before we lose our youngsters,"" he said.

He said reluctance by the government and the majority of education establishments to integrating sex education into the formal curriculum was understandable but irresponsible.

""The debate (on sex education) is always heavy with moral and ethical issues. But we must find a middle way, a compromise between the need to ... develop a morally sound society and healthy, well-informed youth who are capable of making responsible choices in relation to their sexual lives,"" he said.

The failure of authorities to devise and implement a comprehensive sex education program, he warned, would result in teenagers turning to other sources of information.

The sources could be ""their equally uninformed peers or widely circulated and frequently misguiding porn magazines and movies. This in turn will only further aggravate their problems"".

""We need more and stronger involvement from the government and education agencies. So far, it is only NGOs that have dedicated their resources to addressing this issue. But our resources and coverage are very limited compared to the magnitude of the problem.""

The survey found that 95 percent of respondents expected their school teachers to be their primary source of knowledge on sex, closely followed by their parents.

""This means that, in Bali, teenagers still have strong trust in their teachers and parents. Teachers and parents should use this as a golden opportunity to influence the future of their pupils and children,"" Okanegara said.

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