In countries where sex talk is considered taboo, almost any attempt to provide sex education for children is met with derision. Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, is one example of that.

Recently, the Indonesian public appeared to be outraged by a children’s book that depicts a child masturbating. The book, titled I Dare to Sleep Alone and published by Surakarta-based Penerbit Tiga Serangkai, contains a story entitled I Learn Self-Control, which features an illustration of a young boy wrapping his legs around a bolster.

The publisher said this part of the story was aimed at showing that young children “playing” with themselves was normal in the development years of childhood. However, as the children grow older, doing so would amount to masturbation, which could be a cause for concern.

“We have discussed and asked for opinions from experts, including psychologists and pediatricians. Therefore, we had the courage to publish the book,” Penerbit Tiga Serangkai operational director Gatot Wahyudi said, adding that the book was aimed at helping parents to prevent it.

However, many people failed to see it that way, accusing the book’s publisher of trying to corrupt the brain and morality of Indonesian children by saying that masturbation during adolescence was normal.

“The best way to destroy a nation is by corrupting the brains of children. Sadistic publisher! You have no heart as you poison the minds of children who are still innocent,” someone commented on the Instagram account of Penerbit Tiga Serangkai.

Tiga Serangkai, which admitted that the book should be a guide for parents and should not be read by children alone, is not the first publisher to be scolded for trying to introduce sex education to the Indonesian public.

In 1989, the book Adik Baru: Cara Menjelaskan Seks Pada Anak, which is the Indonesian translation of German book Peter, Ida und Minimum by Grethe Fagerstrom and Gunilla Hansson, drew public outrage and forced the Attorney General’s Office to ban it. The book, edited by Conny R. Semiawan, teaches parents how to explain sex to children, but most Indonesians at the time saw it as pornographic.

That kind of attitude persists until now, despite calls from several civil society groups and some government officials for more sex education for children in the digital age, where pornographic materials are easier to access.

Repeated attempts by the government to introduce sex education at elementary school have been met with staunch opposition from the public.

For instance, in 2013, some parents in Situbondo, East Java, complained that the Physical, Sport and Health (PJOK) textbook for the fifth grade contained pornography.

The book actually aims to introduce basic knowledge on reproductive organs to the students, with questions like “what does the male reproductive organ release?” and “If we have sexual intercourse, what will
happen?”.

“In the textbook, we are explaining how to take care of your reproductive organs, but in some societies, mentioning the names of reproductive organs is still perceived as something taboo,” said the head of the Education and Culture Ministry’s textbook department, Supriyatno.

In 2016, another PJOK textbook sparked parents’ outrage in Purwokerto, Central Java, even though the book taught how to prevent sexual violence against children. The parents felt the language used in the book was too vulgar.

Supriyatno cited a similar case in West Sumatra, where the textbook was eventually withdrawn.

“However, according to our team of development psychologists and health experts, there’s nothing wrong with the content. It’s just the psychology of the local people,” he said.

While sex education is not compulsory in Indonesia, Supriyatno said he believed it was essential to avoid things like teen pregnancy and sexual harassment.

“Our students have to be given knowledge about that. If not, they will learn from outside sources. Teachers have to guide them.”

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) has proposed the inclusion of sex education in the school curriculum since 1999, but to no avail, as many people think of sex education simply as a lesson that teaches children how to have sex.

The KPAI said this incorrect mindset was not only prevalent among the public, but also in some government branches.

In 2015, the Constitutional Court ruled that reproductive health education should not be explicitly included in the national curriculum.

The court argued that reproductive health education could be integrated in several subjects at schools, such as sports, biology, religion and counseling. The court also argued that students could also learn about it from seminars and extracurricular activities.

However, the plaintiffs said the government needed a legal basis for sex education to make it more socially acceptable. Otherwise, parents and teachers will always consider it taboo.

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