Parents cry foul over sex ed pilot test

FOLLOWING the uproar over the Reproductive Health Bill, the teaching of sex education among elementary and high school students has drawn staunch opposition from Catholic Church and pro-life advocates.

With the issuance of Memorandum No. 261, implementing the “Adolescent Reproductive Health Project” (ADR Project), the Department of Education (DepEd) is conducting a pilotest on teaching sex education in 80 public elementary schools and 79 public high schools this school year, despite objections from the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has stressed that parents are responsible for teaching their children about this matter, not their school teachers.

“CBCP has always maintained that it (sex education) should be left to the responsibility of parents, especially if we are talking about children who are underage,” said CBCP Media Office Director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio in a statement published in CBCP News website (www.cbcp.net).

Quitorio said that sex education should only be taught among college students, since older students have higher understanding of the idea of sex, compared to younger ones.

Faculty of Theology dean and UST High School Regent Fr. Rodel Aligan, O.P., echoed the Church’s opposition on sex education, saying sex education should not be the government’s priority.

“The quality of education in elementary and high school is poor and not all of them can go to college. The government should focus on providing education opportunities to less fortunate students first,” Aligan said, adding that parents should be the ones to teach their children on matters pertaining to sex.

“One of the primary responsibilities of the parents is to teach their children on sex education,” Aligan said. “Perhaps, it would help maintain the population. But then, if not executed properly, we are afraid of its ethical and moral effects to the young generation.”

But in a statement released last June 8, former DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno emphasized the necessity of teaching the subject to grade-schoolers.

“The implementation is meant to raise awareness of the youth about sexuality, hygiene, interpersonal relationships and premarital sex,” Valisno said, citing an increase in the number of Filipinos infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and number of teenage pregnancy cases due to premarital sex this year.

Valisno clarified that classroom discussions on sex education is not about the sex act, but on the science of reproduction, physical care and hygiene, and rules of interpersonal relations to prevent pre-marital sex and teenage pregnancy.

“There’s a different connotation of sex [in sex education]. It is not in the modules [of teachers] to teach their students on the act of sex or the use of contraception. We are guiding them so that they will be able to decide what is good for them,” Valisno said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

Valisno also believed that some parents may be hesitant to teach sex to their children because they don’t know when and where to begin with. This hesitation, according to Valisno, can deter a child’s learning.

“The school is not the sole institution that can teach children on sex education. Parents are the guidance in teaching their children [in sex education], not only [school] teachers. But without the right exposure on that subject, they [parents] are welcome to learn with their children,” Valisno said.

Grade five and grade six students among schools in Olongapo City, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Masbate, Bohol, Eastern Samar, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Sultan Kudarat will be adopting the memo included in subjects like Science, Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP), Health, Heograpiya, Kasaysayan, at Sibika, and Mathematics.

Meanwhile, in a phone interview with the Varsitarian, Department of Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral supported Valisno, saying that children in the kindergarten level (4 to 6 years old), should be taught about their sexuality even at an early age.

“Children at that age become curious about males and females, boys and girls. Parents, including teachers, must be ready to answer their questions [regarding sex]. We must also be ready to tell them certain parts of their body that nobody else should touch,” Cabral said.

Parents cry foul

To nullify the implementation, 24 petitioners from Ang Kapatiran Partylist filed a class suit last June 21 against the education department.

Petitioners headed by CBCP Legal Office secretary Jo Imbong appealed that teaching sex education in lower levels violates Article II, Section 12 of the Constitution, which states the rights of parents to rear the moral character of their children.

“It’s a suit filed by parents, families, community leaders, lay organizations, and professionals who do not want other people outside their family to corrupt the minds and hearts of their children whom they nurture with family and moral values,” Imbong said.

The memo read that “teaching subjects of human sexuality in the classroom assumes the role of the parent’s primary responsibility in teaching their children in matters about sex.” This violation, according to Imbong, could tarnish children’s understanding of human sexuality.

Responding to the suit filed by AKP, Valisno said they will just run a pilot-test to determine if the program will be effective.

“There isn’t a nationwide implementation. I don’t understand why they are trying to stop the modules, which are scientifically done by scientists, clinical psychologists, and medical practitioners. They are specifically designed for student’s understanding,”