Dabawenyos air opinion on sex education

THE University of Mindanao-Institute of Popular Opinion (UM-IPO) said on Monday that majority of marginalized Dabawenyos are becoming more engaged on issues that affect them, particularly on reproductive health.

Adrian Tamayo, who is a UM-IPO specialist in economics, governance, and political issues, said they gathered data from a recently conducted survey to some 1,400 Dabawenyos.

He added: "The voiceless are now saying what's appropriate for them."

He said 47.91 percent of the Dabawenyos are in favor of the Reproductive Health law, while 49.64 or almost half of the respondents said they do not approve of such provision.

The study also revealed that 21 percent of those in favor belong to class D of the population and 16 percent belong to class E.

"The ubiquitous of poverty and poverty-related social problems might be strong points why sex education must be part of the cognitive development of the students while in school. The lower income classes face the everyday trouble of dividing their limited resources among the many mouths to feed, which is not a problem to a well-to-do family," the synopsis of the survey said.

However, the survey also noted that the high approval of sex education among the poor could be a manifestation of lack of knowledge about the topic.

"It is also a quite reckon that those who have less in life have less in education, and less in sex education. Hence, sex education may help define their family conditions such as economic, health and opportunities in life," it added.