EDUCATING ourselves is a form of liberation. We free ourselves from the encapsulated ideas and thoughts in our society. We liberate ourselves to the real world, to draw the line between what is right and wrong. Thus, we give ourselves the right to know our limitations and understand them critically.
I have seen the effort of our government in pursuing sex education in our public and private institutions. I find their proposal acceptable since it would open what the youth are curious about but are restrained from talking about with adults.
Let us not be hypocrites about sex. Admit it, it's one of few words that immediately catch our attention. Whenever we see the word "sex" in magazines and other print materials, we stop at some point and become interested to read the page where it is written.
It's not because we feel the urge to read it, but perhaps the "questioning self" wants to clarify and discover the truth about this matter.
Our parents didn't tell us what sex is. We only encountered this word when we met our friends, classmates, and the internet. We've got bits of information from our peers within the same age bracket brought by curiosity.
We've got nothing from our parents.
We wonder why. It might be because our parents find it awkward to share. But the truth is they just don't know how to relay their thoughts since they themselves have no background in sex education.
Majority of the Filipino families doesn't have proper socio-cultural background in dealing with sex. They find malice in educating us about this particular matter. That is why we could still hear children up to now calling their organs "small birdies" and "little flowers."
If the basic unit of society can't provide the needed values and knowledge, then we better accept the intervention of the government with regards to sex education.
We are looking forward that the Medieval way of thinking will be put aside; that this nation will know that PMS and teenage pregnancy among young Filipinos is not hearsay at all.
With these facts, we are looking forward to the religious institutions to support us in this goal of freeing one's self from the bondage of ignorance.
The youth need the education, not the sex. Since we value that sex education can bring us to the discipline of liberation, at the end of the day we will learn that it's not only for our best interest but also to the larger society.
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Sunday Essays are articles and reflections written by third year Masscom students of the Ateneo de Davao University for their journalism class.