Let’s decode the ‘BEEP’ sound

For Your Amigos Foundation- Authored by Arun A G

Children are the most vibrant, energetic and curious population, while also being highly vulnerable. It is the duty of every parents and teachers to provide meaningful knowledge to the children, for their informed development and well-being. India, being the second most populous country in the world, have really fallen short in that aspect. 

India is considered globally as one of the nations with huge young human potential, who can contribute to rapid development of the country. On the other hand, India is one of the most unsafe countries for children, due to increased rate of child sexual abuse, child marriages and underlying patriarchy culture. The traditional norms and mores of the Indian society have resulted in denying children access to several facilities, which includes education and health care. Girls, are the most affected due to the wide spread ostracizing and neglect, which is synonymous to our culture.

Sex is one of the most pertinent taboos related to Indian culture. Even the well-educated sect of Indians is reluctant to speak openly about sex, rather we cover it with the ‘BEEP’ sound. We as Indians are more interested and acquainted to lament continuously about increased incidents of child sexual abuse and lack of harsh punishments, but seldom take steps to prevent or curb this menace.  We are unaware or ignorant about the sex education and why it is imperative to impart it among our children. This is where we fail and needs immediate correction.

Why we need to talk about sex? Why we should break the cultural myth regarding sex education? Why parents, teachers and government should take relevant steps towards providing sex education to our children? It is high time to answer these questions.

·       Health – Sex education is imperative for both physical and mental well being of children. It helps them to understand and respect their body, while also enabling them to set healthy boundaries. This will also help them to understand the opposite sex and the need to respect each other.

·       Curiosity – Children are the most curious bunch of people we would ever come across. They are always interested in grasping new knowledge, but may not have the capacity to filter right and wrong from it. This could lead them to be misinformed. It is most evident in the case of sexual knowledge. Due to the lack of adequate, accurate and scientific sex education, children seek to curb these curiosities through porn sites, movies and peers. It will only help to promote misconceptions and misinformation regarding sex, which will be reasonably perpetuated to adulthood also.

·     Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse- According to the National Crime Records Bureau Report “A child is sexually abused in India every 15 minutes”. Most of the perpetrators are known to the children, which includes parents, relatives and teachers.  Lack of sex education is one of the major contributing factors to this alarming situation. Our existing culture, which promote silence over these issues, often force the victim to feel helpless and even make them unaware of being abused.  Not some movies on “Good Touch and Bad Touch” is not going to change this. We as a   society should take enough measures to ensure that adequate sex education is provided to our children, so that they become empowered to speak out and challenge this menace.

·       Gender – ‘Gender Equality’ is one of the most controversial debate topics prevalent in India. We Indians are fine tuned to believe and practice the traditional concepts about masculinity and feminine, in which we forbade men to cry, while encourage women to engage in household chores. Over this debate, we almost forget that there are LGBTQ people also among us. We forget to teach our children about respect each other and how important is ‘consent’. It could have prevented lot of unfortunate rapes and acid attacks. We also try to portray homosexuality as an evil practice, while denying them actual and authentic knowledge. Teaching about one’s sexuality and gender is always important for to accept who they are and others are and how to come in terms with that. It is high time to accept that just educating about “Good Touch and Bad Touch’ will not serve the cause

·       Menstruation – Here, we are in 2020 and we need to still talk about this, what a pity. Over 57% of girls in rural India and 7% girls in urban India still lack knowledge on menstruation. Only few girls from both populations carry proper knowledge on menstrual cycles, proper marriage age, safe sex, contraceptives and STDs. India witness a large chunk of girl students dropping out of school due to menstrual taboos. Again, let me remind you we are in 2020.

Shift your gears. The time demands an enormous effort to decode the BEEP sound.