SHOULD SEX EDUCATION BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS TO FILIPINO TEENAGERS? Why or
why not?
I. Introduction
Sex or Sexuality education assists people to gain helpful information and skills in making
decisions about themselves regarding their sexual activities and relationships. To add, sex
education is not only about the anatomy, function, and importance of biological reproduction but
it also covers sexual development, gender identity, intimacy, body image, and etc. Developing a
healthy sexuality is a key developmental milestone for all children and adolescents that depends
on acquiring information and forming attitudes, beliefs, and values about consent, sexual
orientation, gender identity, relationships, and intimacy (Swartzendruber, 2010).
In the Philippines, The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 or
commonly known as RH LAW was passed into legislation. Although it spurred a lot of criticisms
from the Church, the Supreme Court still declared that it is constitutional. This law guarantees
the universal access to contraceptive methods, fertility control, maternal care, and sexuality
education in high schools. DepEd has already included CSE in its K to 12 curriculum although it
has not yet adopted the CSE standards developed by a panel of experts in consultation with
teachers, parents, RH providers, and the adolescents themselves. Teachers have yet to be
trained on how best to deliver age-specific CSE within the K to 12 curriculum (GERONIMO,
2016).
Yes, SEX EDUCATION should be taught in schools to Filipino teenagers because it helps
teenagers to protect themselves from others.
II. Counter Argument
Just the mention of the words Sex Education will result into a debate or argument here in the
Philippines. This is not new to us Filipinos because the country is conservative and
predominantly Catholic. Generally, religious authorities are against sex education being taught
in the school because it goes against religious beliefs. The Catholic Church's traditional
teaching about sex education, especially as formulated by Popes Pius XI and Pius XII, is that it
should not be primarily a matter of giving explicit information at all, but rather it should be a
matter of inculcating modesty, purity, chastity, and morality, a matter of teaching the sixth and
ninth commandments. Moreover, it should also be primarily a matter for the parents to impart
privately in the home, not something to be purveyed and discussed in mixed classrooms of boys
and girls at impressionable ages. (Whitehead, 1996) Sexual or sexuality education has been
criticized by religious authorities especially those of deeply religious people for the reason that it
goes against certain moral or religious beliefs that they uphold. To add, these authorities
believes that children shouldn’t be taught about sex education because they are still too young.
Next, those who are opposed against sex education believe that it’s not the role of the school or
teachers to teach sex education because it should be discussed at home by their own parents.
Lastly, religious authorities believe that by teaching sex education, children will be imitating
these acts and therefore will go against their belief of chastity.
