Department insists that sex education will not sexualise children

By Kaunda Selisho

group of school kids and teacher in classroom

The Basic Education Department (DBE) has once again had to issue a follow-up statement regarding what it calls the “misrepresentation of facts regarding some of the content” in the proposed changes to the Life Orientation curriculum.

This after en-masse backlash from different sectors of society who voiced their concerns about what impact the new curriculum would have on students and their attitudes towards sex earlier this year.

The story first garnered public attention back in May when an article published in the Sunday Times stated that children as young as nine years old would learn about topics such as masturbation when the new life orientation textbooks are rolled out next year.

The article was titled Sex lessons for modern grade 4s in new life orientation curriculum and led to a gross misunderstanding of the educational content.

The topic recently sparked more public debate with the predominant argument being that the curriculum will sexualise children and encourage them to have sex much earlier than they normally would after numerous children and hundreds of African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) members and supporters marched to the department of basic education in Pretoria Central last weekend.

According to the recent statement by the DBE, no new content has been added to the Life Orientation subject in schools. What the public is reacting to is the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) section which the department says has been part of the curriculum since the year 2000.

“We have noted with concern that a certain organisation persists in misleading the public by publishing the wrong information resulting in unnecessary confusion and panic among South Africans. We have done our best to help by providing information but they refuse to understand and instead choose to mislead the public,” said DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.

“CSE seeks to provide learners with sexual education while addressing social ills such as teenage pregnancy and sexual violence that exist in society. The department rejected the notion that CSE sexualises children,” he added.

He went on to accuse the unidentified organisation of pulling one-liners from the scripted lesson plans to create improper and baseless impressions about the curriculum.

“The lessons focus on teaching about the respect for self, for the body of others; and most importantly, for children to identify inappropriate physical interactions,” said Mhlanga.

He went on to explain that in seeking to find a comprehensive and all-encompassing curriculum that seeks to address real-world challenges and issues faced by learners in their day-to-day lives, the department had through various consultation platforms allowed for the evolution of the content within both the learner and teacher guides.

Additionally, Mhlanga said DBE conducted tests of the scripted lesson plans in high-burden districts, where there were high teenage pregnancy, birth and HIV rates.

The school governing bodies, school management teams, teachers, and parents of schools in these districts are then orientated on the lessons.

“The department is extremely concerned that there seems to be lower sexual debut and increasing risky sexual behaviour amongst adolescents and HIV prevention knowledge has declined amongst learners,” added Mhlanga.

The department went on to argue that a 2016 review of International Technical Guidelines on Sexuality Education found that the evidence base for CSE had expanded since 2008.

In addition, the review reportedly found that not only does CSE not sexualise children, it also does not increase sexual activity, sexual risk-taking behaviour, or STI/HIV infection rates.

The review reportedly found that CSE delays sexual debut; promotes safe sexual behaviour; increases knowledge of different aspects of sexuality and the risks of early and unintended pregnancy, HIV, and other STIs; decreases the number of sexual partners; reduces sexual risk-taking; and increases the use of condoms and other forms of contraception.

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