May 4, 2010
Is it premature to teach six-year-olds about sexuality?
Farzana Hassan
Globe and Mail, Toronto
In Ontario, educators grappled with this question recently in the
debate over the province’s new sex education curriculum.
Interestingly, at Unitarian Universalist congregations, sex
education begins at the kindergarten level. Children learn about
their bodies, hygiene, relationships, self-worth, responsibility and
social justice through comprehensive, age-appropriate pedagogy.
Our Whole Lives, known affectionately as OWL, is a program that
teaches children very early in their religious education that they
must learn to respect their own bodies and those of others. They
also learn that sexuality is to be celebrated in its diverse
manifestations.
As a liberal religious tradition, Unitarian Universalism eschews
negative references to various sexual orientations. In so doing, it
obviously represents a departure from more orthodox religious
beliefs where homosexuality and bisexuality are vociferously
condemned. In addition to delivering information about sexuality and
relationships, OWL also strives to impart sound values to students
that will eventually enable them to make the right choices about
their sexuality.
Acutely aware of young children’s vulnerability to sexual abuse, OWL
also strives to teach children about possible dangers and how to
overcome them from the beginning. The proposed Ontario sex education
curriculum would have followed this philosophy. However, more
orthodox religious groups have called for abandoning the curriculum
due to religious considerations.
These groups fear that knowledge about sex will precipitate sexual
activity in children. They appear to ignore statistics showing that,
in fact, children who receive age-appropriate information on sex
tend to abstain from it and are also better equipped to defend
themselves against predators. The younger the children, the more
vulnerable they are to being sexually abused. It is not unusual for
a six-year-old girl or boy to have experienced the worst kind of
sexual abuse. Therefore, the sooner children are taught that a
certain type of physical contact is inappropriate, the better.
Many times, adults unconsciously communicate sexual information to
children, without providing them with necessary follow-up
explanations. Among conservative Muslims, for example, references to
gender identities begin at a very young age. Often, children are
separated according to gender with great emphasis being placed on
gender roles. Little girls are unwittingly taught to cover up, lest
they provoke sexual assault or molestation. Wouldn’t it make sense
to tackle such issues through proper education rather than
fear-mongering?
When developing a sex education program, it is important to consider
the risks children face at an increasingly young age. A
scientifically developed program to forewarn children of such
dangers is not only desirable, it is imperative.
For such religious groups, it is important to acknowledge that the
danger of keeping young children uninformed is far greater than
equipping them with appropriate information about sex.
Under the new curriculum, six-year-olds would learn about their body
parts. They would come to understand that they themselves must be in
control of their own bodies at all times. Anyone who touches them in
a manner that makes them feel uncomfortable must be reported to an
elder immediately.
Schools can serve as effective institutions in fighting the curse of
sexual abuse. Lack of knowledge about the dangers associated with
sexual activity is hardly a solution. While some religious
communities have recognized this important dynamic, others must
reevaluate their position on sex education with a view to aligning
it with Ontario’s sex education goals for young children.