Earlier this week, we mentioned that several schools in Ontario, Canada are experiencing a backlash from parents who are upset with the new sex ed curriculum. Thorncliffe Park Public School in Toronto, was forced to offer a “sanitized” version of the curriculum to first graders, as a way to stop parents from pulling their children out of class. And there has been push-back in other school districts as well.
Part of the problem? Parents feel the curriculum isn’t appropriate for young children. And many are uncomfortable with the idea of introducing the concept of pleasure into the classroom, versus simply using the more traditional, fear-driven approach to sex ed that primarily highlights the negative risks and consequences of being sexually active. In Ontario’s revised curriculum, lessons begin mentioning pleasure as early as seventh grade as a factor in making decisions related to sexual health.
Sexual health can be a slippery thing to define, and most early definitions didn’t even make any mention of pleasure. In 1975, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed and published its original definition of sexual health in order to move beyond the pathologization of sexuality. Still, their definition made no mention of pleasure, and neither did any of the definitions that followed from other organizations.
Then, in 2007, Planned Parenthood published a white paper on “The Health Benefits of Sexual Expression,” citing numerous studies on how sexuality is important to overall health. The benefits of pleasure, and the ways in which it is essential to overall health, appeared throughout the paper.
In 2008, the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) published “Sexual Health for the Millennium: A Declaration and Technical Document.” In a companion piece, Terence H. Hull, Ph.D. writes that the WAS Declaration is “aimed at helping people overcome problems and attain a high degree of sexual health. … However, no less important for sexual health is the ability to attain sexual pleasure and satisfaction, which is recognized as a key element of overall well-being in the final statement of the declaration.”
Despite this, issues of pleasure continue to be contested within the varying definitions of sexual health that exist. Groups such as the American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) place pleasure front and center in the work that they do, with initiatives that focus on integrating the concept of pleasure into sexual health education. Planned Parenthood itself offers resources that make clear the health benefits of sexual pleasure.
As for the definition used in the glossary for the Ontario curriculum, it is one taken from the Public Health Agency of Canada’s guidelines for sexual health education. Here, sexuality is defined as “a term that encompasses sex, gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy, and reproduction. Sexuality is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviours, practices, roles, and relationships. While sexuality can include all of these dimensions, not all of them are always experienced or expressed. Sexuality is influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, social, economic, political, cultural, ethical, legal, historical, religious, and spiritual factors.”
The issue of whether or not pleasure as a concept belongs in our classrooms—or, for that matter, in definitions of sexual health—is not an issue that is likely to be settled anytime soon. But it will certainly be interesting to observe the effects of its inclusion in some of the new sex ed curricula that are being rolled out.
(image via Flickr)
Shule kadhaa nchini Canada, Ontario, zimepinga mpango wa elimu ya ngono. Shule ya umma ya Thorncliffe Park huko Toronto, ililazimika kutoa toleo la "sanitized" la mtaala kwa wanafunzi wa darasa la kwanza, kama njia ya kuzuia wazazi kutoka kuvuta watoto wao nje ya darasa. Na kumekuwa na kushinikiza nyuma katika wilaya nyingine za shule pia. Ni sehemu ya tatizo? Wazazi wanahisi kwamba mtaala huo haufai kwa watoto wadogo. "Wengi hawafurahii wazo la kuanzisha dhana ya ""furaha"" darasani, badala ya kutumia mbinu ya jadi ya ""hofu"" ya elimu ya ngono ambayo inasisitiza hatari mbaya na matokeo ya kuwa na ngono." Katika mtaala wa masomo uliorekebishwa wa Ontario, masomo huanza kutaja raha mapema katika darasa la saba kama sababu ya kufanya maamuzi yanayohusiana na afya ya kingono. Afya ya kingono inaweza kuwa kitu cha kuteleza kufafanua, na ufafanuzi wengi wa mapema hata hakuwa na kutaja yoyote ya furaha. Mwaka 1975, Shirika la Afya Duniani (WHO) lilitengeneza na kuchapisha ufafanuzi wake wa awali wa afya ya kingono ili kuhamia zaidi ya pathologization ya ngono. Hata hivyo, ufafanuzi wao haukutaja raha, wala ufafanuzi wowote uliofuata kutoka kwa mashirika mengine haukutaja raha. "Mwaka 2007, Planned Parenthood ilitoa ripoti inayoitwa ""The Health Benefits of Sexual Expression"" ambayo ilitaja utafiti wa kina kuhusu jinsi ngono inavyoweza kuwa muhimu kwa afya ya jumla." Faida za raha, na njia ambazo ni muhimu kwa afya ya jumla, zilionekana katika karatasi nzima. "Mwaka 2008, Shirika la Afya ya Jinsia la Dunia (WASH) lilichapisha ""Sexual Health for the Millennium: A Declaration and Technical Document"" (Usalama wa Jinsia kwa Milenia: Azimio na Hati ya Ufundi) na katika sehemu ya mwenzake, Terence H. Hull, Ph.D. anaandika kwamba Azimio la WAS ""linalenga kusaidia watu kushinda matatizo na kufikia kiwango cha juu cha afya ya kijinsia.""" Hata hivyo, muhimu kwa afya ya kingono ni uwezo wa kufikia furaha ya kingono na kuridhika, ambayo ni kutambuliwa kama kipengele muhimu cha jumla ya ustawi katika taarifa ya mwisho ya tamko. <unk> Licha ya hili, masuala ya furaha kuendelea kupingwa ndani ya ufafanuzi tofauti ya afya ya kingono ambayo ipo. Mashirika kama vile American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) huweka furaha mbele na katikati katika kazi wanayofanya, na mipango ambayo inazingatia kuunganisha dhana ya furaha katika elimu ya afya ya kijinsia. Shirika la Planned Parenthood lenyewe hutoa rasilimali zinazoonyesha wazi manufaa ya afya ya raha ya kingono. Kuhusu ufafanuzi unaotumiwa katika kamusi ya mtaala wa Ontario, ni moja iliyochukuliwa kutoka kwa miongozo ya Shirika la Afya ya Umma la Canada kwa elimu ya afya ya kingono. Hapa, ngono hufafanuliwa kama <unk> neno linalojumuisha ngono, utambulisho wa kijinsia na majukumu, mwelekeo wa kijinsia, eroticism, raha, urafiki, na uzazi. Ngono ni uzoefu na kuonyeshwa katika mawazo, fantasies, matakwa, imani, mitazamo, maadili, tabia, mazoea, majukumu, na mahusiano. Ingawa ngono yaweza kutia ndani mambo hayo yote, si yote ambayo huonyeshwa au kuonyeshwa sikuzote. "Ujinsia huathiriwa na mwingiliano wa mambo ya kibiolojia, kisaikolojia, kijamii, kiuchumi, kisiasa, kitamaduni, maadili, kisheria, kihistoria, kidini, na kiroho.""Swali la kama furaha kama dhana inapaswa kuwa katika madarasa yetu au, kwa jambo hilo, katika ufafanuzi wa afya ya kijinsia"" si suala ambalo linaweza kusuluhishwa wakati wowote hivi karibuni." Lakini ni muhimu kuona athari za kuingizwa kwa masomo ya ngono katika masomo ya sasa. (Picha kupitia Flickr)