South Koreans Moving Toward More Liberal Sex Education
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: People in South Korea are embracing a movement to teach young people about sex. Sex has been a taboo subject between parents and their children -- as a result, educating youngsters about sex was left up to the schools, but times are changing. South Korea's Arirang Television tells us how the country is becoming more liberal when it comes to discussing sex with its children.</s>SOHN JIHUN, SK ARIRANG TV REPORTER (voice-over): The story about the birds and the bees is something many Korean parents say they are uncomfortable telling their kids. In this conservative society, when the time comes in a child's life to hear that tale, the adults might either avoid the topic or tell only a part of the story, at least that used to be the case.</s>KOO SUNG-AE, DIRECTOR, NEIL WOMEN'S CENTER FOR THE YOUTH: Adults of the past would force their own knowledge about sex to children in a one-sided way, but there's now a realization this won't work. The focus of today's education is on what the children want to learn about, which is a very significant change.</s>ARIRANG REPORTER: Along with Koo, the media and the Internet, as well as a growing number of civic groups, have been partners in working to get the truth out in the open.</s>JIHUN: Some of most prominent changes on viewing on sex and education can be seen in the classroom. Students are no longer made to simply absorb conventional theories on sex. Instead, they're encouraged to play an active role in learning about the once taboo topic. Sex-ed no longer means watching videos on the reproductive system during gym class on a rainy day. The lessons shared and learned these days cover a range of issues, including abstinence, the use of contraceptives, and sexual abuse. A popular teaching method is role playing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's very helpful because I can use it in real life.</s>JIHUN: Says a student at the Congel (ph) Girls High School. According to Koo, the noted expert, the perception of sex among young Koreans is still distorted, mostly from false information shared among peers, and sex as a tool for rampant commercialization. What will turn the tide, she argues, will be adult role models, and who better than the parents? She believes children, in their day to day lives, have to see how their parents love and care for each other in order to get a wider concept. Inevitably, this should start a chain reaction of kids taught in the open wait, growing up to teach their own kids, and so on to future generations. Sohn Jihun, Arirang TV.