Costa Rica News – The Ministry of Education’s classes on sexuality are failing in classrooms. Though the program itself is excellent, there are multiple problems in its execution and studies show it is ineffective.
The Adolescent Clinic of the National Children’s Hospital released the result of studies about the knowledge our boys have about the topic. It turns out that 75% of them believe that intercourse interruptus was effective in preventing pregnancy and 67% did not know how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
One of the problems in teaching sexuality is that the parents of teens often do not want the themes talked about explicitly. Over 90% do give their permission for their child to take the science class. After giving permission, however, they put pressure on the teachers to teach a certain way and avoid some topics.
This leads to teachers being shy and insecure about teaching controversial but important aspects of sexuality. Additionally, they are not trained in how to give the course.
Lastly, there is the problem of legislation. Teaching in seventh, eighth and ninth grade is too late but legislation prohibits it earlier even though the average student’s first sexual experience is at 16 or 17 years old.
