THERE has been some confusion over the terms "teenage sex" and "underage sex" ("Underage sex more common, say social workers"; Feb 9).
Sex between two consenting teenagers of age is legal, albeit frowned upon, unlike statutory rape, wherein at least one participant is below the age of consent.
I disagree with the demonisation of legal teenage sex in society - it should not be described interchangeably with rape. The negative attitude towards teenage sex in schools is also unhelpful.
Sex education in our schools is lacking in several ways.
For example, I feel that there is a social responsibility to educate teenagers on safer sex.
Sex education should involve practical information rather than just shock-inducing pictures of sexually transmitted diseases.
At the moment, teenagers get their sex education from the Internet, which can yield results both good and bad. Instead of leaving it to chance and Web search engines, we should have trained professionals imparting factually accurate and thorough knowledge upon our youth.
Current workshops are both sexist and exclusionary to people of sexual and gender minorities.
One organisation came to my junior college and preached about how any sex outside of marriage is a sin, and did not accept that we might have other equally valid positions.
The representatives also spoke of how girls are more complicated than boys, marginalising young women and turning them into a huge joke, without backing up their bold claims. They also said that girls do not mean what they say, upholding rape culture that states that girls mean "maybe" when they say "no".
Similarly, girls should not be told that their virginity is their most precious asset and that it is shameful if it is taken away or "stolen". This is a very demeaning view of girls and women.
Our society prioritises marriage for the sake of raising birth rates. But we should not neglect people who are unmarried, or speak to teenagers as though people are birthing machines.
Ultimately, sex is a natural human phenomenon and forcing teenagers to keep their sexuality hidden is only going to expose them to potentially dangerous sexual practices that come about from a lack of information. Protecting teenagers should not mean keeping them in the dark.
Drima Chakraborty (Ms)
Sex between two consenting teenagers of age is legal, albeit frowned upon, unlike statutory rape, wherein at least one participant is below the age of consent.
I disagree with the demonisation of legal teenage sex in society - it should not be described interchangeably with rape. The negative attitude towards teenage sex in schools is also unhelpful.
Sex education in our schools is lacking in several ways.
For example, I feel that there is a social responsibility to educate teenagers on safer sex.
Sex education should involve practical information rather than just shock-inducing pictures of sexually transmitted diseases.
At the moment, teenagers get their sex education from the Internet, which can yield results both good and bad. Instead of leaving it to chance and Web search engines, we should have trained professionals imparting factually accurate and thorough knowledge upon our youth.
Current workshops are both sexist and exclusionary to people of sexual and gender minorities.
One organisation came to my junior college and preached about how any sex outside of marriage is a sin, and did not accept that we might have other equally valid positions.
The representatives also spoke of how girls are more complicated than boys, marginalising young women and turning them into a huge joke, without backing up their bold claims. They also said that girls do not mean what they say, upholding rape culture that states that girls mean "maybe" when they say "no".
Similarly, girls should not be told that their virginity is their most precious asset and that it is shameful if it is taken away or "stolen". This is a very demeaning view of girls and women.
Our society prioritises marriage for the sake of raising birth rates. But we should not neglect people who are unmarried, or speak to teenagers as though people are birthing machines.
Ultimately, sex is a natural human phenomenon and forcing teenagers to keep their sexuality hidden is only going to expose them to potentially dangerous sexual practices that come about from a lack of information. Protecting teenagers should not mean keeping them in the dark.
Drima Chakraborty (Ms)
