Sex lessons need to tackle emotions too

Is there enough knowledge about sexual well-being in textbooks? And does formal sex education also cover the aspect of love, care and respect in a sexual relationship? If statistics are to be believed, it doesn’t.
According to a recent Sexual Well-being Global Survey, it is the emotional aspects that the highest proportion of Indians think their formal sex education has missed out on the most. Experts throw light on the significance of emotions in formal sex education. “The school syllabus only focuses on the reproductive system, but we need to talk about reproductive health in our textbooks. And if students were taught about the emotional component of sex, youngsters would take responsibility for their actions and their partners too,” says clinical psychologist Dr Aruna Broota.
And this negligence in imparting moral and emotional education about sexual well-being can further lead to insufficient and improper knowledge and trigger risky behaviour. Says Dr Deepali Batra, a child psychologist with Batra Hospital, “The consequences of indulging in a sexual relationship with multiple partners and about the emotional involvement in such a relationship is not talked about. Imparting emotional education would make adolescents more sensitive towards their sexual partners. Most kids don’t even know the repercussions of unprotected sex.”
Dr Preeti Singh, clinical hypnotherapist, agrees. She feels parents should speak to their kids about emotional bonding in a sexual relationship. “Many teachers don’t talk about sex with their students. We need to stop seeing sex merely as danger, or a problem – because that’s how it’s perceived in most households. We need to educate our kids about emotions involved in a sexual relationship without getting embarrassed about it,” she says.