Equipping students with sex education and adolescent reproductive health

Currently, sexeducation content has been implemented regularly and systematically in many schools in Hanoi. In addition to being integrated into the content of Biology and Science lessons, sex education is also included in extracurricular lessons at school. Notably, many schools from preschool level have begun to educate students with basic knowledge to recognize the differences between male and female genders, private areas, sensitive areas of the body and the 5-finger rule to protect themselves from the risk of sexual abuse.

In order to help students with basic knowledge about gender and reproductive health care for adolescents, recently, the Natural Science Group of Tay Dang Secondary School (Ba Vi, Hanoi) organized a seminar on "Sex education and reproductive health care for adolescents". [ caption id="attachment_605503" align="alignnone" width="768"] Strengthen sex education lessons so that students understand and equip themselves with the necessary skills.[/caption]

Ms. Dang Thuy Ha - Principal of the school emphasized: Sex education and adolescent health care is a very important social issue. In our country, the issue of sex education in the family is still very limited. The reason is partly because parents are busy with the economy and realize that this is a sensitive, private issue that should not be discussed.

In secondary schools, sex education for students has not been widely and popularly taught. Initially, it was only integrated into a number of subjects such as Civic Education, Biology, etc. with limited content and duration. Currently, cultural trends are penetrating and greatly affecting the thinking and behavior of adolescents. If not provided with adequate knowledge, it will easily lead to many risks affecting the ethics of lifestyle, education, and potentially affecting the future and population quality of the whole society. In adolescence, relationships and questions about friendship, love, gender, sex, reproductive diseases, contraceptive methods, etc. are issues that students mostly have to "find out" on their own because these are things that seem "very difficult to talk about". Ms. Dang Thuy Ha said that through this topic, students have somewhat become aware of their own psychological changes, can form skills to solve "psychological disturbances" themselves, know the risks of unhealthy sexual relationships and the serious consequences of having sex too early. Students clearly understand the effects of male and female sex hormones on changes in the body during puberty. Know the scientific basis and conditions of fertilization and conception. Understand the risks and harms of teenage pregnancy. They know the risks, how to prevent and handle situations when they are sexually abused. Know how to practice menstrual hygiene. From there, they have the ability to self-aware, communicate, express, respond to difficult situations and make the right decisions in friendships and love relationships. In real life, we have witnessed some students having to drop out of school because of pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, leading to abortion at a young age; giving birth and raising children at a very young age, leaving their studies unfinished; contracting sexually transmitted diseases, greatly affecting their health and mental life later on. If they are educated and well implemented about sex education and reproductive health at a young age from their families, schools and social organizations, these unfortunate incidents will be minimized.

"Sex education is not bad but very necessary. Understanding sex issues will help children to release many secret things that they cannot tell anyone, thereby having a good way of thinking, always living a pure and healthy life, having the will in life and study. Knowing how to love and respect themselves and those around them" - Ms. Dang Thuy Ha shared. [caption id="attachment_605533" align="alignnone" width="768"] Schools promote knowledge about sex education.[/caption] At Thanh Cong Secondary School and Ba Dinh Secondary School (Ba Dinh District), sex education content is also organized into topics with sharing from staff of Ba Dinh District Health Center. During a class period, Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hieu - Deputy Director of the District Health Center selected a number of core issues, suitable for students' awareness and understanding, to propagate and call on students to know how to protect themselves, take care of their health when entering puberty, and not have sex at a young age. With a natural, close and engaging way of leading, Ms. Hieu opened up the students with interesting questions revolving around the issues that occur inside the body and psychology of students when they reach puberty such as: "Have you reached puberty yet? What signs tell you that you have reached puberty? Is your puberty early or late? What is the cause of early or late puberty? How does it affect your physical and mental health?"... Those questions evoked the students' thoughts, making them open and easy to share. From there, the students knew how to identify early puberty, as well as clearly understand the causes of early puberty and its consequences. The purpose of sex education propaganda is to help students know how to protect their reproductive health, helping to minimize the consequences of early puberty and early sex on their reproductive health. Sharing with teachers and friends after the propaganda session, Nguyen Tuan Minh, a 9th grade student at Thanh Cong Secondary School, said: "Through today's meeting, my friends and I have gained more correct perceptions of age psychology, from which we know how to adjust our own behaviors, know how to keep distance and respect friends of the same sex and the opposite sex. We want to help each other overcome puberty safely and healthily." Along with improving the quality of comprehensive education, organizing extracurricular activities with useful and attractive thematic lessons is a practical and specific way to make school activities highly effective, attracting the attention of a large number of students.