This document discusses various perspectives on sexuality education. It notes that comprehensive sexuality education that provides medically accurate information about abstinence and contraception can positively impact behaviors, while abstinence-only education shows no effects. Studies found condom availability programs in schools did not increase sexual activity but did increase condom use, while abstinence-only programs had no effects on delaying sex or number of partners.

2. Sorting Facts from Fiction
By Masuri Binti Masood
MARA TESL Cohort 1
Student ID: 2013796173

3. “Sexuality education provides young people with the knowledge,
skills and efficacy to make informed decisions about their sexuality
and lifestyle.”
- Youth and Comprehensive Sexuality Education, UNYouth
“Sexuality education is a lifelong process of acquiring information
and forming attitudes, beliefs, and values. It encompasses sexual
development, sexual and reproductive health, interpersonal
relationships, affection, intimacy, body image, and gender roles.”
- Sexuality Information and Education Council US (SIECUS)
-

4. Sexual education elements have been part of the
secondary school curriculum since 1989, and subsequently
introduced in primary schools in 1994.
Not as a stand alone subject, but incorporated into subjects
like Biology, Science, Moral Education and Islamic Studies.
Currently starting from 2006, sex education Pendidikan
Kesihatan Reproduktif dan Sosial (PEERS, or Social and
Reproductive Health Education)
Starting this year (2014), a teen pregnancy prevention
module called “Modul Pekerti”, designed by LPPKN will be
introduced to 8000 students in 47 schools nationwide.

5. There is a need for formal sexual education due to the
following factors:
 A rise in the number of births as a result of unprotected sex
 Between 2008 – 2010, there were 152,182 reported cases, with Sabah
having the highest number of cases
 Between 1996 - 2012, there were 627 cases of baby dumping, 80% of which
are among Malay couples
 The transmission of the HIV virus through sexual intercourse in
Malaysia is on the rise and alarming
 48.6 percent more than cases of transmission through the sharing of
needles among drug addicts.
 In 2012, 33,732 HIV sufferers are aged between 13 to 29 years of age and
had the disease as early as in their early 20s or during their adolescent
years.

6. Malaysian teenagers are becoming sexually active at a
younger age
 A research was carried out in 2011 among 1,000 secondary
school students (aged 15 to 17) in 50 schools in Johor.
 10 per cent admitted they had sexual intercourse and some
admitted to having intercourse with multiple partners.
 students who took part in the research also admitted
practising "friends with benefits" (friends with sexual
relationships without emotional attachments).
- Faizah Abd Ghani, UTM

7. Rape cases are also on the increase.
Year 2005 - 2007 (By Victims Age)
Age 2005 2006 2007
Below 16 years 925 1303 1653
Above 16 years 1006 1128 1445
Total 1931 2431 3098

8. Based on the study “Analysis on Sex Education in
Schools Across Malaysia” (2011):
 95% of the respondents thought that sex education was not
held formally in schools.
 Science teachers did a good job at explaining on the
development of sex organs, the reproduction system and the
fertilization process, but only in this context.
 Teachers were not enthusiastic to deliver the right message on
sex education.

9. The teachers were found to not have related the topic
on a wider scale concerning sexuality such as the sexual
intercourse itself, the pregnancy process, STDs and sex
within the Islamic context.
The teaching process was considered vague,
incomplete, lack depth and insufficient.

10. The physical development of a child into an adolescent
The reproduction system
Sexual intercourse
Pregnancy and childbirth
Pregnancy control/contraceptive uses
Dealing or judging sexual advances from the opposite sex
Sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs)
Illicit sex
Sexual orientations (homosexuality, heterosexuality,
bisexuality, etc.)

11. Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programmes
 teach abstinence as the only morally correct option of sexual
expression for teenagers.
 They usually censor information about contraception and
condoms for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs) and unintended pregnancy.
Abstinence-Plus Education
 Programs which include information about contraception and
condoms in the context of strong abstinence messages.

12. Comprehensive Sexual Education
 It teaches about abstinence as the best method for avoiding
STDs and unintended pregnancy, but also teaches about
condoms and contraception to reduce the risk of unintended
pregnancy and of infection with STDs, including HIV.
 It also teaches interpersonal and communication skills and
helps young people explore their own values, goals, and
options.
Condoms Availability Programmes in Schools
 Schools are supplied with free condoms and distributed to the
students during their Sexual Education classes, or condoms are
put in a clear container at a common area and are free to be
taken by students

13. Two landmark studies, both released in 2007, conducted
broad examinations of abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs and comprehensive sexuality education programs.
What these studies found is as important as it is unsurprising.
- Malone, P & Rodriguez, M. (2011)

14. The first study, dealing with abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs, focused on four federally funded abstinence-only-until-
marriage programs in different communities. The study found that
 no evidence that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs
increased rates of sexual abstinence.
 students in the abstinence-only-until-marriage programs had a
similar number of sexual partners as their peers in the control
group
 they have a similar age of first intercourse.
 the same rate of unprotected sexual intercourse.
-“Impacts of Four Title V, Section 510 Abstinence Education
Programs,”. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

15. The second study came to the conclusion that
 there was no strong evidence that abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs delay the initiation of sexual intercourse, hasten the
return to abstinence, or reduce the number of sexual partners.
 two-thirds of the comprehensive programs examined had at least
one positive sexual behavioural effect.
 40 percent of the comprehensive programs examined achieved
the three important effects of delaying the initiation of sexual
intercourse, reducing the number of sexual partners, and
increasing condom or contraceptive use.
- Kirby, D (1997). “Emerging Answers 2007: Research Findings on
Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted
Diseases.”

16. This paper discusses 22 studies of abstinence education.
 Sixteen studies examined abstinence programs that were
primarily intended to teach abstinence. Of these 16 studies, 12
reported positive findings.
 The other six studies analyzed virginity pledges, and of these six
studies, five reported positive findings.
 Overall, 17 of the 22 studies reported statistically significant
positive results, such as delayed sexual initiation and reduced
levels of early sexual activity, among youths who have
received abstinence education.
 Five studies did not report any significant results.

17. 1. Offer age- and culturally appropriate sexual health
information in a safe environment for participants;
2. Are developed in cooperation with members of the target
community, especially young people;
3. Assist youth to clarify their individual, family, and
community values;
4. Assist youth to develop skills in communication, refusal,
and negotiation;
5. Provide medically accurate information about both
abstinence and also contraception, including condoms;

18. 6. Have clear goals for preventing HIV, other STIs, and/or
teen pregnancy;
7. Focus on specific health behaviours related to the goals,
with clear messages about these behaviours;
8. Address psychosocial risks and protective factors with
activities to change each targeted risk and to promote
each protective factor;
9. Respect community values and respond to community
needs;
10. Rely on participatory teaching methods, implemented by
trained educators and using all the activities as designed

19.  “The condom availability program appears not to have
produced an increase in sexual activity among high
school students, and it appears to have led to improved
condom use among males. The apparent strong effect
on students' intention to use condoms and on males'
use at first vaginal intercourse suggests that such
programs may have a particular impact on the least
sexually experienced adolescents.”
- Family Planning Perspectives, 1998, 30(2):67-72 &88

20. “In Europe and Canada where comprehensive sexuality
education and convenient, confidential access to
condoms are more common, the rates of adolescent
sexual intercourse are no higher than in the United
States.”
- American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on
Adolescence. Condom availability for youth. Pediatrics
1995

21. “A comparison of public high schools in New York City and
Chicago found positive effects of condom availability
programs. With the same sexual activity among senior high
school students in both cities (NYC, 59.7 percent; Chicago,
60.1 percent), sexually active students in New York, where
there is a condom availability program, were more likely to
report using a condom at last intercourse than were those in
Chicago, where condoms are not available in school (60.8 to
55.5 percent)
- Guttmacher S, Lieberman L, Ward D, et al. (1997)

22. “In a two-year study of Philadelphia health resource
centers (HRCs) that make condoms available, the
percentage of students using condoms at their last
intercourse increased from 52 to 58 percent. In schools
with high HRC use, the number of students ever having
intercourse dropped from 75 to 66 percent, while
condom use at the last intercourse rose from 37 to 50
percent.”
- Furstenberg FF, Geitz LM, Teitler JO, et al. (1997)

23. “By comparison, in schools reporting lower HRC use, the
percentage of sexually active teens decreased from 61
to 56 percent, while condom use a last intercourse rose
from 57 to 61 percent. Non-program schools showed an
increase in sexual activity among teens, while condom
use increased from 62 to 65 percent.”
- Furstenberg FF, Geitz LM, Teitler JO, et al. (1997)