A first-hand look into the much-maligned modules on sex education. What are they teaching our kids about sex? Are they graphic enough to drive schoolchildren into perdition and promiscuity as some sectors allege?

RECENT news items:

A teenage boy, 18, and his girlfriend, 15, were found dead inside a car parked in the garage of the boy?s home. The bodies were discovered in the back seat of the car whose engine and air conditioning were running. The vehicle had a car cover over it and hid the couple. The teens, who had died of carbon monoxide suffocation, were found naked. It did not look like they committed suicide and foul play was not suspected.

A pregnant 14-year-old girl was stabbed to death in the public market in Malabon by a still unidentified man.

It?s a parent?s nightmare, indeed.

Could plain common sense on the part of these teenage kids have prevented their deaths? Or were adults and institutions remiss in their duties to teach the young how to take care of themselves? Were these isolated cases or just the tip of the iceberg?

And what do these incidents say about the controversial sex education modules that would be pilot-tested in 79 public high schools and 80 public elementary schools? The testing would involve 6,600 high school students and 37,000 elementary school pupils.

Previously, some 30 parents had filed for a temporary restraining order on the pilot-testing, but a Quezon City trial court judge dismissed the petition and instead scheduled a future hearing on the merits of the case. The petitioners had claimed that the Department of Education usurped their right as parents to teach moral values to their children.

The parents? petition hinged on the most common fear that some sectors have about school-based sex education: Is it going to make the young promiscuous, or worse, more promiscuous than they already are suspected to be? Or would this help them avoid getting carried away by their runaway hormones? What exactly are in these modules that have driven some parents and a few Church leaders frantic? Have these detractors actually gone over the modules?

Education veteran and former Education Secretary Dr. Mona Valisno, who pushed for the pre-testing of the modules this school year, noted that ?The data on teenage pregnancy is alarming. It is high especially in the 10 poorest provinces.?

The sex education modules are meant to address this alarming trend, but she is open to changes in the modules, Valisno said, and will leave it to her successor at DepEd to do what is best.

?We wanted to pre-test these to see if they are effective or not. Are they acceptable, well-packaged and appropriate? Are they aligned with the core values we teach? If there is anything here that violates Christian values, then we can remove it. Revisions can be made, we can make (the modules) more spiritually enhanced and put (sex education) in the context of marriage.?

Valisno explained that sex education as contained in the modules focuses more on the science of reproduction, physical care and hygiene, correct values and interpersonal relationships. The objective is to prevent premarital sex and teenage pregnancy. The modules are not going to be about the sex act, she emphasized.

The Sunday Inquirer Magazine went over the modules to look for what might look blatantly or subtly questionable and objectionable. There are 10 teachers? tool kits in all?three for elementary and seven for high school.

For Grades 4, 5 and 6, the lessons (Mga Huwarang Aralin at Pamamaraan sa Paglinang ng mga Kaalaman at Kasanayan sa Kalusugan at Pamumuhay) are integrated in the subjects Edukasyon Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan, Edukasyon Pagpakatao and Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika (Hekasi) . For all four years of high school, the Teen Wellness Program lessons are integrated in Science, English, Technology and Livelihood Education, Mathematics, Edukasyon sa Pagpahalaga (Values Education), Filipino, and Health and Physical Education (MAPEH).

A sampling of lessons for Grade 5 and 6 Hekasi reads as follows: Rights and responsibilities of those entering adolescence, what adolescence is all about, demographics (population), what constitutes risky behavior.

For Grades 4, 5 and 6 Values Education, the topics cover: The health of the youth, psychosocial behavior, peer groups, an adolescent?s interpersonal relationships, reproductive health, physical well-being, taking care of oneself, expressing one?s mind and feelings, knowing oneself, integrating with a group.

Sometime in Grade 6, the stand of both the Catholic Church and the state on contraception are discussed. The class is divided into those who agree with the Church?s stand and those who disagree so that they may debate in class. (Might this be too complicated for sixth graders?)

For Grades 4, 5 and 6 Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan, the following subjects are tackled: physical health, eating well, personality formation, physical hygiene and good grooming, learning about adolescent life, health body and healthy mind, duties and responsibilities, making decisions. It is in Grade 6 that physical attributes and differences between male and female are discussed in detail. Menstruation and circumcision are also tackled.
It is worth noting that early in grade school the subject of touching is taken up. What is appropriate touching, what is not? What should a child watch out for? How should the child protect himself/herself?

The sexual act is not discussed or described in grade school. Neither is it described in detail in high school. The words sexual intercourse are very rarely mentioned in the tool kits and only appears in the lessons on sexually-transmitted infections (STI) and HIV-AIDS. But cases about teenage pregnancies and unpreparedness are presented for discussion and reflection, as in the story of twins ?Helen and Luisa? who each made different choices and sought different paths.

High school Mathematics tackles reproductive health in the context of demography among adolescents. Students are taught to analyze and interpret the statistics and draw conclusions. Mathematical and algebraic expressions are used. In fourth year, research results and statistics on the Filipino adolescents? risky behavior (premarital sex, drug use, etc.) are presented and used in mathematical problem-solving exercises.

It is in Science II that STI and HIV-AIDS are discussed. How they are contracted and their long-term consequences are presented. Reasons for risky behaviors (sex, needles, etc.) are included, while prevention is emphasized. And how do the adolescents protect themselves? ?The best way to avoid STI or HIV infection is not to be exposed to it,? the module says. ?You can avoid exposure by not having sex with anyone.? There is no mention of condoms.

So, what is the controversy about? From our point of view, the teaching modules do not come up to the level of ?temptation,? that is, that they would make adolescents more curious and engage in risky sexual behavior.

In fact, contrary to widely-spread rumors from conservative sectors, there is quite enough about the psychosocial aspect but not enough on the scientific and clinical aspects. There seems to have been a deliberate effort to avoid graphic details. Nothing at all about the sexual act and many things about it?the physical, emotional, hormonal, gynecological aspects. As in, what exactly happens on the way and back? Is it a place of no return? So much is omitted about body parts and anatomy in general. And just as important?sex in the context of marriage is not taken up. Taking this up in college is too late. Many might have already fallen by the wayside and didn?t get to college. From whom will they learn?

So what happened? Have the naysayers unnecessarily diluted the modules with their misplaced and unfounded fears? Why the sanitized tiptoeing around the issue when decades ago, high school students could pronounce the words vagina and penis correctly and with a straight face and then go to the blackboard to draw the reproductive organs?fallopian tubes and all?

Our verdict: There is nothing to be afraid of in the so-called sex education modules. It?s as tame as its name: Teen Wellness Program and Kalusugan at Pamumuhay. So there.