Sex ed book causes commotion in Mexico
Textbook teaches kids about S&M, oral sex and STDs
11:10 a.m. Wednesday, September 3, 2008
What is sadomasochism? How is oral sex safely practiced? Where can I get a morning after pill or get treatment for an STD?
These questions are answered in the latest official sex education textbook for 13- to 18-year-olds in the Mexico City school system, and they are questions government officials say students need answered. However, the National Union of Parents say these questions are an abomination.
"This book promotes death," said the leader of the parents organization.
The union countered the official textbook with its own pamphlet aimed at students, which states homosexuality is not natural and can be cured with proper psychiatric help.
So what do the students say?
"We need to know more about our bodies and sex. So many taboos here have not allowed us to access information. I think it's a smart thing to do," student David Martinex said.
Mexico City education officials have started distributing more than half a million textbooks in public schools and libraries. They point to a recent study indicating that most young people in the city have started having sex around the age of 13, and that high incidences of sexually transmitted diseases among youth make sex education a matter of public health.
But the text goes beyond the physiology. It mentions women's rights, domestic violence and respect for different sexual preferences.
"It is our responsibility to give them truthful information that is not based on religious beliefs. These kids know sexuality is a part of the human condition, and we have to answer their questions in a responsible and truthful fashion," Axel Didrixon, with the Mexico City Education Ministry, said.
Sociologists agree, saying the information in the text is of use not only to teenagers.
"It's the facts of life, and this book could be beneficial to adults as well. There are many adults in Mexico who don't know much and have an unhealthy sex lives out of ignorance," Dr. Carlos Ornelas, a sociologist at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, said.
The problem is that some parents and church groups have a different view of where the truth lies when it comes to young people and their sex lives.
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