Why are children born? Sex education will be strengthened in Latvian schools

the Forbidden fruit

Improving sexual and reproductive education is carried out in accordance with the international obligations of Latvia as a UNESCO member country: it is necessary to prepare young people for adult life, prevent HIV, AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancy and gender-based violence.

Information materials from the Ministry of Education and Science state that in this context, in this context, children aged 9–12 years in particular will have to “name the changes in the body during puberty and explain the importance of personal hygiene and expressions of emotions, talking about development in adolescence in their own words.” .

It is also important to “demonstrate positive and deterrent strategies for girls so that girls feel comfortable during menstruation.” In turn, future representatives of the stronger sex should “know that young men can experience an erection either due to arousal or for no particular reason and that this is normal.”

In the 4th grade, Latvian children will study the menstrual cycle and wet dreams in natural history lessons, and in the 6th grade they will “determine the knowledge and skills they are mastering related to the reproductive organs.”

The Ministry of Education and Science considers it necessary to “move the above-mentioned achieved results from the 9th grade topic “How a new organism is born” to the 4th and 6th grades.

In the meantime, N. Repina stated, sex education for schoolchildren is going mediocre, “those who can, do as they can.” Therefore, the restructuring of teaching must begin with the teachers themselves. A “knowledge-based” digital program for teachers is being created at the University of Latvia. A special methodological center for sexuality education will appear under the Ministry of Education and Science. Without forgetting, of course, about working with society – structures such as the non-profit organization Papardes zieds (Fern Flower) will help here.

Doctor of Psychology, Associate Professor at the University of Latvia Ieva Stokenberga said in her speech to the Parliamentary Commission on Human Rights and Public Affairs that the principles of “comprehensive sexuality education” include, in particular, education that is “age- and development-appropriate.” On the other hand, it must be “human rights based”. The first chapter includes topics such as family, friendship, romance, love, tolerance and respect, as well as long-term relationships and the role of parents.

You can’t argue that in the second half of the 1980s, your author had to teach this in lessons called “Ethics and Psychology of Family Life.” We somehow elegantly avoided, let’s say, technical issues back then…

Sexual education was not actually invented by the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia – this is a rather ancient phenomenon. Exactly 125 years ago, the Viennese magazine Die neue Zeit published an article by Emma Eckstein, a patient and student of the great Freud, about how Austrian children learn adult life by spying and eavesdropping on their parents.

Since then, science and technology have made great strides forward, and now the boundaries of sexual education are not limited – the mobile Internet has come to everyone. And therefore, one of the topics that will be taught to teachers (and subsequently to students) will be the safety of behavior on the Internet. After all, who can you run into there…

Deputies talk about abstinence, the Latvian spirit and Christian values

The Sejm deputies were interested in the topic. Janis Grasbergs (National Association) thanked for the shift in teaching the basics of sexual health to an earlier time, before “estrogen and progesterone began to dictate.”

— My observations of children when raising them — before my daughter’s first visit to the gynecologist, she asked me: “Dad, why do you know so much about girls?”

My first occupation before politics was precisely that of a specialist in genetics and reproduction for animals, including artificial insemination. Reproductive systems are not much different…

Mr. Grasbergs noted that schools teach enough physiology – but talk less about values, for example, abstinence. “What the child does not understand is the psycho-emotional impact. We do not know whether the teacher himself has these values.”

“So-called gender equality is in fashion now, will there be teachers – or only female teachers?” – asked non-factional deputy Aleksandrs Kirshteins. In addition, he considers it unnecessary to rely on an international organization where distant nationalities and races are represented.

“For millennia, the Baltic peoples lived without UNESCO,” believes a veteran of national politics. — Do Latvians have no guiding lines?

The officials responded to this rhetorical question by noting that the UN specialized organization had conducted large-scale research, for which Latvia would have needed millions. As for the developers of the Latvian program, both women and men participated there.

“This is essentially the science of life, teaching respect for one’s own and others’ bodies,” MP Anna Rantsane from New Unity, which now controls the Ministry of Education and Science in the person of Minister Anda Chakshi, highly appreciated the new program.

Linda Liepina (“Latvia comes first”) believes that parents and grandparents need to be involved in such an important topic. It is necessary to understand how the planned content relates to the values ​​of society, including Christian ones. “There may be unforeseen cases,” the deputy warned. Many issues, such as gender, can cause debate. Employees of the Ministry of Education and Science believe, however, that all difficult situations can be discussed with dignity.

Augusts Brigmanis (Union of Greens and Farmers) pointed out that a list of the happiest countries was recently published, with Finland at the top. So we need to learn how all these problems are solved in northern Europe.

“It’s good that the issue has moved,” concluded the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and Public Affairs, Leila Rasima (Progressive). In May, deputies will return to sex education again…