Outline
Thesis statement: Although attitudes towards sex have been corrupted in today’s Japan because of the influence of informal sex information and the lack of formal sex education, this situation can be solved by active communication between children and the adults with teaching children the importance of morality.
Ⅰ. Introduction
A. Background information
1. Emergence of sex education
2. “Purity Education”
3. “Student-guidance Model Education”
B. Map
C. Thesis statement
Ⅱ. Current situation
A. Change of sex experience rate
1. Increase of young people’s sex experience
2. Lowering sex experience age rate
B. Loss of sexual health
1. HIV
2. Sexually transmitted disease
C. Avoidance of contraception
1. Less condom use
2. Large number of abortion
Ⅲ. Problems
A. Overflow of informal sex information
1. Excessive content
2. Easily accessible
3. Survey
B. Lack of formal sex information
1. Teachers/schools
2. Parents
Ⅳ. Possible solutions
A. Communication with adults
1. Removing embarrassment
2. Relationship that can talk about sex
B. Morality
1. Children’s incorrect knowledge
2. Psychological contact as sexual activity
Ⅴ. Conclusion
Final Draft
Ishii Marina
Owen James
Theme Writing
21 February, 2008.
Sex Education: Its Problems and Possible Solutions
IntroductionSex education’s first appearance in Japan was in the 1880s, when hygiene began to improve there. With the development of hygiene, venereal disease mainly among soldiers and “infantile sexuality” among children were discovered accordingly. The concept of “infantile sexuality” represented as masturbation was considered harmful and the cause of other symptoms that made urban children suffer at that time. These problems led to the announcement of the necessity of sex education about in 1908. Since then, sex education had been developed and changed, then “Purity Education”, or abstinence-only sex education was carried out after World War II and continued until about the 1960s (Fruhstuck 26, 35-36, 55-58, 180). As Naohide Yamamoto explains, this education emphasized abstinence from sexual activities before marriage and sexual morality was really stressed. However, in the 1980s, this system shifted to “Student-guidance Model Education” following outbreaks of AIDS according to Oya. Since then, sex education in Japan has become like “AIDS prevention education”. And today’s sex education has been in the situation that cannot deal with current issues related to sex such as early sexual activity and increasing infection rate of HIV. In this paper, the problems of sex education in Japan will be considered. First, it will explore its current situation and analyze what problems exactly exist. Second, it will focus on basic problems by searching what elements have made current situation. Finally, it will suggest possible solutions based on the points discussed above. It is argued that although attitudes towards sex are corrupted in today’s Japan because of the influence of informal sex information and the lack of formal sex education, this situation can be solved by teaching children the importance of morality and their active communication with adults.
Current Situation
It seems that attitudes towards sex have been corrupted in today’s Japan. These corruptions can be mainly seen from the two facts: early sexual activity and the loss of sexual health. Since the 1990s, sex experience rate has arisen suddenly, especially young people’s one. Kakuchi’s article shows that 30% of third year high school students have experienced sex at least once, while “sexual debut was most often at age 20” two decades ago. At the same time, age in first sex experience rate has become lower nowadays. According to 1999 Ministry of Welfare’s research in Kihara’s work, compared to today’s fifties whose first sex experience rate in their teens was 20% or so, more than 70% of 18-24 years old people of today have already experienced sexual intercourse in their teens (7-10). As such, premarital sexual activity has been naturally accepted nowadays (Widmer, Treas, and Newcomb). With this fact, there is a growing trend in shotgun weddings (Schreiber). At the same time, there has been “the loss of sexual health” as the increasing number of cases of HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted disease represents recently. According to Pearson, the number of HIV/AIDS has been increasing especially among junior high and high school students and its infection rates are even close to developing countries. Besides, Japan is the only developed country with a rising HIV rate (Itoh 120). Sexually transmitted disease such as Chlamydia infection and gonorrhea also shows sudden increase in the 1990s (Kihara 38-40). In addition, a lot of teenagers do not care about the contraception. It is true that people in Japan still use more condoms than other countries as Kazuhiko Yamamoto’s study shows. However, its usage has declined compared to 10 years ago: 74% condom use rate in 1995 fell to 50% in 2000. Alternatively, more people have had an abortion since the late 1990s. Abortion rate became 12% nationwide in 2003 compared to 7% in 1992 (Kihara 35-38, 47-49).
Problems
The main reason why these situations are now happening in Japan can be said that the influence of informal sex information and the lack of formal sex education. These days, as Akamatsu, Kishimoto, and Tokunaga explain, the influence of the media in Japan such as magazines, videos and TV has been stronger and at the same time it deals with mature content, or sexual content excessively (42). A lot of comics contains sex scene and even girl’s manga (shoujo manga) which aims at teenage girls includes excessive sexual content according to Kihara. Moreover, the Internet including cell phones use has been expanding nowadays and mature content has become easily accessible even to the children. Since any person can send information to the general public by using the Internet, sex information is “much more, more excessive and more easily accessible” now. In addition, this kind of information is less controlled in Japan compared to many other countries. In the USA, for example, pornographic magazines or images are taken under control so that they can be seen only by specific people and cannot mistakenly be seen by children. In Japan, however, these kinds of magazines can be easily taken and read by anyone from the shelves in the convenience store (20, 58-63). Children therefore easily absorb plenty of sex information from the media. As Kihara’s survey for the second year high school students represents, 82% of boys and 74% of girls have already experienced comic which includes mature content at least once, 82% of boys and 54% of girls have experienced pornographic magazine, 75% of boys and 34% of girls have experienced pornographic film and 32% of boys and 11% of girls have experienced web site which has mature content (20). The only opportunity that they can get correct sex information is from the adults who surround them such as teachers/schools and parents. However, there is no power of formal sex education in Japan in present. As for teachers/schools, sexuality education is not officially required of them because Ministry of Education believes that content related to sex are to be taught in various subjects. Therefore, sex education is entrusted to each school and some foundations like Japanese Association for Sex Education, which gives sex education guidelines as promoter of sex education instead of government. Today’s sex education also tends to focus on physiological aspects and thus it has become “cognitive-oriented rather than attitudinal-behavior-oriented” (Hatano and Shimazaki). “Ministry to Revise Guidelines on Sex Education at Schools in Japan” article states, “sex education classes are to teach third- and fourth-grade primary students about menstruation and ejaculation, middle school students about conception and pregnancy, and high school students about contraception”. As such, sexuality education tends to teach only puberty phenomenon or the method of contraception and not to teach morality: seriousness or a sense of responsibility of sexual activity. As for the parents, conversation on sex rarely happens between parents and children. This is partly because many parents feel embarrassed or guilt for talking about sexual topics, especially to their children. Many of them also assume that schools would cover and teach this topic to the children and that sexual topic has nothing to do with them (Takahashi). The result of these less efforts are obviously seen in Akamatsu, Kishimoto, and Tokunaga’s survey that asked children what have influenced their behavior and attitudes toward sex. 50% of them answered comics and friends, while 2-25% answered education in school and only 4-12% answer their parents (42).
Possible solutions
These situations can be solved by active communication between children and adults with teaching children the importance of morality. In order to lay the foundation for steady formal sex education, it is necessary for the children to create opportunity to discuss sex with adults, especially parents. As mentioned above, low numbers of children discuss sex openly with adults partly because of adults’ uncomfortable feeling of talking about sex. Therefore, adults including parents and teachers should remove this feeling first and foremost. If this can be done, the next step is to create relationship between adults, especially parents, and children that can talk about sex. Fogarty and Wyatt explain the benefits to parents and children discussing sex as follows:
・Parents can communicate their own values on sexuality with their teens.
・Parents can better understand their teens perspective.
・Parents can tailor the information they share based on their understanding of their teenagers stage of development, life experience, personality, and knowledge level.
As they claim “sex education should not be just the responsibility of schools, communities, or the media”, not only teachers but also parents have responsibility to teach and tell the value and the meaning of sexual activity. And it is important to concern each child’s development stage when discussing, and teach the appropriate topic that children can take in. If this can be successfully done, children can rely on adults as good advisers and supporters (Akamatsu, Kishimoto, and Tokunaga 5). At the same time, it is necessary to tell children the importance of morality related to sexual activity. As mentioned so far, children’s knowledge and attitudes toward sex only develop at cognitive level. In addition, their knowledge is based on informal information mostly from mass media which does not tell the morality and ethics in sexual activity. Consequently, children are manipulated by incorrect information and they tend to take it for granted that sexual activity is merely a physical contact or “genital combination” and make sexual relationships without much concern. However, consequences of sexual activity “involve others, such as partners, children, family, or even community” as Ikemoto mentions. Therefore, what is needed for children is to teach that sexual activity is not only “genital combination” but “intercourse that treat each other’s mind carefully” (Akamatsu, Kishimoto, and Tokunaga 35). In other words, sexual activity is not physical contact but also psychological contact. It is also necessary to teach that responsibility always accompany with sexual activity. As Huang who promotes more morality in sex education states in “Less Anatomy, More Morality in Sex Education Efforts”, teaching ethics of sexual activity “will help teenage students form good habits” compared to the information from pornographic media. Thus, sexuality education in schools or parents should emphasize that sexual activity should not be done lightly.
Conclusion
Attitudes toward sex or sexual activity in Japan have corrupted these days as can be seen in the current situation such as easily creating sexual relationship among young people, increasing rate of HIV/AIDS rate, large number of abortion and so on. This is because children of today get sex information from the informal source, represented as mass media which spread incorrect and excessive information. On the contrary, formal sex education is not almost done with schools’ only cognitive-based program and parents’ less communication about sexual topics. In order to make situation better, creating relationship that can discuss sex openly between adults and children is firstly needed. At the same time, it is necessary to tell the children the morality of sexual activity that it cannot be done in a light-hearted way both in schools and home. When this can be done and coordination between children and home and school can be achieved, young people’s attitudes will change and they can recognize sexual activity as invaluable activity.
References
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