Group goes on safe sex campaign

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THERE may be no formal sex education in schools, but groups advocating reproductive health education have taken it upon themselves to educate the young.

The National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) plans to roll out a pilot course in five secondary schools located in different states two months from now.

This will see Form Four students being made aware of issues such as teenage pregnancy, pressure in relationships, and sexually transmitted diseases.

There are three components under the module codenamed "I'm in Control" -- sexual and reproductive health, abstinence or delaying of the onset of sexual approach, and safe sex.

The HV U HRD series aims to help teenagers and pre-teens to better understand and cope with issues affecting them, such as sexuality, attraction, stress, risky behaviour and body image.

Under the chapter on abstinence, girls will be armed with skills on how to turn down sexual advances.

Dr Norliza Ahmad, director of human reproductive division in LPPKN, said the sessions, to be handled by school counsellors, would be highly interactive.

"We'll give them a scenario and ask them to act it out. There will be role-playing to act out what one should do in different situations, such as when one is toying with the idea of having sex, which is a 'yellow light situation' and when one is about to engage in sex, which is 'red light'.

"We teach them how not to proceed."

The third component, on safe sex, however, is only meant for students who have been identified to be sexually active, Norliza added.

The board drafted the module together with non-governmental organisations, Health Ministry, Education Ministry, doctors and counsellors.

The module was given the thumbs-up by college students in a pre-test, said LPPKN director general Datuk Aminah Abdul Rahman.

The lack of proper channels for teenagers and pre-teens to seek information and parents' reluctance to discuss the facts of life with their children have also prompted a team of sexual and reproductive health experts from Universiti Malaya to publish a series of books addressing teen issues in Malaysia.

Under the series, called HV U HRD (the Internet language of the young for 'have you heard'), are four books chronicling the lives of five teens and their friends. The series was published this year.

Woven through these stories are facts on physical and emotional growth and development.

Sexual and reproductive health experts from Universiti Malaya have published HV U HRD, a series of books addressing teen issues in Malaysia.

This concept of introducing facts within fiction is aimed at increasing awareness on issues affecting teenagers in this tech-driven and cyber-centred millennium.

Universiti Malaya's Professor Dr Low Wah Yun is one of the three authors.

LPPKN and non-governmental organisations like the Federation of Reproductive Health Associations, Malaysia also conduct outreach programmes for the young.

Since 2006, LPPKN has been organising talks handled by young peer educators in more than 200 schools each year in the Klang Valley and Butterworth.

It has also offered reproductive health services to more than 4,000 youths.