Ban sex education, lawyers meet told

By JULIA DAIA BORE

 

SEX education should be banned from schools, government chief specialist on lifestyle diseases Dr Thomas Vinit said, The National reports.

He said it should not be taught at primary and secondary schools “until the students are fully matured”.

 “Condom should not be promoted but let only as option for those who wish to take a risk for it is not 100% safe,” Vinit, who is the technical adviser in lifestyle diseases at the Health Department, made these known last Wednesday at the Constitutional and Law Review Commission (CLRC) conference in Alotau.

He also called on churches to speak out on their moral teaching on sex and marriage to promote abstinence and chastity, or being faithful in marriage; to promote good role models as saints and our Blessed Peter Torot instead of models who promote sexual promiscuity and beauty shows; all cultural values that promote abstinence and being faithful such as high bride price for virginity must be strengthen and encouraged and others that promote promiscuity and polygamy must be exposed and outlawed.

Vinit said adultery laws should be tougher to deter multiple sexual partners claiming that adultery was the main route of HIV/AIDS transmission.

He added that it had increasingly become PNG’s main instigator of criminal offences, describing the rise in the HIV/AIDS epidemic as frightening and no longer a health issue but an economic and a development issue which required a multi-sectoral approach.

Vinit told the conference that his focus was on adultery, “especially the Adultery Act to have it reviewed”.

He said this would lead to definite decreases in sexual transmitted diseases (STI).

“There will be decrease in the prevalence in HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and deaths related to adultery,” Vinit said, adding that the degree in incidents in tribal fights as a result of adulterous behaviour would no longer be; or that there would be better control of such behaviour.

He said also that the social and economic gains would better with there being less family break-ups “and I am sure you know of a lot of family break-ups”.

Vinit said children would be happier in a good and loving family home or environments where there were less adulterous parents.

“There will be a lot of money saved if there were less adulterous affairs.

“There will be decrease in tribal tensions and decrease in criminal activities; as those are effects of adultery and family break-ups.

“And spiritual benefits will increase as there will not be any family break-ups and, ultimately, family values in that love (in a family) is cherished.”  

He expressed concerns about media reports on a daily basis reflecting how “people now have not a care in life at all; they just can go and kill somebody”.

“And this is because the family values are not now being seen as very important.

“And it is in the family that love starts growing. And you can see that in families where there is love and caring, they will not enter into rascalism and even murder.”