Hong Kong parents must also help with sex education for teenagers

In a Confucian society like Hong Kong, it is by no means surprising that sex education remains a highly taboo subject in families strongly bound by antiquated values.

A considerable number of parents lack the knowledge, attitude, skills and audacity needed to speak openly to kids about such concepts as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), the menstrual cycle and safe sex.

The mere mention of the word sex over dinner may raise eyebrows, make parents blush and earn children an earful. Therefore, some parents may pass the responsibility altogether to schools.

Indeed, the curriculum framework for moral and civic education suggested by the Education Bureau gives schools an inkling of the topics suitable for sex education lessons, which usually come in the form of life education classes.

During these lessons, teachers, with the assistance of outside bodies such as nurses from the Hospital Authority and NGOs, engage kids in small-group discussions or workshops to rectify teenagers’ misconceptions about sex and quash urban myths.

However, schools can only do so much to empower kids to make informed and responsible decisions about sexuality.

Once an adolescent reaches home, they can easily access the abundance of pornographic material on the internet.