'Internet is go-to-source for sex education as schools shy away' in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: "Oh! It is not important, so I am not going to teach it," a teacher at a city school reportedly told Class VIII students as collective jaws dropped to the floor. The students were more disappointed than astonished when their biology teacher dismissed the male anatomy as "not important enough to be taught".
And too, in times when comprehensive sex education is expected to cover even sexually transmitted diseases and the psychology of relationships."Whom do we turn to if teachers shy away like this? How do we have appropriate information on gender, sexuality, and sexual expressions and values?" asked a student.
The teens TOI spoke to say that disinterest on part of the adults to intervene is also to be blamed for sexting getting 'normalized' in schools. "Children as young as 12 are aware of it," said a student.
While many kids end up ignoring and blocking numbers that send explicit messages, they say any resistance comes with the risk of being labelled and bullied.
Another Class X student, Rohan, said, "Often, boys share with each other the kind of conversations they have with their girlfriends to show off. Sometimes, they even show each other the explicit chats."
His classmate Arjun says the content is often forwarded for "fun or to beat boredom."
Anuj, a student of Class VIII, said that a boy in his class landed in trouble when he began using his domestic help's cellphone to send porn images to the online group he had created. "He did it for fun, but the matter reached the cops," he said.
Ruhan, a class XI student said, "Students need to think hard about the ways in which sexting could come back to bite them in the future."
"When we have centuries old Khajuraho temples with erotic engravings and when we are now the world's most populous country, what is holding us back from conversations about sex? It is time that parents and schools spoke about it openly," said a student pleading anonymity.
(Some names have been changed to
protect identities)