“People of the opposite sex should not be alone together.” This is from current sex education material used in Korean public schools—problematic indeed, since this sentence alone can mislead many teenagers’ perspective on sexual relationships. As this partly shows, sex education in Korea lacks realistic information that can help teenagers from gaining sound values on sexuality. Consequently, Korean students learn more from pornography than from current sex education materials. It is time to talk about proper sex education in Korea.
Sexuality is an important part of one’s identity, and thus the joy of a healthy sexual life is a lifelong right that everyone deserves. However, in contrast with the importance of sexuality, sex education has been and continues to be overlooked in Korean society. Not only does the educational material negate sexuality, it urges students to practice abstinence, thus omitting crucial information that is considered “unneeded, and can encourage sexual relationships.” In the debate on Korean sex education held by the National Assembly, it was even said that the word masturbation should not be used in sex education because it can be “provoking.”
That most of the teen population is already aware of sexual relationships is not considered by the current planners of Korean sex education. Most students have already learned about sex via other channels, making sex education the subject of harassment and ridicule. A research by Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) shows that over 45 percent of teenagers have encountered online pornography, and 20.9 percent of them had sexual experiences. For them, current sex education that talks of sperms and ova is outdated and unrealistic.
Hence, teachers also do not feel the need for better instruction. In fact, according to a research conducted by Park Hye Ja, a member of the National Assembly, 67.3 percent of sex education teachers have failed to complete the 30 hours of mandatory training. Without substantial changes, the callousness of students and teachers will continue. Sex education will bear no meaning except for the role of preventing the topic of sexuality from rising to the surface. The overall attitude of Korean society, which is to push sexual issues aside, is aggravating serious problems such as an increase in sexual violence and related suicides, leaving more teenagers in agony.
Current sex education materials also lack gender sensibility. It fails to serve its role to establish solid concept of gender in students. A manual for high school sex education states that “from the perspective of a man who spends a lot of money on dates, it is natural that he would want a commensurate compensation from the woman. In such conditions, unwanted date rapes can occur.” Such a statement can be interpreted as a justification of date violence as well as perpetuating gender stereotypes. In such status quo, it is unsurprising that contents on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth are missing.
Korean sex education fails to teach about sexuality itself, gender roles, ways to enjoy a healthy sex life, the prevention of sexual violence, and much more. It is now time to talk about introducing comprehensive sexuality education in Korea, which covers all the areas mentioned above. It would help youth develop positive attitudes towards sexuality and gain appropriate information so that they will be able to make healthy decisions regarding their sex lives. Most importantly, this education does not exclude sex from society, since sex education is a reasonable investment for a healthy future generation.
The government should be ashamed that pornography is students' main source of information about sex. This is an act of neglect and of disregard for everyone's right to sexuality. The government should lead in the creation of education materials that can provide appropriate and acceptable information. Although it would be a long way for Korean sex education to reach the level of other countries such as Canada, where an AIDS patient could teach students the importance of preventing sexually transmitted diseases, efforts should be started.