Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - November 24, 2004
Anjira Assavanonda
"Before, I just thought of sex as fun. When my friends persuaded me to sleep with girls, I never said no just to prove I was cool. I never cared how the girls would feel," he said. "But sex education has taught me to respect their rights and learn more about their feelings."
Jack was first sent to Ban Karuna Remand Home for Boys on a physical assault charge. After two months there, he was sent to Ban Kanjanaphisek in Nakhon Pathom, where he was given the chance to participate in the programme.
The programme is part of the Teenpath Project run by Path, an international organisation that works towards HIV/Aids prevention with government and non-governmental organisations.
It was started in October last year with the training of teachers and introduction of sex education in about 130 schools in 12 provinces. Two juvenile observation and protection centres have taken part in the pilot project, including Ban Kanjanaphisek for boys and Ban Pranee for young female offenders.
Jack said sex education taught him a lot of things he never knew before, including how to wear condom correctly.
"Before, I just knew it was a condom, but I didn't know how to wear it or how to tear the wrapper to prevent the condom from being damaged," he said.
Sex education also taught him about safe sex and women's issues such as the use of contraceptive pills and sex during menstruation.
The course taught him that sex during menstruation could be harmful, both for him and his partner, as they could more easily infect one another with diseases.
Jack said the sex education programme also reduced the knowledge gap between young detainees and their teachers. Since the teachers were open to every topic about sex, youngsters felt they could talk and ask for advice on every problem.
Tai, a young female detainee at Ban Pranee, said sex education also taught her to become wiser about boys.
"I always believed whatever my boyfriends said. Girls fall madly in love and trust boys to be honest to them. But sex education made me aware that's not true. Some boys just want fun," she said.
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