Inter Press Service - October 6, 2003
Tran Dinh Thanh Lam

Thus, they are turning elsewhere for information they need. One-third of respondents in a one survey conducted at high schools in this southern Vietnamese city said that they want to confer with health experts instead, and other surveys show even higher percentages.

"We want to discuss 'intimate' questions with consultants and doctors than talking with our teachers or parents about the issue," says Nguyen Nam, an 11th-grade student at Nguyen Du High School here.

"Sometimes I want to know about sexual health but don't know where to ask," laments Le Thi Minh, 16, of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School. "I know from the media that many people my age are having sexual intercourse and some have to undergo abortions. I feel confused about this, but do not know who to turn to."

Studies show that many youngsters are unable to turn to their parents or teachers.

According to the Consulting Centre for Love, Marriage and Family here, more than 50 percent of parents choose to tell their children folk stories as a way of explaining matters of sex, or give them inaccurate information because they feel their children are still too young to learn about sex.

Many Vietnamese parents recoil from the idea of sex education, believing their sons or daughters are too young to need it or understand it.

Says Vo Thi Huong, an expert with the Geology and Mineral Department in Hanoi, "My first daughter is 14 years old and she is very obedient. In my eyes, she is still a little girl, and though I will help her about sex, I don't think now is the right time.''

Clearly, sex education that is available currently in high school remains largely inadequate as many teachers admit to being reluctant to touch on the subject before a class full of students. The problem is exacerbated by the pupils' embarrassment.

"Our teacher talked about sex, contraception, abortion in such a very dry and unnatural way that many boys used it as a way to tease us," explains Nguyen Thi Van Anh, a 10th grade student at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School. "We don't have the courage to ask our teacher to intervene," Anh adds.

Teachers find the courses hard to implement, and both trainers and trainees are shy about discussing delicate issues in public.

In truth, vague notions about sex and reproductive health have been provided to Vietnamese students since the early eighties, when basic knowledge on population and family planning was added to the curriculum.

However, the programme tends to focus on demography rather than on biological reality, leaving students with only the vaguest notions about sex and contraception. The lack of relevant sex education also leaves young women at risk of unwanted pregnancies as well as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

''We cannot evade the importance of sex education, as it is crucial that our children learn to say no to sex before marriage,'' says Dang Quoc Bao, deputy director of the Department of Population and Family Planning of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Today, the sex education programme stresses reproductive health and safe sex, but experts and students consider it inadequate because it is given only to secondary school students.

''(Likewise) we need to give children better basic sex education. They should not be taught about biology, as is the case at the moment, but about social psychology, cultural traditions and social morals,'' explains Dang Thuy Anh of the population department at the education ministry.

Yet the importance of reproductive health in youngsters' social lives -- beyond it being an academic subject -- is not something that teachers always learn easily.

For instance, Nguyen Thi Kim Lan, a teacher at Quoc Hoc High School in the central coastal city of Quy Nhon, proudly says: "More than 90 percent in my school answered accurately the test questions on safe sex, birth control and HIV/AIDS prevention."

But this was a paper test. In class, while discussing the matter with their teachers, these same students became shy and inactive, refusing to ask candid or personal questions.

Some teachers then began trying different approaches, including the creation of a more relaxed environment to allow students to more easily put forth their queries. They set up a 'consulting mailbox', where students could send anonymous letters to teachers and receive advice and guidance.

"He is sixteen years older than me, and he says he loves me. But I don't know why he always tries to make love with me. What should I do?" writes a 10th grade student in one of the letters.

"I've been having my period for two years. I've got a boyfriend and we've hugged and kissed, though we kept our clothes on. Am I pregnant?" inquires a 15-year-old student.

"By providing students advice and sometimes consolation, we come to know them better," Lan says. Still, Lan reckons that the advice they give is conservative and usually focuses on the social and moral aspects, things that seem not to interest students.

That explains why many of her students would rather read doctors' columns in 'Phu Nu' (Women), 'Sinh Vien' (Students), 'Muc Tim' (Purple Ink) magazines.

"I usually read Dr Tran Bong Son's column in 'Student' magazine. It's very interesting and entertaining. The doctor has a tactful and amusing way of dealing with these issues," Anh of HCMC's Nguyen Thi Minh Khai school says. Yes, she adds, she has herself sent letters to seek Dr Son's advice.

Officials estimate that in the capital Hanoi, 15 percent of those aged between 15 and 19 have sex before marriage.

A survey conducted by the Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital at high schools found that 70 percent of students believe their peers have had sexual relations, and nearly half of those aged 15 to 19 said they have had sex.

Dr Phan Hong Hai from the dermatology hospital also says that 63 percent of the surveyed students prefer to get information about STDs though direct consultation, and two-thirds said they wanted to talk about sex issues with health professionals. Only six percent preferred to discuss these with their teachers or parents. (END/IPS/AP/PR/HE/TDTL/JS/03)

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