Withholding sexual education from children would be unfair if based on the notion that they are supposed to be innocent and free from sexual notions. By equipping children with the right knowledge, not only can they make informed decisions

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‘The twin concepts of innocence and ignorance are vehicles for adult double standards: a child is ignorant if she doesn’t know what adults want her to know, but innocent if she doesn’t know what adults don’t want her to know’ Kitzinger (1997). In the light of this statement discuss how societies define innocence and to what extent such concepts of innocence at times are more harmful than beneficial for the children in relation to sexuality.

The meaning of innocence is continuously being constructed and has a wide range of interpretations. Age, ethnicity, gender and classes have often further complicated its meaning. Adults may perceive children as innocent when they lack the knowledge that adults do not want them to possess. On the contrary, children are deemed as ignorant when they do not know what they should know. In reality when innocence is related to sexuality, it is considered as a form of purity and a virtue, in particular, sexual purity (Kehily and Montgomery, 2003). In the first part of this essay, we will see how most societies define sexual innocence and ignorance. Further discussion will be focused on why children are often uninformed about the various sexual issues behind the concept of innocence. In the second part of the essay, we will then examine the harms that are brought upon children due to this definition. Lastly, the essay concludes with the assumption that when the children are perceived as innocence, it will bring great harm to them, as information about sexuality was not well delivered.

Many societies define innocence in their own ways. For instance, it is not possible to make universal statements about the nature of children’s sexual awareness as every society draws different discourses. These range from viewing children as the basis of adult identity to those of children as a separate state, so as to explore appropriate expressions of children’s sexuality and behaviour. In western societies, ideas about sexuality are entrenched in the notion of ‘naturalness’ and human sexuality is commonly seen as inherent and biological (Kehily and Montgomery, 2003). An example would be that masturbation may be seen as part of natural sexual development in growing children. However, having been influenced by societal moral beliefs and social taboos, parents still hold negative attitudes towards masturbation. This is evidenced by the use of instruments by the Victorian Middle class parents to control children’s masturbation, from devices to ensure that children could not reach their genitals to warnings that it caused blindness and insanity (Kehily and Montgomery, 2003). By doing so, these parents have ensured that their children remain unaware of what they do not want them to know thus maintaining innocence.

Western parents today may implicitly recognize that their children masturbate but social taboos against its revelation still exist (Kehily and Montgomery, 2003). In the British context, Stevi Jackson suggests that sexuality is usually defined as a ‘special area of life’ that is the preserve of adults and thus children and sex should be kept apart (Kehily and Montgomery, 2003). From this it is seen that childhood innocence involves the ignorance of sexual development and children therefore remain innocent by not expressing sexuality.

According to a website called Harmful to Minors, an interview with a San Francisco mother, Janet Jake, revealed that she would give her son lots of room to experience new things, like skateboard daredevilry. However, when it came to the topic of sex, she found herself turning into an ironclad conservative like many parents (Introduction to Harmful to Minors). Once again, this shows how intensely sensitive sexual issues are to parents and how protective parents can be when dealing with the issue of sexuality in childhood.

The attitudes of other societies towards the protection of a child’s innocence ...

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The attitudes of other societies towards the protection of a child’s innocence are however different. Children in these societies are in fact encouraged to have early sexual experiences. In Brazil, the Ameridian community desires a girl to have multiple sexual partners from a young age (around 9 or 10) both before her marriage (which occurs when she is about 11-years old) and after as well. This might seem unusual or unnatural for those who do not belong to this community and as such this community may be seen as one without sexual innocence (Kehily and Montgomery, 2003).

On the other hand the values of innocence are strongly upheld in some Mediterranean or Middle East societies. These societies impose strict restrictions on the sexual behaviour of girls. Adolescents are traditionally taught to keep away from the opposite sex for fear of uncalled-for desires (Islam Online, 2004). This actually reflects the way in which a child’s innocence is protected in such societies. Although a child’s innocence is much valued, there exists an Islamic belief to begin sex education in the home with the child’s parents before the school system does. However, sex education communicated to children must be age-appropriate (Islam Online, 2004).

With regards to age-appropriate sex education, there is in fact little consensus on what children are able to understand and cope with at a particular age. As such, laws prohibiting sexual activity below a defined legal age vary between countries. For example, the legal age of consent in the UK is sixteen while that of Holland and China is twelve and twenty respectively (Kehily and Montgomery, 2003). These differences in the ages of consent also reflect how societies have their own ways of defining children’s innocence. This in spite of the fact that children might be sexually aware and physically mature before the legal age of consent The term ‘innocence’ is socially constructed and hence children who are overprotected by one society may be deemed as ignorant by other societies in relation to sexuality.

How societies regulate children’s sexual activities and seek to protect them from abuses depend on how they interpret children’s innocence. In most societies, sexual innocence is conveniently seen as part of childhood. Most parents avoid the topic of sexuality with their children. Children’s sexual behaviors are controlled through laws. There are laws prohibiting sexual activity before a certain age while other laws impose restrictions on the media to prevent the premature exposure of children to sex. Films and advertisements with provocative sexual content are subject to censorship. Internet engines have also been designed to block texts or images with sexual content unsuitable for children.

At the same time, while parents wish that their children remain as innocent as they are expected to be, their children also desire to satisfy their own curiosity about the unspeakable domain of sex. Associating childhood innocence with expectations of sexual ignorance is impossible, as the body structure is innately sexual, marked by puberty. It is impossible for children, especially for those who have reached puberty to be oblivious to the sexual development occurring within them.

Adults are found consciously withholding information and knowledge about sexuality from their children as they find their children innocent. In other cases, parents or schools find it difficult to mention the subject of sexuality. In such circumstances, when the parents perceived their children as innocent, children may look for alternative sources from the internet, magazines or even friends for information. The media, especially magazines for teenagers, are an increasingly important source of information and have a significant bearing on children’s attitudes (Report on Sex and Relationship Education in Schools, 2002). The wide range of beliefs and attitudes in relation to sexuality proposed by the media may be confusing. For example, some media coverage promotes the idea that being sexually active makes a person more attractive and mature. Through these avenues, children may or may not get reliable and accurate information. Without correct information, these children may put themselves at greater risk namely, the risk of sexual abuse, unsafe sex, and unwanted pregnancy through sexual experimentation.

It was reported that The United Kingdom has the highest teenage birth rate in Western Europe Teenage Pregnancy records that each year, in England, 90,000 teenage girls conceive. Of these, around 7,700 are under 16 and 2,200 are aged 14 or under. At the same time, 38% of teenage pregnancies ended in abortion in 1998 (Report on Sex and Relationship Education in Schools, 2002). This alarmingly high figure further suggests the high number of sexual experimentations. Teenagers who are sexually active may be ignorant of the consequences of sex without contraception or have simply undermined the values behind a sexual act. Ignorance of these matters put these children through unnecessary stress. Motherhood in teenagers actually limits their life chances. Most teenagers who become mothers drop out of school. Early pregnancy is hard on young bodies and maternal mortality is higher during adolescence than after 20 years of age (New Internationalist). Experiences of abortion may even put them to grief with a lasting feeling of guilt and isolation.

With the concept of innocence being practiced by parents, inadequate sex education of young children may lead to unwanted pregnancies. Unsafe sexual practices, of which children are ignorant of, may also land these children in dangerous grounds. Since 1995 there have been significant increases in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases. The rises were steepest in the 16-19 year old age group. It was also found that half of those under-16 years of age who are sexually active do not use contraception the first time they have sex. Studies revealed that four million teenagers in the world are infected with sexually transmitted diseases with half of the forty thousand new HIV infections a year occur in people under twenty-five years old (SRE Guidance, 2000). It is unclear whether these children had any awareness of the consequences which follow unprotected sexual intercourse. These alarming figures tell us that the right messages and values are yet to be instilled in the minds of young people, in particular, children.

Children may be subjected to sexual abuse even without their awareness. Children may be overly trusting and would not be able to differentiate between friendly gestures and contacts with sexual intentions. According to a recent British government study, children are at a much greater risk of sexual abuse from relatives and family friends than from predatory paedophiles. A survey showed that some 68 percent of attackers knew their victims and 13 percent were related to them. Only 18 percent were strangers. In 1991 a survey was done by the Child Abuse Studies Unit of the University of North London and revealed that one in two girls (59%) and one in four boys (27%) will experience child sexual abuse by the time they are 18. Thus, it is crucial to equip children at least with substantial sexual knowledge to identify what constitutes sexual abuse.

Inadequate knowledge of homosexuality can also be due to overprotection of children’s innocence. Homosexuality has always been a sensitive and avoided issue. As mentioned in the Report on Sex and Relationship Education in Schools, a Year 10 boy in an all-boys school said, ‘We never talk about homosexuality. There are over a thousand boys in this school and it must be an issue for some of them but the staff seem to be scared to talk about it.’ When children suspect themselves to have such homosexual tendencies, they may feel isolated and lost and may have difficulties coming to terms with their own sexuality. There is strong evidence to suggest that gay men and lesbians have higher rates of suicide and attempted suicide than the general population. Young gay people may face a number of pressures due to their sexuality. These include problems arising from society's attitude towards them, the direct experience of facing discrimination and the distinct possibility of being stigmatized. If proper education on homosexuality was reinforced, it will reduce the homophobic attitudes among those in the society and thus reduce the incidence of suicidal rates.

In conclusion, it is no doubt that the term ‘innocence’ is socially constructed in some way. It is evidenced that children should be given sex education and teachings on relationship issues. Such an education will help and support young people through their physical, emotional and moral development. Young people will learn to respect themselves and others and grow up with confidence from childhood through adolescence into adulthood. It enables young people to understand the reasons for delaying sexual activity. It builds up knowledge and skills which are particularly important today because of the many different and conflicting pressures on young people.

Withholding sexual education from children would be unfair if based on the notion that they are supposed to be innocent and free from sexual notions. By equipping children with the right knowledge, not only can they make informed decisions about their sexual intentions, they will also learn how to respect themselves and others. Thus if we decided to adopt the ‘ostrich’ approach where one would be reluctant to address such a pressing issue while choosing to be continually obsessed with the thought that children should stave off the issue of sexuality, even more so for homosexuality, then we are definitely bringing enormous harms to children, no matter how much it would be to our disbelief.

References

Mary Jane Kehily and Heather Montgomery (2003) ‘Innocence and Experience’ in Martin, W. & Heather, M. (ed) Understanding childhood, Chichester, John Wiley & Sons/The Open University.
Introduction to Harmful to Minors
Islam Online , 2004
New Internationalist