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| Husamah, S. Pd., M. Pd., a lecturer of the Biology Education Department of UMM. (Foto: Istimewa) |
Recently, the case of hundreds of Ponorogo schoolgirls who got pregnant out of wedlock has gone viral in national news media. The data from the National Population and Family Planning Agency of East Java found that in 2022, the number of marriage dispensation applications was 15.212 cases, and 80% of them were caused by women who were initially pregnant.
Husamah, S. Pd., M. Pd., a lecturer of the Biology Education Department of the University of Muhammadiyah Malang, illustrated that the phenomenon of women who got pregnant out of wedlock looks like an iceberg, which is not seriously tackled. He advises that this phenomenon should be a lesson for everyone so that they can learn from the case.
“It is crucial for us to implement sex education curriculum at schools. Sex education should exist since elementary school, especially nowadays children have used smartphones. It is not even rare that elementary students have matured due to food, watching habits, and so on,” explained the Lecturer.
The Lecturer, specializing in character education and living environment, assumes that many actors, like schools, parents, governments, and society, must be responsible. Sex education should be given appropriately, so it cannot be considered pornography and obscenity. In essence, sex education provides an understanding of genders, genitals, and reproductive system health maintenance.
“Sex education not only is related to intercourse but also how to care for the reproductive system healthily, properly, and responsibly. One is to give sexual understanding to children when they ask their parents. Then, parents cannot angrily respond and be ignorant. It will be worried that children will look for it in social media and eventually they will lead to the wrong way,” said Husamah.
Unfortunately, many people consider that sex education is taboo. When children ask, their parents do not answer them. Teachers also do not explain clearly. It, consequently, affects children. Automatically, they independently browse for information on the internet. It is not rare that children fall down the wrong way once they have found what they are curious about.
He further expressed that the case can increase the number of pregnancies out of wedlock. Some teenagers even abort, which can harm their life, starting by tearing the fetus, drinking herbs that cause contraction, and so on.
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“Related to the cases in Ponorogo, we cannot only blame one actor. All must be involved in overcoming and doing preventive actions. It starts from parents, schools, stakeholders, and the most important is the society. They cannot be indifferent when this case happens or free sex is indicated in their surroundings,” ended the Lecturer of the Biology Education Department. (imh/ros/wil)
