It was with great empathy that we at the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) read your special report last Sunday on sex and the young.

When an incident such as that of the pre-teen girl who invited a 16-year-old boy to have sexual intercourse hits nearer home, we begin to question why.

Instead of looking for a scapegoat, Aware believes that educating youngsters about sex, sexuality and self-esteem issues related to body image must be a significant component of every child's education.

To this end, Aware has introduced Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) workshops for teenagers and teachers in schools.

Sexual curiosity is the result of a natural hormonal response in the young, and technology has merely enabled them to become more public and explicit.

How can we deal with this?

Through education and open communication.

Some answers to the question 'Why are they starting so young?' may be:

• Some teens engage in sexual activity to feel a sense of self-worth and love. Solution: Help teens build a sense of self-worth through healthy means.

Our CSE programme discusses the effects of basing self-esteem on sex. Our body image programme discusses how our self-worth allows us to stay healthy and safe, and explores the false assumptions and unhealthy ways of achieving self-worth.

• Some teens engage in sexual activity out of a sense of curiosity. Solution: Equip them with accurate, responsible and complete information to make wise choices.

We educate youth on the consequences of each choice. Our CSE teaches them to stay healthy and responsible, should they choose to engage. It also teaches them condom usage, as user ignorance is the biggest reason for failure.

• Some teens engage in sexual activity because they do not know how to communicate and negotiate for alternatives. Solution: Equip and empower them with the skills to say 'no'. Our CSE does that.

Prosecution might be a deterrent for adult sex predators, but not teens. Education is what the young need.

Sex education needs to go beyond preaching abstinence. This is not the reality, as statistics show.

Education should provide lifelong skills. Being comfortable with one's sexuality and practising safe sex need to be taught to teens.

We believe we should tackle this issue at the prevention stage - by empowering teens and adults to not get into a situation where they have to consider abortion, adoption or single parenthood.

It does not help to criticise the young after they have had abortions, kept their child or developed Aids.

Dr Roopa Dewan
Public education

Mathia Lee (Ms)
CSE Aware

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 21 Dec, 2008.