Men's Health: The Necessity and Social Significance of Sex Education

The Necessity of Sexual Knowledge and Sex Education

The necessity of popularizing sexual knowledge and conducting sex education can be summarized as follows:

1. Sex education is necessary for establishing a civilized, healthy, and scientific lifestyle. Marx stated, "The study of sex science begins with the diseases caused by sexual ignorance. The seriousness and research on sexual issues is a product of social civilization progressing to a certain level; sex science is a serious discipline." Makarenko wrote, "In matters of love and family life, the key has always been people's general abilities, their political and moral character, their development, their work capacity, their integrity and honesty, their loyalty to their country, and their love for society. Therefore, the following assertion is entirely correct: the education of future generations on sexual life should be carried out constantly, at every step. Even when parents and educators haven't even thought about sex education, this work is still ongoing."

2. Sex education is necessary for enhancing individual happiness, family stability, and social order. Sociological surveys show that a significant proportion of marital breakdowns both domestically and internationally are due to disharmony in sexual life. This includes ignorance regarding sexual matters, poor moral character, and issues stemming from the couple's attitudes and methods regarding sex, as well as other problems. From 1981 to 1985, the Shanghai Family Planning Technical Guidance Institute provided outpatient consultations to over 40,000 people, of whom approximately 10,000 cases were due to problems arising from uncivilized, unhealthy, or unscientific sexual practices.

3. Sex education is necessary for the healthy growth of adolescents. Adolescence is a period of physical and intellectual development, and also a crucial time for sex education. Correct, systematic, and comprehensive sex education can promote the healthy physical and mental development of adolescents and prevent unhealthy influences from taking hold. Concerns that sex education for adolescents will lead to early romantic relationships, increased sexual activity, or the promotion of "sexual freedom" are unfounded. Numerous real-life examples demonstrate that, due to a lack of timely and accurate scientific guidance, many teenagers are misled by false and vulgar teachings received through other channels, leading them astray.

4. Sex education is necessary for changing social customs. In my country, due to the influence of feudal ideology, sexology is often mistakenly considered a decadent ideology, and the mere mention of sex is associated with obscenity. Therefore, people are reluctant to discuss issues related to sex. However, with the development of social civilization and science and technology, issues such as love, marriage, family, and procreation are no longer trivial matters of personal life, but rather major issues directly related to national prosperity, people's stability, and the happiness of future generations. To provide people with scientific guidance on sex and dispel the mystique surrounding it, popularizing sex education is even more important.

5. Sex education is necessary to prevent sexual offenses and ensure social stability and unity. Sex science is the study of human sexual behavior; broadly speaking, it also includes the study of love, marriage, and family. Therefore, providing sex education to children, adolescents, and adults helps them align their sexual instincts with the needs of society, civilized morality, and social life, enabling them to control and restrain their sexual desires. This will prevent and reduce immoral behavior related to sex.

6. Sex education is necessary for maintaining personal physical and mental health, preventing functional and organic diseases of the reproductive system, and preventing sexually transmitted diseases. Sex can bring joy, but it can also cause certain diseases. With scientific knowledge about sex, many diseases can be avoided or prevented.

As a form of education, sex education should first study a wide range of scientific issues related to sexual medicine and sexual biology. It should be recognized that sex is an unavoidable issue in life, accompanying a person throughout their life. Sex education has a long cycle, not limited to infants, toddlers, and adolescents, but should also include adults and the elderly. Therefore, it is now advocated that sex education for children should begin at age 0, because misconceptions instilled in infancy can affect a person's normal life throughout their life. Secondly, sex education is a continuous process, spanning life, and has its own characteristics at different age stages, requiring different content and methods. It is also important to emphasize that sex education is a shared responsibility of families, schools, and society. These three aspects should each have their own focus, complement each other, and none should be neglected.

Sex education generally includes sexual physiology, sexual psychology, sexual hygiene, and sexual morality. These four aspects can be compared to the four aspects of general education: moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetic.

Moral education regarding sex: From birth, infants are biologically distinguished as male or female. Later, people begin to raise them as boys or girls, instilling in them socially acceptable characteristics in clothing, speech, and habits, cultivating behavioral norms and moral standards that conform to societal expectations, including how to make friends, fall in love, get married, and maintain good marital relationships. All of this falls within the scope of sex education.

Intellectual education regarding sex: This involves education on physiological and hygiene knowledge related to sexual organs, sexual development, sexual behavior, sexual hygiene, and sexual reproduction. Sexual physical education: This involves education and training to ensure the healthy physical development of both men and women, fostering good hygiene habits, maintaining physical health, and preventing disease.

Sexual aesthetic education: This cultivates physical beauty. Beauty is not only external but, more importantly, internal. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato pointed out, "We should learn to value the beauty of the soul more." The great French writer Victor Hugo said, "Without inner beauty, any external beauty is incomplete." The aesthetic education discussed here emphasizes the different physical forms, facial features, skin and hair, clothing, appearance, and personality traits of men and women—that is, "masculine beauty" and "feminine beauty."

The purpose, methods, and scope of modern sex education differ from those of the past. The goals of sex science education involve multiple aspects, including biology, sociology, health, adaptability, interpersonal relationships, and values. Sex education is an important component of character education. A sound personality includes physical, psychological, and social well-being, as well as a healthy state in terms of sex education, sexual awareness, and sexual behavior.

The task of sex education is arduous. Some erroneous and outdated concepts in the field of sex are very stubborn, and many educators themselves possess a certain degree of sexual superstition, taboo, and ignorance that needs to be overcome. We must not only continue to break free from the shackles of feudal ethical concepts but also resist the challenges posed by Western notions of "sexual freedom" and "sexual liberation," as well as other erroneous ideas. How to conduct systematic, diversified, and widespread sex education is an issue worthy of attention and support from all sectors.