Photos by EPA, Reuters and Bangkok Post
A Thai senator recently suggested that sex education should be made compulsory in schools to help curb teen pregnancy, which can cause health and social problems.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about this issue.
Speaking recently at the 10th General Assembly of the Asia Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, Senator Porapan Punyaratabandhu said that Thailand had passed through a phase when population growth was out of control.
FACING FACTS
According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook statistics, Thailand’s population growth was 0.56 percent last year, down from 3.1 percent in 1960.
Porapan said the fall of the country’s population growth rate was the result of government-sponsored family planning programmes. Each Thai family on average now has fewer than two children, according to Porapan.
However, the senator added that Thailand was facing an uncontrolled growth in teen pregnancies.
TEEN TROUBLES
Porapan believes that teen pregnancy has led to problems with maternal heath, child health and HIV infections.
The Health Department reported in 2010 that 20 percent of pregnant Thai women were younger than 20 years old. Teen pregnancy had led to many underweight infants, while the number of HIV infections among teenagers has also been increasing, Porapan said.
HOT TOPIC
It is believed that teen pregnancies have resulted partly from poor dissemination of information on birth control. According to Porapan, sex education would be more efficient if it was included in the curriculum as a compulsory course. The attitude of Thai teachers, many of whom regard sex as an improper topic to discuss, holds back progress in this area, she said.
“We should accept the truth that we can’t stop teenagers from having sex,” she said. “So we must teach them how to have safe sex.”
With that in mind, the Senate is currently trying to push a policy to include sex education in the school system.
Exercises
Read the story. Then, decide whether the following statements are true or false.
1. According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook statistics, last year’s population growth of Thailand was 5.60 percent.
2. According to the Health Department’s 2010 report, 20 percent of pregnant Thai women were younger than 20 years old.
3. Porapan said that sex education would be more efficient if it was included in the curriculum as a compulsory course.
Vocabulary
- compulsory (adj): that must be done because of a rule or law
curb (v): to control or limit something, especially something bad
maternal (adj): connected with being a mother
underweight (adj): weighing less than the normal or expected weight
dissemination (n): the act of spreading information, knowledge, etc. so that it reaches many people
improper (adj): not suited or appropriate to the situation
