Proponents of abstinence-only sex-education blasted the Ministry of Education's "Swedish paradigm" approach yesterday to reducing the problem of teen pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).
Instead of teaching students about contraceptives and safe sex, educators and legislators at an event held yesterday called for Taiwan to take its lead from the US and adopt a system that encourages students to "Wait, think and talk."
The ministry's sex-education booklet, which utilized a comic-book presentation and a direct, informal style to talk about sexually related issues, came under heavy fire from Yang Ko-ping (楊克平), principal at the Cardinal Tien College of Nursing.
The booklet caused a stir when it was first released earlier this year as some legislators found it excessively raunchy.
"I understand that those in the Ministry of Education have good intentions. Underage sex has become a major problem on so many levels in our society," he said at the event hosted by Fu Jen University's faculty of divinity. "However, in trying to curb this problem, the ministry has gone down the wrong road."
Referring to the text titled Youth Experts, Yang complained about the priority of issues in the book.
"Sex is discussed in the first chapter and love in the last. This reverses the natural order of things, and could have the effect of encouraging sex in our junior high school students," he said.
Father Louis Aldrich, head of the faculty of divinity at Fu Jen University said:"it's all about respect for yourself and others."
Aldrich introduced a "promise card" program where cards are given to students who have promised to abstain from sex until marriage, upon which they give the card to their partner as a sign of their commitment.
Father Aldrich credits the US' falling teen pregnancy rate to the rise of abstinence-only programs.
Yao Li-ying (
Yao said he objected to non-abstinence sex education methods such as asking students to practice putting on a condom.
"I consider a lot of this a form of child harassment. We protect our kids from sex at the movies with the classification system, but then we put this type of thing in their textbooks. It's just not consistent," she said.
When asked by a member of the audience whether they were more interested in the "process" of having an abstinence-only sex education program or the "results" of lowering sex related problems in teens, members of the panel had differing responses.
"There can be no result without process," said Hsiao Hui-ying (蕭惠瑛), a lecturer at the Fu Jen University's faculty of divinity.
On the other hand, Yang said "I think the media in Taiwan should bear a lot of responsibility. If only they spent as much time on the problem of underage sex as on the campaign to oust President Chen Shui-bian (
"We can only control the process, not the results," she said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by