The Star
He had come across cases where girls had sex when they were having their periods, as they wrongly assumed they would not get pregnant this way.
James also assisted a 14-year-old who had three abortions, all of them in back lane ‘‘clinics’’. She had since moved in with an aunty.
Dr Hartini Zainudin, the general manager of the Nur Salam halfway house for single mothers and children in Chow Kit asked: “Which is the bigger problem? Us being shy to teach our kids about sex, or having to deal with rising cases of abandoned babies?”
OrphanCARE president Datuk Adnan Mohd Tahir said sex should be a topic to be discussed openly with the youths to help them obtain more accurate information.
Christine Alphonse, a counsellor at the Ti-Ratana Welfare Society’s welfare home, said youths should also be taught about the consequences of having sex – and if they were prepared to handle issues such as unwanted pregnancies.
In Petaling Jaya, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abd Jalil said a 2004 survey on 1,700 young adults ages between 13 and 24 showed more than 50% of the respondents did not know in detail about the functions of reproductive organs.
“Teenagers lack information and access to birth control methods. Many teenagers are also not taught about ways to deal with peer pressure and how to say ‘no’ to sex before they are ready,” said Women, Family and Community Development Minister.
Between 2005 and 2009, the police reported 407 cases of child abandonment, nationwide.
“The statistics up till April 2010 recorded 24 cases. The statistics are increasing every year,” said Shahrizat in response to a report in The Star on Saturday about the higher number of teen pregnancy recorded by the Welfare Department.
Shahrizat said her ministry would propose to the Government to include Social and Reproductive Health (SRH) as part of the co-curriculum programmes in primary and secondary schools.
PETALING JAYA: Many teenagers are having sex and this calls for an urgent need to introduce sex education in schools, said leaders of several non-governmental organisations caring for children.
Shelter Home executive director James Nayagam, who has been assisting pregnant teenagers for 30 years, said no amount of campaigning and counselling would prevent teenagers from experimenting with sex.
“A comprehensive sex education will be a better source of information than their friends,” said Nayagam, adding that preventing unwanted pregnancies and abandoned babies was its ultimate goal.
Shelter Home executive director James Nayagam, who has been assisting pregnant teenagers for 30 years, said no amount of campaigning and counselling would prevent teenagers from experimenting with sex.
“A comprehensive sex education will be a better source of information than their friends,” said Nayagam, adding that preventing unwanted pregnancies and abandoned babies was its ultimate goal.
He had come across cases where girls had sex when they were having their periods, as they wrongly assumed they would not get pregnant this way.
James also assisted a 14-year-old who had three abortions, all of them in back lane ‘‘clinics’’. She had since moved in with an aunty.
Dr Hartini Zainudin, the general manager of the Nur Salam halfway house for single mothers and children in Chow Kit asked: “Which is the bigger problem? Us being shy to teach our kids about sex, or having to deal with rising cases of abandoned babies?”
OrphanCARE president Datuk Adnan Mohd Tahir said sex should be a topic to be discussed openly with the youths to help them obtain more accurate information.
Christine Alphonse, a counsellor at the Ti-Ratana Welfare Society’s welfare home, said youths should also be taught about the consequences of having sex – and if they were prepared to handle issues such as unwanted pregnancies.
In Petaling Jaya, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abd Jalil said a 2004 survey on 1,700 young adults ages between 13 and 24 showed more than 50% of the respondents did not know in detail about the functions of reproductive organs.
“Teenagers lack information and access to birth control methods. Many teenagers are also not taught about ways to deal with peer pressure and how to say ‘no’ to sex before they are ready,” said Women, Family and Community Development Minister.
Between 2005 and 2009, the police reported 407 cases of child abandonment, nationwide.
“The statistics up till April 2010 recorded 24 cases. The statistics are increasing every year,” said Shahrizat in response to a report in The Star on Saturday about the higher number of teen pregnancy recorded by the Welfare Department.
Shahrizat said her ministry would propose to the Government to include Social and Reproductive Health (SRH) as part of the co-curriculum programmes in primary and secondary schools.
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