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No Apologies 青春无悔
By JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ
ABOUT
300 students from five schools in Petaling Jaya and
In
the event that took place at the
Women,
Family and Community Development parliamentary secretary Datin
Paduka Chew Mei Fun flagged off the 15-minute walk
around the park.
The
event was part of the No Apologies programme by Focus
on the Family Malaysia Sdn Bhd
aimed at helping young people deal with issues such as the value of the
individual, marriage, family and the importance of keeping oneself pure for
one's future husband or wife.
The
character-based abstinence programme was developed in
1998. To date, it has reached out to some 17,000 young Malaysians and about
16,000 of them have taken the pledge.
Focus
on the Family
He
said the workshops taught young people the meaning of a healthy relationship,
influence of the media in premarital sex indulgences, the consequences of
premarital sex, how to go about abstinence and information on HIV/ AIDS.
He
said most trainers who were also volunteers at the workshop were also young
people in their early 20s as it would be easier for the participants to relate
to them.
“Otherwise,
when you have older ones, then it's like hearing it from the parents again. We
give them the information that they need to know and by the end of the
workshop, we leave the decision to abstain to them. Those who pledge to abstain
will sign the pledge card and carry it with them,” said Lee.
Also
present was National Population and Family Development
Board acting deputy director-general Dr Anjli Doshi Gandhi.
Teaching Youths The Virtue Of Abstinence
THOUGH the coffeeshop was
buzzing with conversations, the young teenage couple sat in silence.
With tears running down her face, she informed him
that she was pregnant.
He tried to pacify her, saying that they were capable of taking care of the
child, giving her suggestions as to how they were going to face the future, all
of which presented a rather bleak picture.
After a while, the conversation lapsed into silence. "I'm sorry," he
said.
"It's too late for apologies," she replied.
The seven-minute skit is part of the half-hour video introduction to the
"No Apologies: Say No to Sex" sexual education programme
by Focus on the Family, a non-governmental organisation.
The video, shot in the
"Some of the interviewees are single parents, raising their child on
welfare. Some suffer from sexually-transmitted disease. Each of them gave their
opinion on what they would have changed if they could only turn back
time," said No Apologies curriculum executive Peter Chang.
The sexual education programme, which began in 2003,
aims to teach teenagers on how to say no to sex.
It has received favourable response from the
students. Members of Focus on the Family work together with counsellors
from LPPKN and Education Ministry as well as medical personnel from the Health
Ministry in conducting the programme.
So far, they have reached out to 26,000 students, all between 13 and 20 years'
old across
"The programme is a character-based abstinence
curriculum that helps youths to make the right choices. The curriculum teaches
them about self-esteem, the importance of abstinence, marriage and the
family," said Focus on the Family executive director Lee Wee Min.
The goal of abstinence education is risk elimination, not risk reduction.
Youths need to be taught to abstain from all risky behaviour,
including premarital sex.
Abstinence works every time. It is the only 100 per cent effective means to
prevent pregnancy and spread of sexually-transmitted diseases.
"We would conduct surveys at the start of the programme
to find out what they think about premarital sex. Unfortunately, when we asked
them when would be the right time to have sex, many replied 'night-time',
instead of 'after marriage'," said Lee.
"So in the programme, instead of just having
someone to give a talk, we encourage discussions about the consequences of
saying 'yes' and saying 'no'.
"They'd realise that saying 'yes' to sex before
marriage has a lot more issues involved than if they had said 'no'. It gives
them a better picture of the negative consequences of premarital sex.
"By the end of the programme, we are quite happy
to say that 92 per cent of the participants pledged to abstain from premarital
sex," said Lee.
The NGO outfit also works with counsellors from the
Education Ministry, with help from the Health Ministry.
For more information on the programme,
log on to www.family.org.my or call 03-58823343.
© Copyright 2008 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad.
All rights reserved.
Source:
http://nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/2330570/Article/index_html
FOGF
Contacts:
Peter Chang
peter@family.org.my