CFC FI AND ALL ITS MINISTRIES STAND ALONGSIDE THE PHILIPPINE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OPPOSING THE CURRENT PHILIPPINE CONGRESSIONAL HOUSEBILL NO. 5043

SEC. 12 of HB 5043. Mandatory Age-Appropriate Reproductive Health Education. – recognizing the importance of reproductive rights in empowering the youth and developing them into responsible adults, Reproductive Health Education in an age-appropriate manner shall be taught by adequately trained teachers starting from Grade 5 up to Fourth Year High School.

What is wrong with this Section of RH 5043?

1) Grade 5 (10-11 years old) and 4th Year High School (approximately 15-16 years old)

This is the Latency Period in the Psychosexual development of a child:

The fourth stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory, from about five years to puberty, during which a child apparently represses sexual urges and prefers to associate with members of the same sex. [American Heritage Dictionary]
The stage begins around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer relationships, hobbies, and other interests. The latent period is a time of exploration in which the sexual energy is still present, but it is directed into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and social interactions. This stage is important in the development of social and communication skills and self-confidence. [Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development]

2) From Familiaris Consortio:

" the family is the securest forum through which to present delicate matters of sexuality. Sex education is not just another form of catechetical instruction, nor does it qualify as education in the strictest term. Education in these delicate matters must be very gradual and only the parent can ascertain where the child is at.”

In (Para. 36) "The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; and it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others.”

Contributed by:

TEODORA: IN DEFENSE OF THE AUTHENTIC WOMAN, INC.

“CFC-FFL IS PRO-LIFE”

Renewing the Family and Defending Life

CFC FI AND ALL ITS MINISTRIES STAND ALONGSIDE THE PHILIPPINE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN OPPOSING THE CURRENT PHILIPPINE CONGRESSIONAL HOUSEBILL NO. 5043

SEC. 12 of HB 5043. Mandatory Age-Appropriate Reproductive Health Education. – recognizing the importance of reproductive rights in empowering the youth and developing them into responsible adults, Reproductive Health Education in an age-appropriate manner shall be taught by adequately trained teachers starting from Grade 5 up to Fourth Year High School.

What is wrong with this Section of RH 5043?

1) By Philippine Law:

Republic Act 9344 "The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006" Sec 6 provides:
"A child fifteen (15) years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability. However, the child shall be subjected to an intervention program pursuant to Sec 20 of this Act.

"A child above fifteen (15) years but below eighteen (18) years of age shall likewise be exempt from criminal; liability and be subjected to an intervention program, unless he/she has acted with discernment, in which age, such child shall be subjected to the appropriate proceedings in accordance with this Act.

"The exemption from criminal liability herein established does not include exemption from civil liability, which shall be enforced in accordance with existing laws".

2) Commentary from The Hon. Maria Belen R. Liban, mother of five children, a Presiding Judge, of the Regional Trial Court of Malolos, and a CFC FI leader:

"We should look at the debate in Congress also with reference to RA 9344 to know why the age of responsibility was increased to fifteen (15). The goal of RA 9344 is to protect the children because they still do not have the capability to discern the gravity of one's liability, in this period of latency. The present reproductive health bill seems to contradict this law because it assumes that children 11 years and above, now have the capability to discern serious matters regarding sexual acts and its possible grave consequences to society."

3) How much can a child, in the latency period of psychosexual development, absorb about this moral responsibility in matters of sex?

Familiaris Consortio Sec 8

Contributed by:

TEODORA: IN DEFENSE OF THE AUTHENTIC WOMAN, INC.

Renewing the Family and Defending Life

WHEN I WAS 10!

When I got into Grade 5, at 10 years old, I moved schools. I was in Maria Montessori, and since my brother moved to the Ateneo, I moved there as well. It was such a big change for me. From a school system which encourages free learning - learning at your own pace - I moved into a very structured learning system. I had to wear a uniform, I had class schedules with set times, and these all affected me and my grades. My grades dipped, I didn't want to socialize and I always wondered why I had to move to the Ateneo. I eventually got the hang of things (after having grades in the 60s and 70s), and was able to recover.

Things were so much more simple in 1985.

Now, there is a chance for 10 year old kids - grade 5 students - to not only deal with studies, classmates, family, changes, failing grades, but to deal with things unheard of at my time. Now, they have the chance to go to 7-11 and see couples choose which flavored condom they want - banana or orange. Now, they have the chance to turn on the TV and see commercials that ask them if they "are ready" to have sex. Now, they have the chance to watch TV shows (Betty La Fea Manila Version, in particular) with pictures on the wall saying "Girls Night Out" and a row of condoms beneath. Now, they have the chance to learn about sex, abortion, AIDS, HIV in school by people who are not related to them. Now, 10 year old kids have the chance to be 25 years old.

I stopped and thought. When I was 10, would I want all this in my brain and on my shoulders? Aside from all the things that come with being 10 (like playing, climbing trees, having fun), would I want to sit in a class and listen to someone tell me about sex, condoms and abortion? Would I want to watch my favorite cartoon and see commercials with scantily clad women pushing sex to their boyfriends?

NO!

And I don't think you'd want that for your ten year olds either. Let them be 10 years old. Let them be curious, without us fearing for what they will find. Let them be pure, just as they should be.

Contributed by:

F. Xavier X. S. Padilla
Missionary

SEX EDUCATION IN THE CLASSROOM…MUST WE BE SO HARDHEADED?

Listen to this! "A survey conducted in the UK revealed that teenage pregnancy rates are highest in areas that have been most aggressive in promoting sex education."

Now you want figures? "Official figures reveal that teenage pregnancies rose in Britain by an annual rate of 800 from 38,439 in 2001 to 39,286 in 2002. The pregnancies led to 17,682 of the children being aborted in 2001. The number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases has also risen by an alarming 62 percent between 1997's 25,143 cases and 2002's 40,821 cases."

Now, how could this happen when Britain spent £15million precisely to supposedly counter the situation of having the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe? (One out of ten babies were being born to teenage mothers.) What they decided to do was to implement a "Teenage Pregnancy Unit in 1999 to reduce teenage pregnancies by 50 percent by 2010, and 15 percent by the end of 2004. The strategy of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit includes explicit sex education by nurses in schools, free condoms, and sending girls a birthday card on their 14th birthday inviting them to a confidential medical examination without consent from their parents.

And what did they get – increase in teenage pregnancies and the number of cases of STDs. Wisely they concluded: "Explicit sex education and providing condoms to young girls simply encourage them to become sexually active and that "it might be wiser to support the majority in abstinence and demonstrate to the minority the physical, emotional and psychological benefits of delaying sex until marriage."

Unfortunately, many countries including the Philippines refuse to learn from Britain's experience. HB 3773, a bill pending in our Congress is pushing for sex education in classrooms, among other things. Must we be so dense and hardheaded as to want this in our country?

It is time to see the wisdom in keeping with the parental role that they are the first and primary educators of their children and what the time calls for is chastity and education in love in the home. "Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy." Teenage pregnancies, abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases make for unhappiness.

Specifically, "the normal and fundamental method" is a "personal dialogue between parents and their children, that is, individual formation within the family circle. In fact there is no substitute for a dialogue of trust and openness between parents and their children, a dialogue which respects not only their stages of development but also the young persons as individuals."

However, there is the reality that there are parents who need help from others in carrying out their responsibility to educate their children. To this, the Pontifical Council for the Family presents different ways of helping out, emphasizing the need to "observe the right order of cooperation and collaboration between parents and those who can help them in their task. It is clear that the assistance of others must be given first and foremost to parents rather than to their children."

In this regard, the ministry of Teodora has a sex education training module for parents and the CFC Pro-Life Pillar has the 100% Pure Program for the youth. Both programs adhere to the four working principles regarding education in love, which are:

First Principle: Human sexuality is a sacred mystery and must be presented according to the doctrinal and moral teaching of the Church, always bearing in mind the effects of original sin.

Second Principle: Only information proportionate to each phase of their individual development should be presented to children and young people.

Third Principle: No material of an erotic nature should be presented to children or young people of any age, individually or in a group.

Fourth Principle: No one should ever be invited, let alone obliged, to act in any way that could objectively offend against modesty or which could subjectively offend against his or her own delicacy or sense of privacy.

Contributed by:

TEODORA: IN DEFENSE OF THE AUTHENTIC WOMAN INC.