By Mary Lackie

There is a climate of urgency about sex education today because young people are living in the ‘now age’ when the subject is constantly before them, said Mrs. Helen F. Southard, psychologist and author.

“Sex Education: Whose Responsibility?” was the topic of Mrs. Southard’s keynote address at the conference for adult workers for youth sponsored by the YWCA last Friday.

Mrs. Southard said, “Twenty years ago sex education was thought of as reproductive education that parents gave children at a particular moment and things were fine. You had told your children the facts of life.”

She said, “Today I feel there is an urgency about sex education. The subject is so constantly before young people that they become confused about what they should or should not do. Sex has become the ‘big sell’ and part of the big sell is the romance connected with it.”

Another problem faced by young people is the pressure exerted on them by parents and by society. “There is pressure from parents to begin dating at an early age, to get into college, even into kindergarten. Social pressures with emphasis on experimentation and the uncertainties about the future give young people the feeling that ‘if there is anything that is going to make me happy, let’s have it now,’” Mrs. Southard said.

Mrs. Southard said, “Those of the Judeo-Christian tradition want to develop young people who will have a concern for others. We’ve got to raise young people who can break out of the unwholesome bonds of dependency, learn to share, and not grow up with the idea, ‘what can I get out of life?’”

This training will require broader educational experiences. Mrs. Southard said, “We have compartmentalized sex education. Young people can ask any question they want, but they should not ask about sex. This violates one of the basic principles of education. I am not in favor of sex education being given just in times of crisis. And, I don’t think the information causes children to experiment. They are more likely to experiment if they don’t get the information. They should be given the truth all the time.”

She said, “Who said this subject doesn’t belong in the home? The quality of the relationship between the mother and father that the child sees in the home is part of their sex education.”

The subject of sex education should be woven into the school curriculum because so many questions need specialized training for the answers, Mrs. Southard said. She added that there are many courses, workshops and seminars available to train teachers for this work.

Young people are searching for answers to what is right and what is wrong, but most young people receive sex information from their friends. Only 25 per cent receive their information at home. So, sex education becomes a role of the churches, but not their only role, the speaker said.

As the child approaches adolescence, he or she is reluctant to discuss the subject with parents and there should be somebody they could talk to in their lives. Mrs. Southard urged parents, teachers and church leaders to involve the community on all economic levels in sex education programs that meet the particular needs of their areas.

In the response panel that followed, John Y. Powell, director, Hillside Cottages said, “How can we use our social agencies here in Atlanta to help parents with their daughters an sons? Social agencies should not take over, but we need new methods of reaching families.” Mrs. Kay Crouch, counselor at Georgia State College, noted that students are often confused about the male and female role. Mrs. Southard replied that “we are living in a time of rapid change and mixed roles. Role confusion is a serious matter and can be seen, for example, in the clothing young people wear.”

Dr. Lamar H. Waters, internist and member of the Dekalb County Medical Association, said that the medical role is not just a matter of explaining physical and medical changes. Doctors need to move into the area of family counseling, he commented.

Mrs. L.W. Millican, director of Christian Education, Peachtree Road Methodist Church, said, “We are such a people of extremes that in order to correct the mistakes of the past, we have limited emphasis to sex education. As a result, many young people see sex as an end in itself. We should talk about what makes a strong family life.

“The Church, because it can reach young people in a very personal way, is in an unique position to find out what they know and need to know. In our haste to bring things out in the open, we have jumped over a whole area - how can young people show affection for each other in a good relationship?”

“What has mental health to do with sex education?” asked Dr. Donald F. Spille, director of the Metropolitan Atlanta Mental Health Association. He said, “Mental health has to do with how people think of themselves and get along with others. We might be gifted with fertility, but when it comes to the meaning of life itself, none of us has this inborn knowledge of how to care and nurture.” “We need to realize that all our ideas and feelings are acquired and they originate in the home. Most of what we learn is not formal. It comes from the models of our parent figures. This is the challenge in working with children from broken families. We serve as models and our ideas form children’s ideas. All this initial experience comes from parental figures.”

He said that the schools are beginning to consider their responsibility in sex education, but added that since sex is so much an intra-personal relationship, the biology or physical education teacher may be no more equipped to handle this whole dimension.

Dr. Spille emphasized the role of the clergy in dealing with families. He said, “The clergy meet with 42 per cent of all troubled people. If we realize this tremendous resource in the community, here is a challenge to educate our clergy in counseling behavior. Theology is one thing; counseling is another area.”

Father Matthew Robbins, assistant pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish, described a series of sex education training courses and courses for parents and children at the church. He said, “Sex education is a life-time process. It is not something that should be taught just at the time of marriage.”

“We should put sex into a positive aspect and we see it as growing. The children can teach their parents by their searching, and the parents can teach their children by their learning. The Church must meet this responsibility by listening to parents and children, and by a deep concern with the questions of morality. As we grow, we need counseling after marriage, and we need training.”