Argentinean bishop says sexual education should not turn into "genital education"

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 20, 2004 / 22:00 pm

In the midst of controversy surrounding proposed anti-life measures that would promote promiscuity among adolescents, Bishop Joaquin Piña, Bishop of Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, is calling on leaders to remember that sexual education is not supposed to be “education about genital activity, but rather about the values that shape men and women.”

According to the bishop, the response to the crisis among young people should be “to educate them in love, as we say,” because reproductive health plans and sexual education, that have been a failure around the world, “rather than achieving the results people hoped and claimed they would (less abortions, adolescent or unwanted pregnancies), have resulted in the opposite: more abortions and more adolescent pregnancies.”

Bishop Piña added, “If sexual education is not taught correctly, the results are the opposite of what they are supposed to be.  If everything consisted of simply telling young people how the genitals function, then it’s logical they would say: Let’s try it out, and use condoms.  But the fact is that with so many condoms that have been distributed, we have had more and more adolescent and unwanted pregnancies.”

“It is interesting that the polls say that everyone lists the family as the most important.  Everyone wants to have a beautiful family, according to God’s will, rather than just living together,” but all that becomes diluted when it’s time to put it into practice.