Expert: Important to teach kids early sex education

KUALA LUMPUR: Pornography addiction may happen because parents do not provide sex education to their children at an early age, said Associate Professor Dr. Noor Azimah Muhammad.

In light of this, the expert in family medicine at the Medical Faculty of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) expressed the need for parents to be more open in educating their children about sex to reduce the likelihood of them seeking information about sex through pornographic materials.

“Talk to your kids, about what is sex, and what are the do’s and don’ts. For Muslims, parents should inform them about what is prohibited because if they are educated from an early age, Insya Allah, they will understand (about sex).

“The issue arises, in my opinion, because there is no sex education from parents to children, within the family dynamics, leading us to solely rely on schools,” she said when appearing as a guest on Bernama TV ‘Apa Khabar Malaysia’ programme Thursday.

She also advised parents to continuously monitor their children, especially in their internet usage, as access to pornographic material is very easy nowadays.

“Monitoring should be done at any time even if your children have entered secondary school or college. If your child has a phone, you are allowed to spotcheck it at any time because children, especially teenagers, easily use the internet to watch pornography.

“They are curious about sex. (but) in most households in Malaysia, parents don’t talk about sex, then where else can they (children) get that information other than through the internet,” said Dr. Noor Azimah.

Regarding the topic ‘Can Everyone Preach?’ in the same programme, Dr. Nur Shahidah Paad, who is a senior lecturer at the Department of Da’wah and Human Development, Academy of Islamic Studies, Universiti Malaya, said only experts in Islam could preach the religious teachings.

As learning is an ongoing process, she said, even a learned person should strive to learn from more knowledgeable individuals to strengthen their existing religious knowledge, especially involving the Quran and Hadith.

“If many people are engaged in preaching through social media, it’s a positive development in line with the call for us to spread the Islamic teachings...However, those who want to preach on any platform they choose to should be aware of the responsibility to convey only accurate and truthful information,” she said.