Sex education should be front and centre

Rosemary McLeod (March 23) writes in ‘‘Rights and wrongs for kids’’ that ‘‘sex education is probably helpful, but if it’s taught without a moral framework it’s of little use’’. She’s more concerned about feral kids breaking the law in a small town north of Auckland.

These issues are not unconnected. There are a lot of people who are not qualified emotionally or financially but who are bringing children into the world, with the entirely predictable consequences, McLeod laments.

I grew up at a time when many absurdly believed if teenagers were not told about sex they would somehow forget they had genitals. Sex education at my high school consisted of an older science teacher (who could not look us in the eye) teaching us the bare mechanics of sperm meeting egg and mumbling under his breath ‘‘For God’s sake be careful’’.

We don’t throw kids into cars and direct them onto the highway while saying ‘‘teach yourself to drive’’. The result would be disastrous.

Similarly being in charge of genitals without some instruction in use, rules and consequences is begging for problems.

McLeod has placed the cart before the horse. Sex education should be front and centre, then perhaps the problem of kids born into utterly inadequate environments and left to drag themselves up would be less of an issue. Prevention is better than cure. Darren A Saunders Waltham

More boot camps

Rosemary McLeod’s reference to punishment for the feral urchins who caused damage to a liquor store and petrol station last week caused me to wonder if, while they may have merely been expressing their discontent with ‘‘the system’’, possibly a good way to lead them into a more social frame of mind might be to send them to a boot camp. Vic Smith Halswell