VOA标准英语2011--Online Tool Teaches Indonesians Sex Education

Online Tool Teaches Indonesians Sex Education

Although young Indonesians might be familiar with the latest fashions, movies and electronic gadgets¹, when it comes to basic knowledge about their bodies, they are not as savvy².

Indonesia has one of the fastest growing rates of HIV transmission in Asia, but the majority of Indonesian youth could not tell you why. Data from the country's health ministry³ indicates that some 75 percent of Indonesians aged⁴ between 15 and 49 believe HIV is transmitted by mosquitoes.

Like many of her peers, Ariyanti Tarman, 26, says she did not have any formal sex education while in school.

"The only thing close is biology class and it was about reproduction and that's it," said Tarman. "So I got information about sex and issues related to sex such as HIV and STDs from newspapers, magazines, the Internet and also from movies."

The world's most populous⁵ Muslim nation is socially conservative and, for many, discussing sex is taboo⁶.

But, a more liberal approach to sex is putting pressure on traditional attitudes. A recent global survey found that nearly 40 percent of Indonesian teenagers have had sex and almost half of them do not use contraception with new partners.

With the government reluctant to implement⁷ sex education into the national curriculum, Zoya Amirin, a prominent female sex psychologist, is taking the matter into her own hands.

Amirin recently launched a weekly video podcast on issues related to sexual health and says she hopes it will help fill in the knowledge gaps.

"Most of the research actually shows that most of the people learn from porn, asking from their friends and they believe in myths," said Amirin. "That is a dangerous thing. For instance, they believe that washing your genitals after having sex, especially with alcohol, can prevent you from getting a sexual transmission infection."

The lack of basic information about sexual health and the prevalence of myths also runs parallel to the spread of HIV across the country.

The National AIDS Prevention Commission reports the rate of HIV infections is on the rise in several provinces, including Bengkulu, Papua, Maluku, Aceh and Banten.

Official figures show that some 70,000 Indonesians are HIV positive, but it is estimated the real figure could be as high as 300,000. For Aryanti Tarman, conservative attitudes need to catch up with modern day realities.

"I think lots of people are sexually active even though they are not married," added Tarman. "It seems that the society in general is still trying to ignore that. They still pretend that it is not happening but it is happening, so, like, you need to do something about it and make sure that if the young people do it at least they do it safely."

Although the government has been reluctant to introduce sex education into the curriculum, non-traditional educators like Zoya Amirin say they are seeing a change in public attitudes.

Amirin says she has received an overwhelming response to her weekly podcasts and has even been pleasantly surprised by reactions from religious conservatives.

While declining to name names, Amirin says several private Islamic boarding schools have hired her to conduct sex education workshops this year.

1 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

2 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

5 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

6 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

7 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。