Reproductown

by Suyash Bhatia and prithvi singh

Sex education is India’s Achilles heel.  In an education system that has always prioritized numerical investigation and engineering studies, public health has often been overlooked. Despite the importance that sex education holds within society, it is mortifying for people to discuss it openly due to the shameful connotation affixed to it. We shame and stigmatize our own bodies, and by extension our own selves. It is dealt with an undertone of shame when questions are raised attached to this “evil”, creating ground for it to fester and grow quietly within its dark folds.

As high school students, my friend, Suyash, and I wanted to combat this discomfort by normalizing sex education. We realised that sex education in India was almost non-existent in more ways than one. Not only did no sex-ed specific programs in India exist, sex-ed conversations are also unheard of. We, therefore founded Reproductown, an organization that produces educational content to teach low-income students about the A-Z’s of sex education. Our goal was to lighten the somber mood that sex education usually prevails, so we put ourselves into our pamphlets. ‘Prithvi the Penis’ and ‘Suyash the Sperm’. We became animated characters in our own stories. But, the challenge wasn’t over. The role of sex education had always taken the backseat, and our books were not going to change that. We just need to keep pushing and trying to make sex education an integral part of the school curriculum within India.

Even in the private schools that Indians admire so much, sex education was not changing for the better. Vasant Valley, Shri Ram, Sanskriti -all these schools with high fees, teachers that show up, and classes that get kids into college. They all have their forms of sex education. For example, at one of these private schools two seminars are held. One in fifth grade and one in eighth grade. In fifth grade, a teacher gets up onto stage in all black and draws a vagina with chalk on her body. That’s supposed to teach girls about their menstrual cycles. In eighth grade, students are made to color female and male parts on huge drawings of bodies. That’s meant to educate students on reproduction. But, where’s the precautions, the terms, the processes?

Everything is missing. In the American education system, there is a list of 16 recommended topics for sex-ed programs given by the state. These topics range from basic information on how HIV and other STDs are transmitted, and how to prevent infection to critical communication and decision making skills. However, all private schools in India have the same old outlook - they start sex education late and then turn it into a covert operation. No one is supposed to know you are learning about sex. It’s a secret. Don’t ask questions; they won’t be answered.

At low-income schools, the concept of sex education truly does not exist. Private school students can still manage to work through the loopholes of the system. They have resources such as the internet to consult for help. Low-income students have nothing to start with. They assume that sexual assault is passable, or that using cloth in place of pads is acceptable. They don’t know any better. In an attempt to change the system, we approached both private and public schools with our books. We were turned down by every single one. For the private schools our cartoons are too explicit, the terminology too detailed, and stories too complicated.

So, we tried to educate these low-income students. We built three issues of Reproductown: one on menstrual education, one on sexual assault, and one on reproduction. When we approached schools with our books, we were continually denied. They never gave us reasons. It couldn’t be the language barrier; our books had English and Hindi translations. Or the appeal; we had put everything in color to ensure attentiveness. The truth was, everyone was far too scared of the social consequences of discussing reality as it was. People in India usually keep these issues locked behind a metal door and are simply alien to discussing such matters. Therefore, before trying to change the education system, we need people to feel comfortable in speaking about sex health. It is a slow process, but starting somewhere small will help us move towards a significant change in mind-sets in future.

At last we found our first step, an NGO, KatKatha, that would use incorporate our books within their curriculum. But, this was after several denials with various unanswered questions.

In our country, the concept of life is a secret. Children don’t know how they came about. But it’s not something that we need to be embarrassed about. It’s normal. It is a great responsibility to give teens the right kind of knowledge about sex. No teen discusses the topic of sex with their parent. People need to think more about the common goal to help youth maintain their self-esteem, work towards healthy life goals and make responsible decisions with their bodies. We all need to do our part and educate teens wherever they are.