They teach SRE because it’s proven to be a lot more effective than abstinence only programmes, and according to PSCD, all schools are required to follow the same syllabus – including Church schools.

However, abstinence is still a part of the syllabus and promoted through the ABC Model which stands for “abstinence from sexual intercourse, be faithful and use contraception if one decides to be sexually active”.

“It is important to emphasise that abstinence is the ideal sexual behaviour among teens. This is because abstinence from sexual activity that involves an exchange of body fluids and/or genital to genital or skin contact is the only sure way of avoiding the risk of pregnancy or /and STIs,” the syllabus said.

“Postponement of sexual intercourse, adherence to one sexual partner and protected sexual intercourse are sequentially offered as the next best alternatives,” it continued.

The idea of abstinence being ideal is quite unrealistic and possibly unproductive since there will be a good amount of teenagers who choose to have sex, in fact, some teachers choose to focus on “delayed initiation” instead.

It can also be shame-inducing to the teens who are already having sex and may feel not “ideal” in comparison to their sexually inactive peers which, of course, is untrue since sex is natural, fun and actually has loads of benefits.

However, contraceptive use is taught for these teens to be as safe as possible and the syllabus ensures that they’re made aware of different sexual situations along with the positive aspects of it.

Unfortunately though, some parents purposely keep their kids from attending lessons like these. Due to this, teachers are encouraged to revise and recap what they did in previous PSCD lessons.

“SRE is introduced from a young age to equip children and teenagers with the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and values with relation to their health, dignity, relationship, choices and protection of rights,” PSCD explained.

SRE also teaches children about different relationships and the harm of stereotyping people with different religions, orientations, cultures and ethnicities through role plays.

They’re further taught about bodily changes, personal hygiene, recognising one’s own values and those of others, abuse, different emotions and how to communicate them, sex and pregnancy, birth, teenage pregnancy, cultural gender expectations, sexual orientations, porn, abortion, sexting, STIs, alcohol and sexual relationships, online relationships and so much more.

Students are also supposed to be taught the positive aspects of sexuality in which they’re encouraged to explore their own identities through an exciting and fulfilling journey.

Some teachers also use the contraceptive kit and breast and testicular cancer kits where students learn about what and how they should self-check for lumps.

Despite this extensive list of topics, the syllabus doesn’t have a topic on sexual pleasure, however it is allegedly included in other aspects – especially when tackling sexual consent.

Meanwhile, when it comes to abortion, the teacher is not supposed to share their opinion; they are instructed to state facts and outline the “positive and negative aspects of an issue and help students make informed decisions”.

According to the syllabus, students are shown a video of lyrics to Madonna’s song “Papa Don’t Preach” which is a song about a girl who tells her father that she is pregnant and refuses to have an abortion despite her friends’ advice.

Therefore it promotes “family support over abortion”.

Then, the class engages in a brainstorming session about why people would have an abortion and the students are asked what they would do if they were faced with teenage pregnancy.

“Emphasis is to be placed on who students can ask help from and what support services exist. The legal aspect concerning abortion and the rights of the unborn child are also to be highlighted,” the syllabus said.

However, let’s not forget about recent news that revealed that students are being shown a video compilation of aborted foetuses being poked and prodded by long metal instruments after being briefly told what abortion is and why it goes against the Catholic faith.

This is happening in a government school, a source that works in such a school told SideStreet Malta.

On a brighter note, both boys and girls are taught about female menstruation and male wet dreams and erections, especially since most schools are co-ed.

However, if the PSCD teacher feels that the students should be divided according to their gender during these lessons to make them feel more comfortable, they will still be taught the same thing.

During these lessons, they also focus on sexual, hormonal, physical and emotional changes that develop during puberty and coping skills to deal with these changes.

All-in-all, the PSCD syllabus is extensive with a large range of sexual education that aims to teach children the emotional, technical and hygienic sides of sex.

Of course, there is still more work that needs to be done to ensure that unrealistic anti-abortion demonstration videos aren’t shown, that pleasure gets taught as its own equally as important topic and that abstinence is no longer considered as an ideal but the country has definitely made some strides in improving sex-ed.

What do you think about the PSCD syllabus?