Parents get sex lessons

Some parents know as little about sex as their children, say counsellors

'We need sex education too' u2014 that's exactly what parents are out to prove as they rush to sex education classes and workshops.

Doctors say a large percentage of parents who seek counsellors' help to deal with their children's sexuality are not aware of the basic concepts of anatomy. "They need to be taught sex education, before they can educate their children. More often than not, they are not even aware of their own anatomy inu00a0 detail. They missed out on sex education in their schooling years, that's why we are taking their classes now," said Dr Manoj Deshpande, a sexologist practising in Shivaji Nagar.

Age no bar
In fact, some doctors like Dr Shashank Samak have even booked auditoriums, theatres and held shows for parents on sex education. "I have conducted these shows recently and they were packed to capacity. It's surprising how a 40-year-old woman might have the same misconceptions and myths as her 15-year-
old daughter."

Like Samak, even
Dr R S Sathe from Ruby Hall Hospital held a similar show and received unexpected response. "It really was shocking. I had invited a foreign faculty who was also amazed at how little knowledge our adults have. We had to teach them about structures of their privates, where their pleasure points are. These people have been sexually active for many years, but most have no knowledge or are horribly ill-informed."

Ignorance hurtsu00a0
He added that he got the idea to hold sex education classes for adults on realising how many times people are hurt either physically or emotionally in marriages because of their ignorance. "When we counselled couples on their problems, we realised that we should provide sexual health classes for adults. Most of the time, they are just experimenting with very little clue ofu00a0 what they are actually meant to do. Had they been taught in schools, the situation wouldn't be so pitiful today,"
said Sathe.