Concerned about the rising numbers of teenage pregnancies among Malaysian teens, youth-led non-governmenal organisation Monsters Among Us has come up with a novel way to teach comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) to children: Colouring.
MAU recently published My Body, My Rules: A Guide to Basic Sexuality Education!, a colouring book for children that touches on important topics such as the Human Body, the menstrual cycle, puberty and period wellness, understanding attraction, child sexual abuse, sex and safe sexual practices as well as child rights in Malaysia.
"We are fed up with how CSE has been swept under the rug for so many years, even though cases of teenage pregnancies have been rising over the years. A whopping 18,000 or so teenage girls become pregnant each year!," says MAU founder and president, Firzana Redzuan, citing the Prevalence of teenage pregnancy in 2015-2016 and its obstetric outcomes compared to non-teenage pregnancy at Hospital Tuanku Ja'afar Seremban Negeri Sembilan report.
"This stems from inadequate comprehensive sexuality knowledge as indicated in several surveys that have been done in Malaysia. According to these findings, some 35% of female youth believe they cannot get pregnant from their first sexual encounter while 65% of men deem body language, romantic attachment, non-objection, etc as consent for sex instead of an explicit, verbal 'yes'," adds Firzana.
The colouring book, she says, can be a guide for parents and teachers to broach topics that are vital for children, to protect them and safeguard their well-being.
"Parents, guardians and teachers often shy away from teaching their children about sexuality and reproductive health. And we know that not everyone may have the resources at hand to be able to approach these topics with ease, especially with children.
"So, what we have done with this colouring book is to simplify the topics, and make it fun, without trivialising the facts.
"We hope that it can be a fun but structured way of delivering CSE and that adults can integrate it into the educational development of children," says Firzana.
The book, she hopes, can be a way to start what can be difficult conversations on children’s self- esteem, self-care, personal space, safe and unsafe touch, sexual abuse and also what they can do if they feel unsafe.
Communicated through pictures and activities, it is a good mode of communication in a non-threatening way.
The colouring book is a collaboration between 10 local youth artists and MAU's own content writers.
"The book has 60 pages of colouring sheets, interactive activities and CSE guides. It is perfect for parents, guardians and teachers to use with their children aged 10 years and above," explains Firzana.
To find out how children (and adults) responded to the book, MAU sent copies to KRYSS Network, a feminist grassroots NGO as well as a secondary school Biology teachers who used it and provided feedback.
"We were grateful for the feedback and made corrections and improvements to our book based on their input.
"We also 'tested' the book out with some of the children who have participated in our programmes and got their feedback. Interestingly, one child commented that her peers may find the topics unappealing while parents may find it 'offensive'. We hope we can remove the stigma around sexuality education and that the book can be used as a means of doing this," she says.
MAU also hopes to run workshops with children using the colouring book.
The book will be available for sale at the end of October. For pre-orders, go to https://www.laporpredator.org/initiatives/colour-with-mau!
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