I wrote this article a while ago, at a time when the OLANO party still had a majority in parliament. The topic of regulating sex education is still alive today, and this threat has not yet been averted. Minister Taraba claims that he is negotiating with the Minister of Education about regulating sex education. Also, religious radicals in parliament, such as Vašečka and Záborská, will continue to submit similar laws, and they will be voted on.
What is Vašečka's proposal about and what would be its practical impacts?
Slovakia would become the only country in Europe where sex education classes are voluntary. We would thus become a black hole in Europe, which would be a laughing stock for the surrounding countries.
The very proposal to regulate and restrict sex education is extremely controversial. If a politician wanted to regulate and restrict the activities of churches, there would be a lot of noise and protests. But when someone restricts and regulates sex education, a fundamental right to education, we pretend that everything is fine. I don't like such double standards of a large part of the MPs.
Regulating sex education as a voluntary subject is not enough for Vašečka, and he added another condition . The parent must take further proactive steps for the child to even attend sex education. Not only must the parent sign consent for sex education, but they must also attend a one-hour lecture by the teacher at the school, where the teacher will have to explain in detail all information related to sex education. Parents and teachers must undergo further senseless bullying just for sex education to take place!!
Do we really want parents and teachers to have to endure such bullying so that children can learn about the biology of the human body, sexually transmitted diseases, contraception, and planned parenthood at school?
If Vaček's proposal were to pass, Slovakia would return to the past and become a mentally backward clerofascist state. We would become the black hole of Europe.
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The Parliament reminds us of a psychiatric hospital, where common sense no longer has a place. Nevertheless, it would be good if the MPs did not forget common sense and did not approve the proposal of Vašečka's amendment to the Act on the Restriction and Regulation of Sex Education.
Vašečka presented his proposal in very appealing words, saying that it was actually nothing, just that parents would be informed. Don't be fooled by Vašečka!!!
In practice, Vašečka's proposal would mean that in order for a child to attend sex education, parents would have to write a request to the school for sex education to be taught at all. What Vašečka calls "informed consent" is in fact a de facto proactive request. And a request according to Vašečka is not enough, another condition is that parents will have to attend an hour-long lecture where the teacher will present all the details about sex education. If the parent does not fulfill this, the child will not be able to attend sex education.
When a Catholic Christian does not want to send their child to sex education, when they do not want to grant their child the right to education, I have nothing against it, but why should secular parents participate in this unnecessary bullying?
Catholic Christians like Vašečka are very bothered by the fact that children will see an illustration of a sex organ in sex education. They are bothered that contraception and masturbation are also mentioned in sex education. Both are officially forbidden by the church's teaching in an extremely strict way.
Conservative Catholic Christians perceive masturbation and contraception as a greater offense against God than murder. I'm exaggerating a bit, but it's not far from the truth.
I'm curious how the clerical MPs would react if there was a parliament that would regulate and restrict churches. If sex education is restricted, we pretend that everything is fine.
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In the National Council of the Slovak Republic, Vašečka presented his controversial proposal as "protection" against the "LGBT plague". The truth is that sex education covers the topic of contraception, not the topic of LGBT. Don't be fooled by Christian fundamentalists! They are after something completely different. This is not about LGBT at all, but about the topic of banning/restricting the teaching of contraception in schools. The official teaching of the Catholic Church very strictly prohibits contraception. Christian fundamentalists perceive the use of contraception almost as a greater sin against God than murder.
I hope that in the parliament, which has recently reminded us more of a psychiatric ward, common sense will prevail. I hope that the MPs will not be deceived and will not vote for this populist amendment to the law, which is desired by only 5% of religious fundamentalists. It is not right for a 5% minority to dictate to the entire parliament how to vote on teaching contraception in schools.
Of course, Christian fundamentalists do not want their children to learn anything about contraception, so they do not want their children to participate in sex education.
I would especially expect Sme Rodina to vote against this proposal. Because Boris Kollár has an understanding of sexuality as such, and I have never heard him say that he is against teaching about contraception in schools.
The restriction of sex education in schools has nothing to do with so-called "conservative values". It is just a topic of Christian fundamentalists.