UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

January 1, 2009

Health and Family Life Education in Action!

I recently had the pleasure of attending a Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) class being conducted in a primary and junior high school in Kingston.

There were about 30 students between 12 and 14 years old.  Their very dynamic teacher set about getting her students to think about gender stereotypes and how holding on to these ways of thinking could increase the vulnerabilities of boys and girls. The topics discussed included catching sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and AIDS as well as unintended pregnancies.

The students were keen to be involved in the discussion. Each one put forward his or her arguments for reasons why negative stereotypes continue to hamper the empowerment of girls to protect themselves during sex and why boys should shun stereotypical ideas of men as the sole decision makers. 

The class ended with the students creating posters promoting gender equality.  The top five were to be displayed in the classroom for the remainder of the month.

HFLE is proving a valuable intervention not only to equip students with life skills, but also to challenge negative community norms that put our young people at risk.  UNICEF is committed to continuing its partnership with the Ministry of Education until every primary and junior high school offers this course to Jamaica’s children. As of December 2008, the revised life skills-based HFLE course was being offered in 447 schools benefiting over 110,000 children!