28 Apr 2014

American Samoa parents uneasy about sex education

4:30 am on 28 April 2014

The head of the Family Planning programme in American Samoa says one of the biggest obstacles to getting sex education in schools, is convincing parents that it's about empowering their children to make the right choices, not about teaching them how to have sex.

The director of the American Samoa Education Department, Vaitinasa Dr. Salu Hunkin-Finau, says students in grades seven to 12 need to spend some time on sex education during their Health and Physical Education classes.

The head of the LBJ hospital's Family Planning division, Marilyn Pavitt-Anesi, says Vaitinasa's comments are very encouraging.

She says high school students want sex education, but some parents mistakenly think that sex education is about encouraging their children to have sex.

"So, what we want to do is, education is power, and empowering our young people so that with more knowledge they can be empowered to prevent at risk-behaviour, and just to have more knowledge so that they can have good behaviour. It's all about changing the behaviour and changing the way they're thinking."

The head of the LBJ hospital's Family Planning division, Marilyn Pavitt-Anesi.