MYTH: Jumping up and down after having sex can help prevent pregnancy
TV personality Azah Yazmin was shocked by the ignorance or lack of knowledge displayed by the girls.
“Oh gosh, when I was in school educating the girls about sex, I was asked 1,001 questions. I had girls asking me whether jumping up and down after having sex can help prevent pregnancy.
“Then we have a question: why do people have sex? A 14-year-old girl answered, “Sebab saya dah ketagih (Because I am addicted to it),” she said at the BodyLife IQ Forum 2010 Thursday.
Azah was among the panellists, which included social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, Mila (of Akademi Fantasia 5 fame) and psychologist Dr Hera Lukman.
Mila, the youngest in the group, related her personal experience of taking myths as facts. When she was a teenager, she even resorted to drinking carbonated drinks as a means to shorten her period.
“Now when I think about it, I’m like ‘Oh my God. What was I thinking?’ I was following my friends’ advice then.”
Even her grandmother fell prey to such myths, advising her not to cycle, ride a horse or climb a mountain, fearing that she might lose her virginity doing this.
Such ignorance stems from society’s attitude towards sex. A majority of them tend to view this as a taboo subject that one shall know once “you are married”.
A then-12-year-old Mila burst into tears when she had her first period.
“I was so shocked because I didn’t know what it was. My teacher even had to teach me how to use a sanitary pad,” she recalled with a laugh, adding that she was too shy to ask questions regarding her body, fearing how others would view her.
She was not alone. There are schoolgirls who throw away the pad samples Kotex gives them, simply because they are embarrassed to be associated with such matters in the presence of male students, said Kimberly-Clark Malaysia marketing manager Haniza Tahir.
It’s not just the students who squirm uncomfortably at sex talks. Azah revealed that while some teachers and ustazah (religious teachers) welcome sex education with open arms, there are those who raise their eyebrows at the mention of a sex organ.
“I was in a school where a teacher stopped me from talking after hearing the students giggling and muttering words which are generally associated with reproductive organs.”
