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| Gender Relations Survey of Muslim Parents and Youth Shahid Athar MD “If we as parents do not teach our
children about sex, they will probably gain information from the wrong
source. Teaching sex education in mixed classes to hot-blooded teenagers
without benefit of moral values is like pouring gasoline on emotional
fires". During a presentation at the Islamic Center
in Toledo, Ohio, a survey of sex attitude was obtained. A total of 157
attendees out of 200 responded. 95 were parents and 62 were youth.
Toledo's Muslim community is well established, educated and progressive
and has a mixture of Arab and Indo-Pakistani immigrants. To each question, parent vs. youth response is given. 1. Should an Islamic viewpoint on sexuality be presented in the Weekend Islamic School?
2. Should parents teach sex education at
home?
3. Are you aware that sex education classes
in public schools do not teach moral views and abstinence?
4. Do you allow social mixing of boys and
girls above 12 years of age?
5. Should parents supervise such activities
when they are permitted?
6. Should parents be aware of and choose
the movies, TV shows, music and magazines children are exposed to?
INTERPRETATION OF THE DATA It is obvious from this survey that both parents and youth, as a majority, approve of sex education being given at home or at Sunday Islamic School. Nearly two-thirds of them approve of supervised mixing of boys and girls. While the majority of parents feel that they should choose movies, music, TV programs for their youth, the youths themselves, who otherwise are conservative, are equally divided on this issue. We hope that with continued emphasis on Islamic perspective on sex education, that their attitude may change in the future.
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