One-night stands on the rise among students

One-night stands (ONS) are becoming the norm among Malaysian students, with 30 per cent of them involved in sexual activities including date rape.Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) vice-chairperson Datuk Dr Chiam Heng Keng said ONS “is not uncommon” as children today are very influenced by television drama, and she did not rule out the chances of such negative influences affecting even primary school pupils.

“Because of TV and drama, having sex or one-night stands seems a common thing, which gives children the sense that it is very cool. The number of students involved in sex is pretty high, although I cannot give a figure off hand.

“When I say pretty high, it could be 30 per cent including date rape, which is not consensual,” she told a news conference after deliberating a topic for the ‘Training our children on personal safety’ seminar at the Islamic Information Centre (IIC) yesterday.

Dr Chiam quoted research saying premarital sex among adolescence mostly took place in urban schools, while some cases also happened in rural schools.

She pointed out that materialism was one of the key factors luring students into ONS, which might lead to social ills such as teenage pregnancy.

“Some of them do not have the capability to own things and they are prepared to go to that extent. Some just go for the pleasure of it.

“It is no surprise that sexual activities among students happen at home, not in recreation parks. That is why parents must be very careful when their children bring friends home to study.

“Nowadays children have their own rooms and even so, parents should not allow them to study in the room with their friends, even with the same sex,” she stressed.

She said teenage pregnancy was on the rise and had become a concern in view of the increasing sexual activities among students.

“I do not have the data to back this up, but I think some parents are not even aware of their children’s pregnancies,” she said.

Peer pressure was another

key factor for students falling prey to ONS, said Dr Chiam. “It seems to be the norm, that they will think what is wrong when everybody is doing it.”

On measures to address ONS, she said children must be inculcated with the right values while parents should foster closer relationships with their offspring.

When children had the right values, she said, they would always think of their parents rather than placing their self-interest above all.

“Children must think whether what they do will hurt their parents but such consciousness is not there. Nowadays they tend to think about themselves only,” she said.

On sex education, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Human Resource and Training) Datin Fatimah Abdullah said it was introduced as a module in schools instead of an individual subject.

She said there was a need to initiate more efforts in order to enhance awareness among children.

Fatimah, however, pointed out that well-trained personnel with good listening skills, empathy and who are not judgemental must be in place before wholesome sex education could be implemented in schools.

“To create awareness, more has to be done. We have to have the correct personnel, not all can talk about it (sex). Our society does not use the real terms of body private parts, it is like a taboo subject.

“Now, we have already so many subjects, if we add one more, it will be a burden for students. Despite this, we are trying to empower our children by enhancing their knowledge on personal safety,” she said.