Five of the candidates entering the presidential race explained in Monday night’s showdown how they would handle the thorny issue of compulsory sex education in schools. Elena Lasconi, Mircea Geoană, Kelemen Hunor, Cristian Diaconescu and George Simion gave speeches that I commented on together with the biggest supporters of this endeavor: the students. Biana Ivan, the president of the National Student Council, dismantled almost all the ideas launched by the candidates.
Romania, champion in the number of underage mothers. Photo source: archive
Mircea Geoană wants balance. Bianca Ivan: “The typical speech of the unassuming man”
Mircea Geoană declared that we need “a balance between sexual, civic and religious education. This problem in society must be solved”. Bianca Ivan, however, believes that sex education as a compulsory subject in schools should be implemented from first grade, and Mircea Geoană’s answer is an evasive one. “It isthere is sufficient religious education in schools. To say that a balance is needed in everything yes, agree, it is needed. But we are now talking strictly about sex education. But this subject, which we, the students, demand as mandatory and independent is placed as important alongside religion and civic education. Basically, it is not given the importance that we would like. This is the typical speech of a man who does not want to expose himself very much, it is a controversial subject and he does not want to take it on.”considers the student.
On the principle of where you give and where you crack, Kelemen Hunor demands birth before everything
Kelemen Hunor is of the opinion that “Sex Education” sounds good, but the content of this subject must be seen and determined exactly from which class it could be introduced. But as promising as the beginning of his speech was, it deviated from all reality. “Let’s not forget that in 2023, 156,000 children were born in Romania, a negative birth record since Romania existed. And this year we have an even lower figure. In October we did not exceed the figure of 100,000. That is the biggest problem. Natality. And here we need to find ways to support families who want to have children. The curriculum at this point needs to be reformed. And yes, sex education must also be included in this reform”. Bianca Ivan commented saying that “the low birth rate has nothing to do with the existence of underage mothers, a chapter in which Romania is a champion. It’s a poorly understood problem to begin with.
Elena Lasconi, the only one who would introduce sex education as a compulsory subject in schools
“We have underage mothers who give birth to children and they are 12-13-year-old children. I think that’s where we should start, From what age should we do this education”, said Elena Lasconi during the televised confrontation. “Yes, I think it is necessary to have such sex education classes that are mandatory. There are also common sense things that are learned there. I know many girls, women, who walk behind because they did not receive the necessary education neither at home nor in school. No one taught them that there is no shame in growing their breasts. There are many things that seem small, but can follow you for years, if not your whole life.” the USR candidate also declared.
The representative of the students believes that Elena Lasconi is the only one of the five candidates who has a fair, coherent speech and in favor of the young people. “This is the message I would have liked to hear from all the candidates,” she confessed.
George Simion, about underage mothers: “Poverty is the cause, not the lack of sex education”
George Simion said he was against too many, repeated reforms in education. “In biology, for example, a classical subject, we can have a chapter on contraceptive methods, because that’s what it’s about. The cause, in fact, is school dropout. The cause is rural poverty. In 2012, 200,000 students started school and less than 100,000 managed to pass the baccalaureate. And most of these children get lost on the way. And the girls who get pregnant at 12-13 come from disadvantaged backgrounds. So let’s solve the problem of poverty. 33% of Romanians, more than 6 million, are at risk of poverty. There I would attack the problem, not to invent controversial matters”.
However, the students’ representative claims that this matter should not be invented for the simple reason that it already exists. “However, it is optional, not mandatory. And this is what we ask: not to invent new disciplines, but to take the existing ones more seriously. Then, education needs continuous reforms. Of changes, to be in step with today’s reality. We must evolve, adapt. Let’s not stay stuck in the past. And if we talk about poverty, the fact that young people can no longer find a well-paid job is also due to the lack of education in general, an education that slows down. It is absurd to say that there is no need for constant reform in education”. The student believes that the placement of sex education in chapters covered in the biology textbook is only a superficial view of the whole situation.
Cristian Diaconescu: “Any education is necessary”
“Any education, when it comes to children, is absolutely necessary and must be treated very seriously. Not only from a legislative point of view, but also from the point of view of the educators who educate. Here there must be a controlled and well systematized system. 100,000 calls to 112 – this is what is happening in Romania where we are talking today”, also declared the independent candidate Cristian Diaconescu.
The President of the Student Council is of the opinion that empathy weighs enormously in the delivery of information. “The subject should not be discussed just like that, to say that we checked something off a list. We need to get to the bottom of the situation. Children are extremely vulnerable, they do not receive help, support and information from home, family and rely only on what they receive from school. And the school should come to meet these real needs and then, maybe, sexual aggressions, and violence, and the phenomenon of births among minors would be stopped”the student thinks.
