“Yes, adolescents frequently fall in love.”
“They can feel attraction for a friend or any individual of the same or opposite sex.”
“Boys should understand that when a girl says ‘no’, it means ‘no’.”
Before you assume the obvious – These are not lines from a feminist propagandist pamphlet or dialogues picked up from Pink. These are statements from an educational resource material prepared by the Ministry of Health.
Circulated to states as part of the adolescent peer-education plan by the government, the ‘Saathiya Resource Kit’ and ‘Saathiya Salah’ – a mobile app – aims to cater to the 26 crore adolescents in the country.
Involving 1.65 lakh “Saathiyas”, the inititaive plans to prepare peer-educators about issues involving the body, sex and gender-based violence, topics otherwise considered a taboo in the country.
“The Peer educators will be trained across the country in a phased manner, ensuring optimum use of the resource kit, which is a ready source of a range of communication material specially designed to help the ‘Peer Educator’ to be recognised and respected as ‘saathiya’, a good friend for the adolescents,” a release from the government states.
“A boy can cry to give vent to his feelings. He can also be soft-spoken or shy. Being rude and insensitive is not a sign of masculinity. It is alright for boys to like things like cooking and designing that are normally associated with girls; adopting the role of the other gender does not mean that he is not male. The same applies for girls who talk too much or like to dress like boys or play games like boys. It is wrong to label such people as a ‘sissy’ or ‘tomboy’,” the material reads, a report in The Indian Express said.
There are sections in it that deal with issues of addiction, smoking, mental health and safe sex. The section on reproductive health informs not only about sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, but also lists masturbation as one of the most important options for practising “safe sex.”
“It is important for adolescents to understand that such relationships are based on mutual consent, trust, transparency and respect. It is alright to talk about such feelings to the person for whom you have them, but always in a respectful manner,” one of the section reads.
There are many youngsters, dealing with the changing nature of their bodies, who have questions that are left unanswered either because it’s too difficult to break the barrier with their parents or because it’s considered un-sanskaari. With “Saathiya”, one can hope for a push towards a progressive mindset, especially because it is validated by the government.
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