I refer to the article ‘Who should take the lead in sex education?’, (The Sunday Times of Malta, May 26), in which Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli “called for the school PSD syllabus to include lessons on pornography and its effects on relationships”. Since this is already done in schools, the Malta PSD Association felt it should reply to the minister’s proposal.

The association would like to point out that PSD covers a comprehensive range of information about sex, relationships, the law and sexual health in order to help students make informed choices.

Pornography is already addressed in schools where PSD teachers feel the need to discuss the matter in more detail, even when it is not specifically laid down that it should be covered in the syllabus of a particular year.

This can be done since PSD teachers have the professional liberty to deal with issues that arise within certain classes due to the particular needs of the students.

Furthermore, pornography and its effects on relationships is already mentioned in the PSD syllabus. In the new Form 2 syllabus (unit 8.5), the first objective is for the teacher to enable “the students to understand the influence of media on young people (body images and sexualised images)”.

Moreover, in Form 5, in the unit about sexual deviance, the teacher and the students discuss sexual deviant behaviours such as prostitution, pornography and fetishes.

The association agrees with Dr Dalli’s suggestion that the information and skills given by PSD specialists should be consolidated at home. Parents and caregivers have an enormous influence on a child’s healthy development and well-being, particularly during the early stages of a child’s life.

This makes them important sources of positive sexual health education and therefore it is important that schools work more closely with parents to ensure that the right messages and values are being transmitted.

The Malta PSD Association also insists that PSD lessons should increase and that a lifeskills programme is introduced in post-secondary institutions so that the skills and attitudes being developed and critically evaluated during the primary and secondary years will continue to be developed during adolescence where transitions and challenges become more demanding for the students.