SEX EDUCATION
SIR,—'What is sex?' asks David Holbrook, but he doesn't really stay for an answer. He is so preoccu- pied by literature and the verbalising of emotions that he imagines he has solved something by using phrases like 'primary flame of our being; 'large, burning part of our wholeness,' and 'fluxes of our being.' These will not do.
The real problem, which he never faces at all, is that in our society people are expected to remain chaste for ten years after puberty, which is in most cases a physical and psychological impossibility. In the end, however skilfully they may express them- selves and however tenderly they may treat each other, the `teenagers' are faced by the old clash be- tWeen duty and desire, and by the old question, What do we do now? And this is 'where sex education should be able to help, by showing that sex is a uni- versal and pleasurable function—nothing to feel guilty about, however mysterious and difficult it is.
Sex education is also necessary because of the, vast amount of sheer ignorance' about sex in our embar- rassed, tabu-ridden, dirty-minded society. The modern Romeo and Juliet are often inhibited not by being stigmatised as 'predatory sick wolves and nymphs,' but by not knowing what to do—and Shakespeare doesn't really help much. The 'true sources of wis- dom' are not 'the traditional arts' alone, but infor- mation and experience, too. Perhaps formal sex lessons in school are still unsatisfactory, but adoles- cents need more help than can be obtained from Wuthering Heights or Sons and Lovers. Ultimately, I am sure, the only solution is to get away from Christian puritanism into some sort of paganism, from Keep yourselves clean to Enjoy yourselves.— Yours faithfully,
NICOLAS WALTER
43 Aberdare Gardens, NI4/6
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