//beconfused

(The Japanese flag.)

This article just caught my attention. I didn’t know Japan’s age of consent for sex is 13 while most other countries have theirs at 16. It is be quite a problem in the society if nothing is done about it.

Roppongi pox doctor gives the scoop on schoolgirls and STDs

Tsuneo Akaeda, a doctor who for years has run a sex counseling service for schoolgirls in Roppongi, says it’s important to teach children about sex so they don’t fall prey to some of the many risks it entails.

“Just recently a woman with a pregnant junior high school pupil daughter visited my clinic. The mother said the girl was determined to have the baby no matter what. Even after everybody had told the girl how much of a struggle she faced by becoming a mother at such a young age, she remained determined. When I told her she wouldn’t be able to go to school and would have to study at home, she told me she hated studying and wouldn’t do it. When I said that, in that case, she’d have to go out and work, the girl again spat out that she hated work and wouldn’t do that, either. The only reason she wanted to have the baby was because she thought it offered her an escape route from school and work,” Akaeda says.

“What’s more, with the country’s declining birthrate, older people are seeing these young girls getting pregnant and praising them for doing their bit for the country at such a young age. I can’t believe the irresponsibility.”

Akaeda notes that the fight against teenage pregnancies is not being helped by the current hit TV drama, “14-Year-Old Mother,” which glorifies teen motherhood without painting a picture of what it’s really like to have a child while so young. He argues that it’s important for families to talk, especially fathers of young girls.

“If a girl regularly talks to her father, she’s going to find the idea of having sex with a man from the same generation repelling,” the doctor says, offering a solution to the teenage prostitution problem. “Statistics show that children who communicate with their parents are also more likely to delay having sex.”

“In over 80 countries around the world, the age of consent is 16, but in Japan sex is only banned among those under 13. If 13-year-olds aren’t capable of judging whether it’s right or wrong to have sex, there’s not much to say that kids who are 14 or 15 will be able to decide any better. Japan must raise the age to consent to 16,” Akaeda tells Shukan Asahi. “Also, we need to have sex education in all junior high schools. When you drive a car, you need a license, right? Why should sex be any different? If kids don’t get good grades in sex education, they should be given remedial education until they thoroughly understand what’s going on.” (By Masuo Kamiyama)

Read more at Mainichi Daily News

I am interested with the hit TV drama, 14-Year-Old Mother. I hope to get hold of it somehow and see what it’s about. Television plays an important part in education. And the Singapore government probably use drama serials to stir up interest in sports among the citizens. I recall some badminton drama series and I think there was a couple of swimming ones and even a golf drama series! And let’s not forget the countless police, civil defense, doctor and lawyer drama series we have. Now, I wonder if the gambling ones had any to do with the currently still under construction casinos.

Tags: japan, people, sex, television