Wednesday, July 15, 2009

"This book is all about you."

All Peruvian students in public schools learn how to make friends and how to masturbate. Their textbooks tell them how.

A series of five government-issued books entitled "The Individual, Family and Human Relations" describes how to choose a career, think more creatively and improve your attention span. The book also discusses homosexuality, teen pregnancy, nutrition, alcohol and drugs. There´s a chapter on the importance of aesthetical harmony in nature, people and art. There´s another chapter entitled "You are forbidden to stop dreaming."

Nieves Flores, the prinicipal of the school at Brillo Nuevo, says that Individual, Family and Human Relations is just as important as the other eight classes that the school offers (math, history, language, religion, science, art, civic engagement and physical education). "It´s where they learn how to get along with other people," Flores says. "Most importantly, it´s where they are forced to question who they are."

It´s hard to tell how the lessons are affecting the community. We can take a look at an issue and ask the Bora for their viewpoint, but it´s difficult to distinguish the causes from the effects.
Take homosexuality, for example. The Bora accept homosexuals and do not discriminate against them, says Rolando Ruiz, former president of Brillo Nuevo.
Sixteen year-old Lisbet describes homosexuals as "different, but ok." Did the school lessons influence Lisbet´s opinion, or is acceptance of homosexuals just part of Bora culture? "I don´t know, the classes are just... classes," Lisbet answers, furrowing her brow.

Or we can look at teen pregnancy in Brillo Nuevo. The grandmothers in Brillo Nuevo each had 5 to 9 children, and they started giving birth around age 15. But their granddaughters had only two or three kids. Most gave birth to their first child around age 18. I only met one teenaged mom in Brillo Nuevo, and she was 19 years old.
So are the lessons about family planning working? Or is it the government´s free handouts of birth control pills that are making the difference?

Probably a combination of both, and it probably doesn´t matter.
What´s impressive about these books is that they get 12 year-olds talking about themselves and their relationships with other people.
The lessons are all things I figured out, eventually. But I wonder if growing up could have been a lot easier if it had been socially appropriate to discuss all of this with my peers. It would have certainly felt less lonely.

My favorite chapter is called, "Thinking about what makes me happy."

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