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Starting next year, sex education will become mandatory for all schoolchildren in Israel, officials said Thursday.
To implement the new program teams of expert psychologists and counsellors in the Education Ministry will present age-appropriate educational programs to teach a healthy approach to sex and how to protect yourself from abuse.
Schoolchildren in the 6th, 8th, and 11th grades will have an annual program of at least ten lessons. While the rest of the classes will have at least three lessons.
First graders will be taught about their bodies as they grow, personal space and respect for their own bodies and those of their peers.
Second graders will have lessons in self-worth, safety and what is appropriate and inappropriate contact. They will be taught that they can and must stand up for their right to protect their bodies.
In sixth grade, sexual and physical development will be taught and how it is expressed in girls and boys, differences between boys and girls in physiological and emotional development, sexual stereotypes, and external influences on self-esteem.
In eighth grade, classes will talk about love and marriage, "sexual harassment," "porn is not love" and "relationships" (8-6 classes).
In the sophomore year, the teenagers will learn about "say no more to sexual harassment", and "intercourse - positions, thoughts, and awareness".