SEX EDUCATION FILM

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26121, 25 May 1950, Page 3

SEX EDUCATION FILM

SERIOUS TREATMENT OF THEME Although the publicity methods used to promote the film “Secrets of Life” may be questioned, its purpose can be commended. The film, which was privately screened in Christchurch yesterday, does not disclose “amazing truths” or “shocking facts.” It deals seriously—and apparently sincerely—with the question of sex education for the young, and the responsibilities of parents to their children.

The theme of the film is that ignorance of sex can lead to sexual delinquency. and cause shame and suffering to both parents and children. This theme is developed without sensationalism, and although the film is naive or over-sentimental in parts, it carries conviction. A case is made for sex education in schools, but the emphasis is on the need for parents to give their children some knowledge of elementary sex matters.

To guide parents who may be reluctant to impart such knowledge the makers of the film present the case history of a girl of high school age who is kept in ignorance of sex matters. She becomes pregnant, and the shock of this knowledge to her parents causes 'hem to change their ideas on sex education. Through the father’s influence, classes in social hygiene are instituted in the local high school, and the film uses the occasion to present a simple and straightforward account of the process of conception, the development of the unborn child, and the birth of a I aby. Although the film has been made primarily for American audiences, and deals with the American way of life, it has equal application to New Zealand. There are some deficiencies in treatment—the film does not always succeed in blending the fictional and factual elements—but its serious approach to its subject makes up for that. Better films on sex education could be made, but in their absence “Secrets of Life” goes part of the way towards placing this important question in the right perspective.