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Original article: “Con mis hijos no te metas”: el debate por la ESI vuelve al centro de la discusión 

«Don’t Interfere with My Children»: The ESI Debate Returns to the Forefront of Discussion

Social organizations and educators commemorated the National Day of Comprehensive Sexual Education with activities in Santiago, calling for a national public policy. In Common Sense, Martín de la Sotta discussed the ongoing challenges of ESI in Chile. 

On May 13, the National Day of Comprehensive Sexual Education (ESI) was marked by various activities across the country. Notably, the «ESI Bus» initiative traveled to different locations in the capital to promote discussion and education on these topics.

Additionally, on our show Common Sense, our director Javier Pineda held a discussion with Martín de la Sotta, executive director of the Chile Needs ESI Foundation, about the challenges and importance of advancing comprehensive sexual education in Chile.

On this Wednesday, various social organizations, educators, and community groups held a series of activities to commemorate the first National ESI Day, aiming to highlight the need for a national public policy in this area and to foster a broad conversation about its significance both in classrooms and in society.

The diverse activities were organized by Chile Needs ESI, REDOFEM, Wellbeing for the Elderly, Amnesty International, MILES, and APROFA. The first event was the meeting titled «Conversations for an ESI that Connects Us,» built upon discussions and experiences driven in various regions of the country in collaboration with educational organizations and representatives.

One of the most eye-catching activities of the day was the «ESI Bus», which traveled to various points in Santiago to highlight cases that reflect the urgency of implementing comprehensive sexual education within school classrooms. 

The day concluded at Paseo Bulnes with an open class for the public, where educators reenacted what it is like to discuss sexual education in a classroom setting. This event was recorded as the largest sexual education class in the country. 

Victoria Pavez, founder and executive director of the Wellbeing for the Elderly Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting sexual wellbeing among older adults, stated that this commemoration aims to strengthen an information and awareness campaign:

“We want to break down myths and we are completely open to conversations with those who have learned incorrectly about comprehensive sexual education. The ESI Bus symbolizes this: opening paths and creating routes to understand that ESI is a tool for promoting the wellbeing of society as a whole.”

From an educational perspective, Rosario Olivares, a member of the Feminist Teacher Network, asserted that Chile still shows a significant lag in this area: «We are at a time of considerable emptiness because Chile, compared to various countries in Latin America and worldwide, still lacks a law or clear policy regarding comprehensive sexual education that establishes guidelines, curricular content, and real support for schools.»

Martín de la Sotta and the Debts of the Educational System 

On the program Common Sense, Javier Pineda spoke with Martín de la Sotta, the executive director of the Chile Needs ESI Foundation. During this conversation, De la Sotta highlighted that the Chilean educational system has historical debts regarding sexual education, especially concerning sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies, issues that gave rise to the current legislation over 20 years ago and have yet to be updated. 

He also questioned that the sexual education received by recent generations was primarily based on fear, excluding current issues such as violence in relationships, the crisis of declining birth rates, or the impact of artificial intelligence and pornography, insisting on the need to advance toward comprehensive sexual education in Chile. 

Regarding the well-known slogan “Don’t Interfere with My Children,” used by parents and groups opposing the implementation of ESI in schools, De la Sotta expressed understanding of their fears, as many individuals have had poor experiences in this area and distrust how it might be implemented in classrooms. 

However, he argued that current issues related to sexuality and hypersexualization are not a result of sexual education, but rather a lack of tools to address these realities. He defended ESI as a responsible and appropriate support for the development of children and adolescents, which allows for the creation of safe spaces based on evidence and trust, where they can solve doubts and make better decisions regarding their personal lives and relationships. 

Regarding how ESI could help prevent sexual abuse among children and adolescents, Martín explained that international evidence has shown that ESI teaches children to identify abuse and recognize which institutions and individuals to approach for help. 

“But that is just one part of the story. I think it is great that we focus on the victims, because they are the ones who need help first, but education is collective, group-based, and community-oriented. The school is, in a way, a microcosm of society. And we also need to realize that not only are the victims of child sexual abuse being educated in schools, but unfortunately, future abusers are also being trained here.”

In this sense, he asserted that ESI also provides tools to develop relationships based on consent, empathy, and wellbeing, helping to prevent harmful or abusive behaviors from adolescence. He suggested that this approach would not only enable the detection and confrontation of abuse situations, but also prevent the formation of future aggressors through education connected to other protection and justice institutions. 

Regarding how educators can respond to issues such as the creation of pornography with artificial intelligence using images of classmates—cases that have been frequently reported recently—De la Sotta stated: 

“First, we need to empathize with adolescence. And I know that sounds harsh because they are often engaging in practices that are very damaging to their peers, but we need to empathize. If we haven’t provided sexual education, if we haven’t created safe spaces for self-discovery, it is very natural for children and adolescents, as harsh as it sounds, to seek other means of eroticization as they explore their physical development.”

Therefore, for Martín, it is crucial to create safer spaces within schools, where emotional expression is appropriate for each stage of development. He also proposed that one of the key strategies of ESI is to address and directly name pornography, criticizing the trend of many sexuality workshops being implemented reactively, only after problematic situations have occurred. 

“If we had been doing this (ESI, workshops, etc.) from the start with a preventive approach, we could also open discussions with adolescents about what they are actually viewing and what other ways there are to learn about sexuality that do not involve lewdness or explicit violence towards their classmates,” he concluded.

Next, you can watch the full episode of Common Sense featuring the interview with Martín de la Sotta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbOG487zEQs&t=2661s

La entrada «Don’t Interfere with My Children»: The ESI Debate Returns to the Forefront of Discussion se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.