More than 150 students from the high schools in Bucharest who
attended a debate on the sexual education topic proved that they can openly talk about an issue that is taboo in Romania.
The event took place at the Elvire Popesco Cinema, on the first day of the Oscar Weekend, after the screening of the feature film
BPM (Beats Per Minute), directed by Robert Campillo, which received the Grand Prix in Cannes, in 2017. The debate was moderated by the anthropologist Vintilă Mihăilescu and it was also attended by teachers, psychologists, doctors and one representative of the ACCEPT Association.
Vintilă Mihăilescu said: “The film is not about the gay people, it is about life and death and it presents what happens in reality, in a very balanced way. There are situations that we may be confronted with and we must be prepared. There is no recipe for how the sexual education should be done, but before anything else, as a society, we must know exactly why and how we do it. And you, the young people, must know that you have the power to say that you want it. You have the power, it`s your interest, you have the right to do it.”
The president of the ACCEPT Association, Florin Buhuceanu, cried after the screening, saying that the film reminded him of some of his friends
who died in the `90s. He said: “Though we are in 2018, the situation in Romania is not far from the one presented in the film. It`s a good thing that now there are efficient treatments for AIDS, but when it comes to mentalities, we are still far behind. The sexuality is not about sex, it`s about emotions”
Luca Onică, a student of the Waldorf High School added: “Watching this film I felt a deep shock and fear. I felt the things shaking around me and inside my head. It`s about real problems, we shouldn`t look the other way. Many problems occur because of the lack of information. The sexual education must start somewhere. If it doesn`t start, it will get nowhere”.
Cristina Petrescu Ghenea, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist also said: “We are influenced by the people who raise us and by the culture we live in. There is no sexual education in our education. And I`m not only talking about schools. It comes from our shame as adults. All our taboos and fears as adult people reach the children, who are influenced by what their parents believe. Even if, as an adult, I am overwhelmed by shame, I shouldn`t let this thing stop me from talking to my child.”
