Sex Ed and Religion in Colombia

"Mom, we learned about Internet porn in school today." This was my son's declaration one afternoon while I was hanging out with a friend. "What did you learn about Internet porn," I responded. "Not to do it," he said.
I knew that my son was taking a once a week sex ed class in his fifth grade class. The class was taught in Spanish and we had a notice come home asking permission for our child to participate. I signed without hesitation. The class met for a few weeks and Luke would tell me what they discussed.
Most of it was pretty standard and things that I want him to know and understand. The Internet porn thing though, had me wondering what else was discussed. I went to meet with the school psychologist, the woman who led the sex ed classes, to ask her more about what was covered. She explained to me that the program is comprehensive and starts in kindergarten. Each year the children are taught about their bodies and their sexuality. I was very impressed and told her that in the States the program that I know well that does this is part of my church, I have not seen many schools in this day and age give comprehensive sex ed in this way. She told me that in Colombia sex ed is mandated by law; every child in this country has to participate in sex ed classes.
I asked her then why we got a permission slip. She told me, "We only send the permission slips home to families from the U.S. we know that sometimes they don't want their children to participate."
Wow. I was a bit floored . One the one hand, pleasantly surprised at how progressive the Colombians are in this area and on the other, disappointed at the U.S. education system that, at times, is victim to the culture wars by denying our children a comprehensive and healthy learning of sexuality.
The other class that is mandated by Colombian law in all schools, public and private, is religion.
How intriguing. The two mandatory classes (along with reading, writing arithmetic etc.) are sex education and religion. The two classes are taught separately, for sure, however, I wonder if it wouldn't make more sense to teach them together at the same time.
In light of the gay marriage debate back in the States, it would be an interesting look at what religion teaches us about sexuality. In the case of Colombia, a predominantly Catholic country, sex would be seen through the lens of the Vatican. That would make for quite a thought provoking dialogue. Thankfully, the classes are not integrated and sex ed is taught, in what appears to be, a straightforward manner.
Granted, the views of sex here are still colored by the rigid dictates of the Catholic church. However, prostitution is legal here and same sex couples are permitted by law to register as de facto unions (uniones de hecho), which were previously available only to heterosexual couples and which provide all of the rights of marriage. According to the 1991 Constitution, "de facto unions" are legally equal to marriages. (italic passage from Wikipedia)
In essence, the entire country of Colombia provides more equal rights to its citizens than the majority of the United States. (Huh, and we like to call ourselves advanced.)
In a country where the Catholic church has such a strong influence, prostitution is legal and same sex couples who live together can be afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples. If this is the result of mandatory sex ed and religion in schools, maybe Colombia is on to something......