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(Tobey: late 30’s American):
To answer your question first, from my own experience and to the best of my knowledge, the schools don’t provide students such details. The timing in which sex education is taught in schools varies by the school, but usually by that time, it’s common knowledge among the students that the older a man or woman is, the more difficult it is to conceive a baby for both parties. However, they would reiterate that information and also warn them about the risks of late pregnancy for especially the mother and the baby.
I think that providing these information is vital, but it would be more convincing if it were backed by actual statistics like how the Japanese plan to do. Such numbers are more likely to have impact on their impressionable minds rather than if they were just merely provided with an abstract idea. Just like the cliché that children tend to believe that they’re invincible and indestructible, they may be thinking that they can beat aging and still can conceive a child at a later age. However, faced with actual numbers based on evidence, they would have a better idea of reality i.e., how unlikely it is to conceive a baby at a later age.
Considering the aging population problem that Japan will continue to face in the years to come, I think that providing this kind of information in addition to its sex education may somewhat help alleviate this problem. More importantly, I think that it would better educate students about their anatomy and become more conscious about family planning with their future partners. Without specific numbers, they may not feel the urgency and procrastinate having a baby.
I think that this may actually be what’s happening in Japan right now as both men and women are delaying marriage and having babies until their later age. Of course there may be socio-economic issues that prevent couples from having more children, but in certain cases perhaps they realize that they can’t have additional children because they had waited too long and their reproductive system is no longer as fertile to conceive more babies.
So, unlike yourself, I completely think that it’s a good idea without any reservation. Some may say that it’s an example of a government over imposing their power, but I actually believe that the government is doing a public service by educating the students about their reproductive health and having them become more conscious about family planning.
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