How gay and bisexual men compensate for the lack of meaningful sex education in a socially conservative state

The information shared in schools on sex education in the USA is highly variable depending on the state and sometimes city in which a student lives. Gay and bisexual students living in a socially conservative, primarily rural state such as Oklahoma often receive little information about sexual health information that pertains to their behaviours unless it is discussing the dangers of sex. Using a qualitative approach, 20 gay and bisexual men currently residing in Oklahoma completed semi-structured interviews about their experiences with sex education and alternate ways to compensate for lack of information provided. Participants noted an awareness of the lack of meaningful sex education or if it was offered, a primary focus on abstinence-only until marriage heteronormative curricula. Participants described various ways they compensated for lack of sex education including accessing pornography and information from the internet. With the current socio-political environment of Oklahoma, it is unlikely wholesale changes to the sex education curricula can be made. The importance of public health professionals using the internet and peer educators to deliver inclusive and informative sexual health information remains salient and viable for men who reside in socio-politically conservative areas like Oklahoma.     

The nature of peer sexual health communication among college students enrolled in a human sexuality course

Most young people go to their friends for information on sexuality-related topics, thus it is important to understand the context of these communications so that we may gather insight into sexual values and the underlying emotions and styles of communication. We conducted qualitative weekly surveys regarding discussion of sexual health topics among peers with students enrolled in an undergraduate human sexuality course. A four-stage inductive analysis process was utilized to examine a total number of 824 survey submissions from 102 college students who agreed to participate. Seven relevant common themes emerged: safer sex, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, feelings about sex, sexual acts, peer support, and peer communication norms. Some perspectives varied between males and females. Life events create opportunities for peers to discuss sexual health with each other. The connection between life events and peer sexual health communication has numerous implications for both research and education.     

Young offenders in New South Wales,Australia and the need for remedial sexual health education

The 2005–2008 Australian National Sexually Transmissible Infections Strategy identifies young people as a key target group in need of sexual health education, screening and management. For young people who are in contact with the New South Wales (NSW) juvenile justice system, a dire need for remedial sexual health education exists. NSW young offenders indicate initiation of sexual activity at a younger age than their peers, higher numbers of sexual partners, infrequent condom use and higher rates of sexually transmitted infections. They also report family instability, poor accessing of health services, and low school attendance: all factors that result in poor sexual knowledge and health outcomes. An examination into the cognitive profile of these young offenders indicates remedial education for this group may require a dual approach in order to redress their specific circumstances and needs. The first approach should target young offenders who simply missed out on stages of sexual health information in the school curriculum. The second approach requires a tailored teaching methodology more appropriate for a group with atypical cognitive profiles. Both approaches need to engage an educative model that acknowledges that these disadvantaged young people are already sexual active; and that many did not have the benefit of an informed or consensual decision making processes. More importantly, the tailoring of a sexual health education program to these young people needs to resonate with teaching to a cognitively distinctive population who have experienced higher than usual rates of alcohol and other drugs abuse, and higher than usual episodes of physical and emotional abuse and neglect.     

Learning from commercial entertainment producers in order to create entertainment sex education

The Girlfriend Guide to Life was a commercial entertainment product co-edited by an entertainment producer and an academic researcher to reach 14–17-year olds with information they wanted to know about sexual health, in language, genres and designs that they wanted. Entertainment–Education is a familiar approach to distributing information, including information about sexual health, in non-formal learning contexts. However, previous accounts of Entertainment–Education have highlighted a tension between the audience-centred approach of entertainment production and the message-centred approach of education. Using a practice-led methodology and drawing on reflective practice, this article suggests that if educators go deeper than asking entertainment producers to simply make cosmetic changes to content, and accept that entertainment producers have a vital understanding of what target audiences need to know about sexual health, a reciprocal working relationship can be developed that overcomes some of the differences in habitus between entertainment producers and educators that have been identified by previous researchers.     

Sex education and transgender youth: ‘Trust Means Material By and For Queer and Trans People’

The sex education made available to transgender youth has rarely been studied empirically. In this study, we sought to explore the sex education experiences of transgender young people and summarise their recommendations for transgender-inclusive curricula. Qualitative data from 14 transgender youth in the upper-Midwest USA were collected by means of an online questionnaire and group interview. Data was analysed using a consensual qualitative approach. Three themes emerged: (1) sources and reactions to sex education, (2) the importance of trust, and (3) missing information and recommendations. Sources and reactions to sex education included sexual health information sources and the strategies participants employed to supplement the sex education they received. Trust included trustworthy information sources and strong qualities of sexual health resources. Missing information and recommendations included unmet sex education needs, including the scope of information and from whom the information is delivered. Findings suggest that important curricular considerations include the diversity of content, but also the diversity of voices delivering it.     

Parents and sex education—looking beyond ‘the birds and the bees’

The social and political climate of sex education over the last two decades has dramatically changed, with parents now being encouraged to work in partnership with professionals. This paper seeks to further the argument that involving parents in their child's sex education does matter and can have an impact on their child's future sexual health. It discusses the reality of parents' roles and skills in providing sex education within the family. In particular, the discussion explores myths parents associate with sex education, involving fathers in provision, siblings as peer educators, health professionals' attitudes towards involving parents, and school partnerships. The author calls for professionals to involve parents alongside other sources of sex education in health and educational strategies to address sexual health issues and improve sex education. Otherwise future generations of children will experience a closed cultural attitude towards sexual matters and we will not achieve lower teenage pregnancy rates or view sex education positively.     

Unzip the Truth: Results from the Fort Peck Men's Sexual Health Intervention and Evaluation Study

American Indian (AI) men experience sexual and reproductive health disparities including sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancy, absent fatherhood, and intimate relationship violence. Using a case-control study within a community-based participatory research framework, we investigated the effectiveness of a sexual and reproductive health peer led education intervention model for AI men, ages 18–24. Intervention results demonstrated the greatest impact on attitudes regarding contraceptives, commitment in relationships, and consistency of condom use. Our study provides insights into how to access education and influence sexual risk behaviors among a diverse group of hard to reach young adult males.     

Into the community and not on the shelf: learning to develop a meaningful HIV/AIDS curriculum for multiple communities

This paper describes the process involved in creating a community-based training curriculum designed to build capacity and foster new knowledge in support of HIV/AIDS education. Highlighted are the challenges and triumphs incurred while working with community and academic partners to ensure the production of an adaptable curriculum designed to accommodate diverse teaching and learning styles. The curriculum provides teachers, community leaders and peer educators with knowledge and skills to competently deliver HIV/AIDS information, regardless of previous training in sexual health education. Educators are encouraged to adapt the curriculum according to community/classroom needs. Also highlighted is the need for creating further opportunities that enable teachers, community practitioners and researchers to collaborate around issues that influence learners' lives.     

Comparison of Community College Students’ Sexual Health Dimensions

ABSTRACT

Sexually active college students in the United States have alarming rates of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Varying degrees of sexual health knowledge and attitudes among college students are an outcome of sexuality education in the K-12 school systems with abstinence-only or comprehensive focus. Community college students (n = 737) aged 18–24 years, 57% from a college in an abstinence-only sex education state and 43% from a college in a comprehensive sex education state, both in the Mid-Atlantic region, took the Sexual Health Survey in October 2016, which measures sexual health knowledge and attitudes. Gender and ethnicity differences, as well as other sources of sexuality information were evaluated. Students from the comprehensive sex education state, New Jersey had higher sexual health knowledge and attitude scores than the students from the abstinence-only sex education state, Pennsylvania. Male students in New Jersey scored significantly higher in sexual health knowledge compared to male students in Pennsylvania, while female students in New Jersey had higher sexual health knowledge scores compared to the male students. Analysis of ethnicity revealed the New Jersey college sample had healthier sexual attitudes as compared to the Pennsylvania college sample, with notable distinction among Black students. The Internet, friends, and personal experiences were chosen by 75% of all students across both colleges as the top reported sources of sexuality information. In addition to advocating for comprehensive sex education, recommendations are made for sexual health initiatives in community colleges to provide sexual health instruction and support.     

Evaluation of a school‐based sex education programme delivered to Grade Nine students in Canada

The effectiveness of a multidimensional Canadian sex education programme was evaluated using 240 Grade Nine students. The intervention was offered by representatives from various community groups and involved instructional classes on anatomy/physiology of the reproductive system and sexually transmitted infections, a video and group discussion on healthy relationships, a form of ‘peer education’ and discussion on teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS, as well as a parent workshop and newsletter on teen sexuality. Respondents in the intervention and control groups completed a self‐administered questionnaire at baseline and one month after the programme. Compared with the control group, students in the intervention group showed positive changes in the areas of knowledge, sex‐role attitudes, sexual interaction values, and the perception that birth control is important. These results suggest that a collaborative effort of outside professionals from various community organisations and involvement of ‘peer educators’ to provide sexual health education in Grade Nine high school classes may be a useful strategy.     

‘That happened to me too’: young people’s informal knowledge of diverse genders and sexualities

Abstract

This paper explores how young people of diverse genders and sexualities share information about sex, sexualities and genders. Formal approaches to education often fail to consider young people’s communication and information exchange practices, including the circulation of peer knowledge through social media. In the wake of recent Australian backlash against the Safe Schools Coalition, we can observe how homophobia and queerphobia in the broader community can impact upon young peoples’ ability to learn about themselves and their bodies through formal education. Yet young people of diverse genders and sexualities can be observed to support each other in peer spaces, utilising their knowledge networks. This paper explores young people’s informal learning practices, the capacity of peer networks to support and educate young people, and the challenges of recognising such networks in a culture in which health and education discourses present them as ‘risk subjects’ rather than ‘health agents’. These issues are discussed in relation to our own experiences in research and health promotion, including one author’s role as a youth peer educator. Drawing on our workplace experiences, we provide a number of anecdotal examples which highlight the complexities of informal knowledge practice and information circulation, and the ways these can challenge and reform professional health, education, and research approaches.     

Evaluating the need for sex education in developing countries: sexual behaviour,knowledge of preventing sexually transmitted infections/HIV and unplanned pregnancy

Young people's need for sex education is evidenced by their typically early initiation of sexual activity, the often involuntary context within which they have sexual intercourse, high‐risk sexual behaviours and the inadequate levels of knowledge of means of protecting their sexual health. The earliness of initiation of sexual intercourse has implications for the age by which sexuality education should be provided. The extent and context of sexual behaviour is a firm indicator of the need for sex education as well as for counselling, information and services related to sexual and reproductive health. Apart from behaviours, information on the extent of knowledge and accuracy of knowledge about risks to sexual health and about means of preventing unhealthy or undesired outcomes are important indicators of young people's need for information to help them make choices and to engage in safe and healthy behaviours. Such measures of behaviour and knowledge can also be relevant and valid indicators of the effectiveness of sex education interventions. The context with which young people live and key characteristics such as school attendance and literacy are important considerations in providing information and in evaluating interventions.     

Implementing community-based comprehensive sexuality education with high-risk youth in a conservative environment: lessons learned

Although comprehensive sexuality education programmes have the potential to improve the sexual health and well-being of young people, many socially conservative rural states in the USA have laws and policies restricting school-based comprehensive sexuality education and supporting abstinence-only education. This paper describes the process of building a community-university partnership to implement a community-based comprehensive sexuality education peer education programme for high-risk young people and presents preliminary findings from a longitudinal evaluation. Through purposive recruitment, the sample included 386 young people (mean age) who were more diverse than the local community. Important university-community partnership components included (1) establishing local connections and legitimacy, (2) adapting and tailoring programmes to meet community context, (3) sustainability planning, and (4) flexibility, persistence, and patience. Building community trust and capitalising on the mutual benefits of community-university partnerships are effective methods of building community sexuality education programming in a conservative environment. Tailoring evidence-based approaches to comprehensive sexuality education in a politically restrictive environment shows promise in improving the sexual and reproductive health of young people.     

What's missing? Anti-racist sex education!

Contemporary sexual health curricula in Canada include information about sexual diversity and queer identities, but what remains missing is any explicit discussion of anti-racist sex education. Although there exists federal and provincial support for multiculturalism and anti-racism in schools, contemporary Canadian sex education omits crucial anti-racist work, and foundational anti-racist education frameworks are silent about the sex education curriculum. To show how race is discussed in sex education, a content analysis based on a keyword search of Ontario public secondary school health provincial curricula and federal sex education policy was conducted. English language curricula created within the same nine-year range (1999–2008) were selected from Ontario and Canada to maximise the congruency of politics and country of origin. Content analysis findings point to major deficiencies and provide the basis for future anti-racist sex education policy recommendations. As anti-racism critically examines the institution of education, and sexual health curricula are an increasingly politicised example of potentially transformative education, anti-racism must be incorporated into future sex education work.     

图书馆巧用同伴教育,培养大学生信息素质教育

基于同伴教育的原理,图书馆可将同伴教育融入到大学生信息素质教育中,形成朋辈教育的模式,探索培养大学生的信息素质教育的全新模式。文章以同伴教育作为信息素质教育工作的出发点,介绍同伴教育的含义与特征;探讨了图书馆移用同伴教育,培养大学生信息素质教育的可行性和必要性,分析了运用同伴教育原理在提高大学生信息素质方面可达到的效果,并使之成为促进大学生信息素质教育效果的有效途径之一。     

“Because if we don’t talk about it,how are we going to prevent it?”: Lucidity,a narrative-based digital game about sexual violence

This paper describes the development and evaluation of an interactive, narrative-based, multimedia game to promote learning and communication about sexual violence and health topics. High school-aged participants created the game concept in a three-week workshop, after which assets were assembled and refined by a university-based game design lab. The outcome, Lucidity, was a multimedia game with a nonlinear narrative that led to two different outcomes based on player decisions. The narrative followed the life of one character, an African American woman named Zaria who remembers and grapples with a sexual assault from her past. The player discovers parts of the story by reading comics, watching videos, navigating interactive websites and playing short videogames. The final evaluation consisted of gameplay, a post-game focus group and follow-up interviews. Twenty-four young people participated in three focus group discussions (n = 9, n = 5, n = 10); 23 participated in the follow-up interviews. Salient themes identified in the focus group discussions included: overall approval of the game, the acquisition of new knowledge and minimal past exposure to conversations or education about sexual violence. At follow-up, almost all (n = 22) had initiated a conversation about sexual violence with a parent, peer and/or teacher. Lucidity succeeded in engaging young people and facilitating communication with adults and peers regarding sexual violence and other sexual health topics. Ultimately, a game-based intervention such as this represents a feasible approach for introducing issues of sexual violence, with potential for future implementation in educational settings.     

How they got it and how they wanted it: marginalised young people's perspective on their experiences of sexual health education

Young people in Australia are at greatest risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, and priority actions are necessary for this population group. This study of marginalised and at-risk young people in out-of-school environments was conducted in Western Australia with the aim of obtaining young people's perceptions about their experience of sexual health education and preferred means of gaining sexual health knowledge and skills. A participatory research methodology was implemented through a series of workshops with 88 young people recruited through community youth agencies. The results of the study support what is already known about sexual health promotion for young people and the importance of a holistic approach to promoting positive relationships and sexual health. However, the findings emphasise that this should include the need for demonstrated trust, confidence and safe environments, and the complementary role of community youth agencies and peer-based programmes which may play an important role in reaching young people who may disengage with, or not be reached by school-based sexual health education.     

关于对当代大学生进行性教育的若干问题

性教育是健康教育的一个重要组成部分。如何对当代大学生的性观念和性心理进行正确的教育和引导,是当前高校思想教育中的一项重要任务。因此,应该通过多种形式和手段,对大学生进行性健康知识、性伦理道德的教育和性心理的疏导,引导他们顺利地度过性心理发育的“危险期”,使他们的身心得到健康的发展。     

Editorial

Twelve focus groups were conducted with African-American and Latino youth (age 14-19) in Washington, DC to inform the development of a program to postpone sexual involvement among younger teens (age 12-14). The study's objectives were to uncover the prime motivators for early sexual involvement, examine attitudes towards pregnancy and contraception, explore peer and family influences on sexual decision-making, and identify the youth's preferred sources of information and advice on sexual matters. The data suggest that sex is a peer norm for these youth and generally begins by age 15 or before. The prime motivator for early sex among the young women appears to be social pressures from boyfriends, peers and even older siblings. In contrast, young men seem to be more motivated by physical desire, and draw a clear distinction between relationships that are exclusively sexual and those that are more serious and romantic. Early pregnancy was universally viewed as undesirable, but not always as a hindrance to one's future. While motivation to avoid pregnancy appears to be less pronounced among the African-American youth, potential barriers to contraceptive use seem prominent in both groups due to strong negative opinions about the safety and efficacy of various methods. Condoms are viewed as being appropriate for casual sexual encounters, but not for longer, more established relationships. Parents received mixed reviews as sources of information and guidance on sexual matters. Latino youth were more likely than African-Americans to view parents as being influential in their sexual decision-making, but appear less likely to rely on them for information and advice. All youth preferred clinics to schools for sex education and related services. Overall, these data signal the need for interventions that generate peer support for delaying sex and pregnancy, correct misinformation about contraceptives, and encourage frank, open discussions between youth and their parents or other caring adults.