Advice for sex advisors: a guide for ‘agony aunts’, relationship therapists and sex educators who want to work with the media

Education programmes for sex and relationships are greatly needed globally. One way such information can be delivered is via the media. Sex and relationship advice has long been a popular media component, but the quality, accuracy and effectiveness of such advice—particularly from the sex ‘expert’ or ‘agony aunt’—has not been adequately addressed. Given the rising cult of the ‘expert’ and ‘self‐improvement’ features within the media alongside growing sexual health problems, this paper discusses problems associated with providing media sex education and makes suggestions for effective communication of sex and relationships messages for those who wish to be media sex educators or who already offer media sex and relationships advice and seek to improve their skills.     

Meaningful evaluation of sex and relationship education

Effective sex and relationship education promotes agency and targets sexual practice as it is socially produced. The aim of evaluation therefore is to contribute to good sexual health through identifying when and how education is promoting agency and changes in sexual practice. Good evaluation takes account of the complexities of the specific object being addressed—sexual practice—which is fluid and essentially social. Innovative study design and the use of rigorous and transparent methods enable evaluators to track and understand the slow, unsteady and sometimes unpredictable mechanisms of change. The data gathered (both quantitative and qualitative) require interpretation, and interpretations inform the development of sex and relationship education programmes. Randomised controlled trials do not meet these criteria of meaningful evaluation, nor do evaluations of one‐off interventions. This paper considers the role of cross‐sectional and longitudinal surveys, in‐depth qualitative studies, and reviews in evaluating whether education works, how it works, how its messages are being actively taken up and transformed by the target population, and in informing the development of future education.     

Development of a sex education programme for 12‐year‐old to 14‐year‐old Turkish adolescents

Previous research has documented a need for the development of a sex education programme in Turkish schools in terms of adolescence readiness and the presence of misconceptions regarding critical aspects of sexual issues. Currently no school‐based sex education is available for Turkish adolescents. This paper presents the development of a contemporary sex education programme for 12‐year‐old to 14‐year‐old adolescents, entitled ‘The Human Development Program for 12–14 Year Old Adolescents’. A five‐step programme development model was used including reviewing internationally recognised sex education programmes for this age group. Sexuality Information and Education Council of United States guidelines were chosen as an educational framework, and Turkish cultural values were integrated into the curriculum. The sex curriculum consists of an eight‐session interactive programme in which parental permission and involvement is required. Five units are presented: human development, relationships, sexual behaviour, sexual health, and society/culture. The programme and a related knowledge assessment tool were reviewed by a group of Turkish professionals and the validity of the educational content was received. The programme was piloted with a group of Turkish adolescents with positive results. Future recommendations include school counsellors implementing this sex educational programme into Turkish schools.     

Sexuality education in South Africa: Three essential questions

Sex education is the cornerstone on which most HIV/AIDS prevention programmes rest and since the adoption of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE), has become a compulsory part of the South African school curriculum through the Life Orientation learning area. However, while much focus has been on providing young people with accurate and frank information about safe sex, this paper questions whether school-based programmes sufficiently support the needs of young people. This paper is based on a desk-review of the literature on sex and sexuality education and examines it in relation to the South African educational context and policies. It poses three questions: (a) what do youth need from sexuality education? (b) Is school an appropriate environment for sex education? (c) If so, what can be said about the content of sex education as well as pedagogy surrounding it? Through reviewing the literature this paper critically engages with education on sex and sexuality in South Africa and will argue that in order to effectively meet the needs of youth, the content of sexual health programmes needs to span the whole spectrum of discourses, from disease to desire. Within this spectrum, youth should be constructed as “knowers” as opposed to innocent in relation to sex. How youth are taught as well as how their own knowledge and experience is positioned in the classroom is as important as content in ensuring that youth avoid negative sexual health outcomes.     

Beyond the birds and the bees: constituting a discourse of erotics in sexuality education

A tradition of predominately feminist literature has revealed that there is a ‘missing discourse of desire’ in many sex education programmes. Building on this work, this article explores the gendered effects of this de‐eroticized and clinical form of education. It is argued that young women and men's (hetero)sexual subjectivities are differentially affected by the invisibility of desire and pleasure in this curriculum. To offer young women a sense of personal empowerment and entitlement, and young men a broader range of (hetero)sexual subjectivities, it is proposed that sex education include a discourse of erotics. This would comprise more than an acknowledgement of desire and pleasure and incorporate the embodied practicalities of these experiences. As a means of developing this discourse within sexuality programmes, empirical evidence of 17‐ to 19‐year‐olds' experiences of desire and pleasure are examined.     

Knowledge and attitudes of secondary school teachers regarding sexual health education in England

Objective To assess the sexual health knowledge of teachers who contribute to secondary school sexual health education in order to determine whether teachers are adequately prepared to implement present government education and public health policies.

Design Results were obtained from a questionnaire as part of a two‐phase intervention study.

Setting Nineteen mixed‐sex, state secondary schools in central England.

Participants One hundred and fifty‐five teachers (94 female, 61 male) participated.

Main outcome measures The questionnaires were distributed to teachers to assess their knowledge of sexual health, contraception and sexually transmitted infections. In addition, teachers' attitudes on the subject of sex and relationships education were evaluated.

Results The results suggest that teachers have insufficient sexual health knowledge to effectively teach sexually transmitted infections or emergency contraception, although their general sexual health knowledge was good. Therefore, at present teachers do not have adequate specialist knowledge in sexual health to contribute to current recommendations for sex and relationships education in secondary schools. There were no statistically significant differences in the results regarding location of school, area of residence, gender or age of the participant.

Conclusions Many teachers are being expected to contribute to secondary school sexual health education programmes at a time when they do not have sufficient knowledge to provide young people with adequate sexual health education and when they do not feel prepared to teach, and in many cases would prefer not to teach, these programmes.     

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.     

Indoctrination and Intent

Abstract

Two questionnaires, designated as Teachers’ Questionnaire on Sex Education (TQSE) and Student Teachers’ Questionnaire on Sex Education (SQSE) were administered to teachers and student teachers respectively to find out how interested, willing and prepared they are to be involved in sex education programmes in Nigerian secondary schools. This approach was predicated on the belief that teachers have a vital role to play in implementing any government policy on sex education particularly if such policies are to be routed through the schools.

Results show that teachers and student teachers alike are in favour of sex education. Thy are also willing, interested and prepared to participate in sex education programmes. They feel deficient, however, in their knowledge of sex education.     

‘We didn't cover that at school’: education against pleasure or education for pleasure?

This paper considers the common criteria by which school‐based sex and relationship programmes are evaluated, and argues that the domination of public health outcomes serves to make invisible other aspects of courses that warrant attention. In particular, the role of pleasure in sexual development and relations is normally not acknowledged. While it may be unacceptable in most cultures to suggest that teaching young people how to achieve sexual pleasure is valuable, there are increasing indications—from developing as well as developed countries—that public health outcomes may benefit from a greater acceptance of positive sexual experiences. It is suggested that greater comfort with one's own body will enable greater ability to communicate wishes to others, and to be less ‘pressured’ into unwanted sexual relationships.     

Sexuality and relationships education: toward a social studies approach

Globally, gender norms and power differentials profoundly affect both girls' and boys' sexual attitudes, practices and health. One avenue for enabling young people to reflect on traditional gender arrangements that endanger their health—and to lay the groundwork for satisfying sexual lives—is sexuality and relationships education (SRE). Unfortunately, many SRE programmes address gender norms and critical thinking skills either superficially or not at all. Moreover, in some developing countries, SRE programmes do not reach the majority of girls aged 15–19, a high proportion of whom are simply not in school. This paper argues for grounding SRE within a social studies framework, emphasizing gender and social context. Such an approach can foster critical thinking skills, can provide a foundation for subsequent lessons on explicitly sexual topics, can illuminate the links between gender inequality and other social issues, can allow for a human‐rights emphasis that may prove politically less controversial than technical sexuality topics, and may ultimately prove vital to achieving better sexual health outcomes. The experience of community‐based programmes provides lessons for designing and evaluating such approaches in schools.     

Documenting diversity: an early portrait of a collaborative teacher education initiative

This article documents a two‐year journey developing and implementing a teacher education programme that required preservice teachers and teachers, administrators, and students in six cooperating schools to address issues of diversity, multi‐/transculturalisms, inclusion, anti‐racism/anti‐oppression and social justice. We describe approaches and analyse changing attitudes, commitment and activism among those who participated in this ‘Diversity’ cohort initiative—a collaboration between the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education and the Vancouver School Board. We profile the courage and commitment of those who began to see themselves as important allies and agents of change in Canada’s most multicultural environment. We acknowledge the less successful aspects, and generate implications for teacher education partnerships that seek to embrace ‘critical’ multicultural, inclusive, and social justice education.     

Searching for sexual revolutions in India: non-governmental organisation-designed sex education programmes as a means towards gender equality and sexual empowerment in New Delhi,India

At the foundation of most inequalities in expression of sexuality lie social constructions of gender. In this paper, sex education is considered as a possibility to challenge sexism and promote healthy and self-affirmative sex lives. In the past decade, the discourse of sex education in India has become a ‘battle of morality’ where concerned citizens condemn sex education on the grounds it may encourage sexual activity and immoral conduct (e.g. promiscuity or infidelity). The work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is an alternative to the governmental national curriculum plan. This paper discusses NGO potential in terms of sexual empowerment by examining beliefs and understanding, choices of information, strategies and methods, and approaches apparent in sex education programmes and projects. Through qualitative data, findings were analysed by constructing a sexual empowerment model that divides components of sex education into four parts and utilises theories of empowerment. The main findings include that all four components of sex education – foundation, content, strategies and approaches – show great potential to challenge gender inequalities in regard to sexuality. Sexual health programmes and projects are seen to be highly participatory, deliberative and encouraging of critical thinking. Some concerns are highlighted: the strong focus on girls as the main actors of change, and external limitations such as parents and institutions.     

Does Sex Education Help Everyone?: Sex Education Exposure and Timing as Predictors of Sexual Health Among Lesbian,Bisexual, and Heterosexual Young Women

ABSTRACT

Using data from 2002 to 2013 collections of the National Survey of Family Growth, we explored how exposure and timing of sex education were associated with sexual health outcomes of 5,141 women between the ages of 15 and 20 years. Consistent with previous literature, sexual minority (e.g., lesbian and bisexual) women reported engaging in sexual intercourse with a male partner earlier than their heterosexual peers. Sexual minority women were also more likely to receive sex education after already engaging in sexual intercourse. Exposure to sex education was associated with poorer outcomes—such as an increased number of male sexual partners and higher reports of pregnancy—for sexual minority women but not for their heterosexual peers. Receiving sex education before engaging in intercourse was associated with an increase in birth control use among bisexual participants. Therefore, school psychologists and counselors should promote inclusive sex education programs that fully address the needs of sexual minority youth.     

Sex education,first sex and sexual health outcomes in adulthood: findings from a nationally representative sexual health survey

This study investigated the relationship between school sex education and sexual health behaviours at first sex and later in adulthood, using nationally representative data. Respondents were adults from the 2010 Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Survey, a cross-sectional survey designed to assess knowledge, attitudes and behaviours relating to sex, contraception and pregnancy in Ireland. Results indicate that respondents who received sex education were more likely to have first sex at an older age and use contraception on this occasion. Sex education also significantly increased the likelihood of using contraception at first sex, when first sex occurred before 17 years of age. The effect of sex education and sexual health behaviours into adulthood was also investigated. Sex education increased the likelihood of having a history of sexually transmitted infection testing and decreased the likelihood of having experienced a crisis pregnancy. No association was found between sex education and contraception use over the past year. Findings suggest that sex education is an important factor in the context of first sex and later sexual health, and programmes should continue to equip young people as they make immediate sexual behaviour decisions and further sexual health-related decisions throughout their lifespan.     

‘Sex education should be taught,fine…but we make sure they control themselves’: teachers' beliefs and attitudes towards young people's sexual and reproductive health in a Ugandan secondary school

Although schools have been identified as important settings in which young people's sexual and reproductive health (SRH) can be promoted, there has been limited research into the role of teachers in delivering sex education programmes. This paper describes findings from a qualitative study of teachers' beliefs and attitudes towards young people's SRH in a Ugandan secondary school, and discusses the ways in which conservative attitudes to young people's sexual activity and an adherence to gender stereotypes can limit students' access to SRH information and services. Teachers' attitudes, beliefs and often superstitions relating to young people's sexual activity inevitably affect the content and nature of school-based sex education. Findings from this preliminary study suggest that, rather than assuming teachers act as neutral delivery mechanisms in schools, these attitudes and beliefs must be taken into consideration and addressed in the development of school-based sex education programmes.     

Doing it by the book: natural tales of marriage and sex in contemporary Chinese marriage manuals

This paper examines the construction of sexual knowledge in contemporary China through a typical instance of its production—the marriage manual Marital Medicine. China's reform era has seen rapid changes in attitudes to sex and in sexual conduct, and recent government interest in sex education has been motivated by a desire to halt the ‘negative impact’ of modernization on marriage and the family. Education for legitimately sexually active adults has taken a number of different forms, but the diversity of media is not matched by diversity of content. Sexual knowledge speaks in an overwhelmingly uniform and universalizing voice, and is constructed around a nature narrative, which sets out how bodies are sexed, how bodies have sex, and the legitimate forms of their intimate relationships. This paper is an examination of the production (rather than consumption) of sexual knowledge, and shows the current boundaries of ‘normal’, ‘natural’ and ‘healthy’ within which people understand and make choices about their sexual lives.     

School support groups,other school factors,and the safety of sexual minority adolescents

Sexual minority adolescents—those self‐identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) or with same‐sex desires or sexual experiences—report higher rates of victimization and suicidality than their heterosexual peers, yet little empirical research has examined school factors associated with these risks. This study used data from the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (Massachusetts Department of Education, 2000), matched with school‐level data from state records and school principals, to compare the safety of 202 sexual minority adolescents in 52 schools with and without support groups for LGB students, to investigate the relationship between perceived staff support and safety, and to explore other school factors associated with victimization and suicidality among these youth. As hypothesized, sexual minority adolescents in schools with LGB support groups reported lower rates of victimization and suicide attempts than those in other schools. Victimization and perceived staff support predicted suicidality. Several additional school factors were associated with the safety of sexual minority students. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 573–589, 2006.     

Peer regulation of teenage sexual identities

This article examines the teenage policing of heterosexuality in schools and contributes to debates about teenage sexual moralities and heterosexual male agency. It reports on a qualitative study in England of the collective sexual values of 12‐ to 13‐year‐olds and 14‐ to 15‐year‐olds. Focus group interviews indicated that pupils developed a consensual sexual morality through collusive sex talk. Homophobic and misogynistic views and verbal abuse were found to be key instruments of teenage peer regulation of sexual identities crossing class and ethnic boundaries. We found that the ‘official’ discourse of sex education did not relate to teenage lives. Anxieties about heterosexual masculinity and girls' sexual agency were conveyed by some boys through verbal sexual harassment—a form of behaviour regarded as intimidating yet normal. While white and Asian boys were more conservative in their views about marriage than girls, white and Asian girls struggled to resist heterosexual masculine power through career aspirations, by questioning marriage and being informed about sexual issues.     

‘There are lots of different kinds of normal’: families and sex education – styles,approaches and concerns

This paper reports on qualitative research with Australian parents concerning their attitudes to sexuality and relationships education, both at home and in school. A wide range of values and attitudes were represented among parents in this study. Regardless of the varying approaches parents used, all participants expressed a desire for their children to be well informed about sex, sexual health and relationships, yet many felt inadequate to the task of providing high-quality sex education to their children. Some participants blamed this lack of confidence on their own limited education about sexuality. Their main concern was to ensure that their children are safe and that when they do become sexually active their experiences of sex are positive. Most participants saw sex education as primarily their responsibility, with school sex education as an important adjunct. They wanted to be well informed about the timing and content of school programmes for their children, and to be assured that those educators who will be teaching their children about sexual health have the skills and qualifications to do their job well, while remaining sensitive to the diversity of values among students and their families. While most parents who participated in the research supported sexuality education in schools, they did so with reservations. In particular, they wanted schools to take an active role in communicating with them about the content of sexuality education programmes and be open to meeting with those parents who expressed concerns.     

Lessons from past literacy campaigns: A critical assessment

Former Director of the Centre for International Programmes, University of Guelph, Ontario (1974–85); of the Division of Adult Education (1972–74) and of the Literacy Division (1968–72), Unesco. He has considerable experience with adult education and literacy programmes in less developed countries, notably in South and South-East Asia.