‘I hope someone castrates you,you perverted bastard’: Martin Cole's sex education film,Growing Up

This paper concerns the response to the sex education film Growing Up, made in 1971 by Dr Martin Cole, which used a combination of animation and live action to offer a frank and uncompromising account of sexual reproduction. As part of this, both male and female masturbation and an unsimulated act of male–female coitus featured in the film. Cole was widely denounced both by religious conservatives including the members of the Nationwide Festival of Light and by others involved in sex education. The former objected to what they took to be his promotion of precocious and promiscuous sex, and the latter charged him with setting back the cause of ‘responsible’ sex education by years or decades. However, evidence from various schools in which Growing Up was seen suggests that it was apparently well received by pupils. But an ad hoc alliance of religious conservatives and ‘responsible’ sex educators ensured that Growing Up was not widely distributed, and a tactic agreement of sorts has arisen that such explicit sexual imagery will not be featured in school sex education materials in the United Kingdom. Sources include selected media reports/discussions, parliamentary debates, letters sent to Cole, teachers' comments and an interview conducted in 2007.     

Factors associated with middle school students' perceptions of the quality of school-based sexual health education

This paper examines factors associated with middle school students' perceptions of the quality of the sexual health education (SHE) they received at school. Participants were 478 predominately White young people (256 girls, 222 boys) in grades 6–8 who completed a survey assessing their demographic characteristics; dating and sexual experience; and perceptions of the content, delivery and quality of the SHE they had received. Boys and students in a lower grade and with less sexual experience rated the quality of their SHE more positively. After accounting for student characteristics, students who more strongly agreed that their SHE matched their interests and covered sexual health topics more adequately, as well as who viewed their teacher as being more comfortable talking about sexual topics and doing a better job answering questions, reported higher quality SHE. Students' perceptions of the adequacy of coverage of 10 sexual health topics were also positively correlated with their reports of higher quality SHE, although only two topics (correct names for genitals and puberty/physical development) contributed uniquely to the prediction of this variable. These results reinforce the need for a comprehensive SHE curriculum as well as adequate preparation of teachers if SHE is to be engaging to students.     

Latin American immigrant women and intergenerational sex education

People of Latin American descent make up the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the USA. Rates of pregnancy, childbirth, and sexually transmitted infections among people of Latin American descent are higher than among other ethnic groups. This paper builds on research that suggests that among families of Latin American descent, mothers have a particularly strong influence on the sexual attitudes and behaviours of their children, yet that parents of Latin American descent communicate less with their children about sex than parents of other ethnic groups. It examines the messages about sex women received as children in their countries of origin, and how these messages and their views of the USA influence the sexual education women provide for their children. On the basis of data from focus groups, we suggest that, in spite of the persistence of sexual silence, some women's self-reflective analyses of their own sexual education as well as their views of the USA as a sexually more open society contribute to their views of silence as dangerous and trigger more open communication with sons and daughters. Mothers hope to break the cycle of unwanted pregnancy by speaking with daughters about the consequences of menstruation and with sons about contraception.     

It must be true – I read it in Seventeen magazine: US popular culture and sexual messages in an era of abstinence-only education

As discourse in sexual education classes across the USA in 1996 began to change, media outlets became important sources of education for teenage girls. Unaffected directly by government policy, one of the most popular teenage girls' magazines, Seventeen, provided a plethora of information on sex. Several scholars have examined teenage magazines' sexual discourse, yet few have assessed the accuracy of sexual health information during a time period when the US Federal Government instituted an abstinence-only curriculum policy for public schools. In addition, there is a gap in the literature regarding magazines' attitudes about teenage abstinence, or lack thereof, especially in a time when politics had taken a very conservative stance on the issue. This paper examines Seventeen magazine between 1996 and 1998 to explore the magazine's attitude towards teen sex and abstinence and to analyse the accuracy of sexual health messages surrounding topics such as abortion, contraception and STDs.     

Recollections of sexual socialisation among marginalised heterosexual black men

This paper describes the sexual socialisation process of marginalised, drug-using heterosexual black men, focusing primarily on the sources and content of sexual information. Analysing qualitative interview data, we discovered that the men in our sample both learn about sex and become sexually active at an early age. They most often learn about sex from the media and least often learn about sex from family members. The content of sexual information varies in specifics, but overall tends to equate sex with pleasure, encourage sexual activity with multiple partners and emphasise using protection. Our goal is to use this data to better understand how sexual socialisation contributes to the prevalence of multiple sexual partners and high rates of HIV among heterosexual black men in order to inform future risk-reduction intervention programmes.     

Teaching gender and sexuality diversity in foundations of education courses in the US

This article is a summary of comprehensive units on gender and sexuality diversity that the authors have used in teacher education courses in undergraduate and graduate social foundations of education classes over several years. The course lesson plan includes a five‐part analysis of the following categories: biological sex; gender identity/sexual identity; gender roles; sexual behavior; and sexual orientation. The authors have experienced much success and positive student evaluation by using this approach. This is true even in religiously and politically conservative universities. The authors introduce the complexity of biology, gender roles, and gender identity, before addressing human sexuality. This helps to diffuse many stereotypes and misconceptions in the initial lessons.     

边疆少数民族地区大学生民族认同与民族区分的关系模型

运用结构方程模型探寻边疆少数民族大学生民族认同和民族区分的关系。采用大学生民族认同问卷对265名大学生进行问卷调查。结果发现：①民族认同和民族区分之间存在显著的正相关关系（P〈0.05或P〈0.01或P〈0.001）;②汉族和少数民族学生对本民族之外的民族区分态度和行为差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）;③民族认同对民族区分有直接而显著的预测作用（P〈0.05或P〈0.001）。由此可见：个体对本民族（中华民族）的高度认同和外民族（国外民族）的低区分联系在一起;民族认同的排他性（民族区分）受个体所处的情境以及个体间的竞争性等因素影响。     

古代文学教学中利用教材培养学生科研能力的探讨——以《金瓶梅》性描写问题为例

在《金瓶梅》性描写问题上,通过引导学生树立与文学史教材对话的意识;共同研讨教材内容的观点;对《金瓶梅》性描写的教材现象进行解剖等教学措施的实施,证明利用教材培养学生科研能力是必要也是可行的。