A little girl runs out to the yard where her father is
working, and asks him, "Daddy, what's sex?"
Her startled father sits her down, and tells her all about
the birds and the bees. He tells her about conception,
sexual intercourse, sperm and eggs. He goes on to tell
her about puberty, menstruation… the works…
By the time he's finished, his daughter is somewhat
awestruck with this sudden influx of bizarre new
knowledge.
Her father finally asks: "So what did you want to know
about sex for?"
"Oh, mummy said to tell you lunch would be ready in a
couple of secs..."
UNIB30004 Sex: science and the community
Discussion
Sex Education
and
How we learn about sex
Incorporates some material from Steven O’Connor, Senior Policy Officer, Vic Dept Ed.
Sex education needs
radical overhaul, say
experts
Jill Stark
Published: March 23, 2014 - 3:04AM
http://www.smh.com.au/national/sex-educationneeds-radical-overhaul-say-experts-2014032235abm.html
Push to add sex education
to national curriculum
Bianca Hall
Published: July 5, 2012 - 11:05AM
http://www.theage.com.au/national/push-to-add-sexeducation-to-national-curriculum-20120704-21hpd.html
Let’s Talk Abut Sex YEAH/AYAC 2012
• No nationally consistent approach to sexual education.
• Sex Ed in Aust schools ranges from no sexual education or minimal classes
focusing on the dangers of sexual activity, to comprehensive lessons on the
benefits, as well as the risks, of sexual relationships.
• Sexually transmitted infection rates among young people  20% 2009-2011
• Condom use was declining
• young people account for 75% of STIs
• 10% of young people thought they were at risk of contracting an STI or AIDs.
• Young people were only marginally more likely to get their information about
sex from school (69 per cent) than from pornography (64 per cent)
http://www.ayac.org.au/uploads/Lets%20TalkAboutSex_AYACYEAH_FinalReport.pdf
Victorian Dept Education
• Catching On sexuality education  Victorian schools
since 2004.
• Victoria, Sex Ed compulsory for government schools
– Health and Physical Education domain
– assessment and reporting against the Victorian Essential
Learning Standards.
– most effective if whole-school learning approach.
• Non-govt schools very variable
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/social/physed/Pages/about.aspx
UNESCO
• International Guidelines on Sexuality Education
A growing number of governments around the
world are confirming their commitment to
sexuality education as a priority essential to
achieving national development, health and
education goals.
Latin America 2008 Ministerial Declaration
• call to implement and strengthen
multisectoral strategies for comprehensive
sexuality education
• comprehensive sexuality education entails
human rights, ethical, biological, emotional,
social, cultural and gender aspects;
respects diversity of sexual orientations and
identities.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001832/183281e.pdf
The number of sexuality education
programmes demonstrating effects
on sexual behaviours
87 studies
Dev countries
29
USA
47
Other dev countries 11
Similar patterns in all.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001832/183281e.pdf
Initiation of Sex
• Delayed initiation
• Had no significant impact
• Hastened initiation
Frequency of Sex
• Decreased frequency
• Had no significant impact
• Increased frequency
Number of Sexual Partners
• Decreased number
• Had no significant impact
• Increased number
Use of Condoms
• Increased use
• Had no significant impact
• Decreased use
Use of Contraception
• Increased use
• Had no significant impact
• Decreased use
Sexual Risk-Taking
• Reduced risk
• Had no significant impact
• Increased risk
% of studies
37%
63%
0%
31%
66%
3%
44%
56%
0%
40%
60%
0%
40%
53%
7%
53%
43%
3%
What influences what we can do
in Sex Ed?
Influences on sexuality education
Political arena
• Political commitments/directions
• Political climate
• Ministerial position
• Advisor’s influence
• Senior bureaucrat/management influence
• Government caution.
Influences on sexuality education
• Legislation
– Equal opportunity
– Human Rights Charter
• Other government policies
– Department of Health
– Office for Youth etc
– National and other state policies, initiatives
– Australian Government
Example from media
Let's talk about sex,
October 10, 2012
Last month, a spokeswoman for the Education Minister,
Peter Garrett, said the government had included the
subjects of “sexual and gender identity” and “managing intimate relationships” in its
new curriculum. Physical, social and emotional changes of puberty will be taught in
years five and six. Sexuality will be explored in years seven and eight as young
people “learn to recognise sexual feelings and evaluate behavioural expectations
for different social situations”.
But the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority had to delay its
plans for sex education after religious and conservative groups raised concerns.
Dr Steve Hambleton, the president of the Australian Medical Association, said
talking about puberty and sex was “best done by family”, and it was important
children did not hear it in the playground first.
The executive director of the Council of Catholic School Parents, Danielle Cronin,
said the classroom lessons on puberty could “really freak kids out”.
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/lets-talk-about-sex-20121009-27b93.html#ixzz3ErBQuxEH
Influences on sexuality education
• Stakeholders
– minority groups
– organisations (e.g. VicHealth)
– public figures
– ministerial correspondence
– media reporting (stakeholder positions etc.)
– public opinion (incl. the no-longer-silent majority).
• Global trends and knowledge
What are the limits?
Which are normal?
Have you ever received an “enlarge your
penis” email?
Some men are clearly concerned... but
does size matter?
Which are normal?
There is huge variation between
people.
All the pictures show perfectly
normal variations of the anatomy.
but some people get very concerned
eg. labioplasty - plastic surgery
(see “the perfect vagina” program
in the digital repository)
How do we measure effectiveness
of sex education?
Teen birth rates internationally, per 1000 girls aged 15-19 years.
15.5 (ABS 2010)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy
AMSTERDAM
photos: G Shaw
“red light”
district
(centre of town)
From The Times November 24, 2008
Sex education: why the British should go Dutch
Britain's Schools Minister plans to introduce sex lessons for five-year-olds.
They already have them in the Netherlands. Is that why they also have the
lowest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe?
Alice Thomson
The children of De Burght School in Amsterdam walk past the red-light district to
their classrooms every day, past the “Peep Shows, Live Girls,” the risqué
underwear shops and the newsagents selling teen magazines with free condoms.
At school the five-year-olds play mummies and daddies in the playground knowing
what their parents did in bed last night.
Next year, 12-year-old Sasha explains to me, they will learn how to put a condom
on a broomstick (she says this without a trace of embarrassment, just a polite
smile). Across the city, nine-year-old Marcus, who lives in a beautiful 18th-century
house on a canal, has been watching a cartoon showing him how to masturbate.
His sister, 11, has been writing an essay on reproduction and knows that it is legal
for two consenting 12-year-olds to make love. Her favourite magazine, Girls, gives
advice on techniques in bed, and her parents sometimes allow her to stay up to see
a baby being born on the birthing channel.
...
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article1855323.ece
From The Times November 24, 2008
Sex education: why the British should go Dutch
Britain's Schools Minister plans to introduce sex lessons for five-year-olds.
They already have them in the Netherlands. Is that why they also have the
lowest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe?
Alice Thomson
...
the Dutch are more relaxed than Britons in every aspect of their lives. “The English
are embarrassed to talk about sex. They are too squeamish. Here adults and
children are better educated. It would be unthinkable for a Dutch parent to withdraw
their child from sex discussions. I have had only one Muslim mother who left
halfway through a parents' talk on sex.”
He believes it is important to talk to children in a relaxed way about sex before they
become self-conscious and embarrassed. “It is all about self-respect,” he said.
“There is no point in telling children just to say ‘no' - this is a liberal country; you
need to tell them why they are saying ‘no' and when to say ‘yes'.”
From The Times November 24, 2008
Sex education: why the British should go Dutch
Britain's Schools Minister plans to introduce sex lessons for five-year-olds.
They already have them in the Netherlands. Is that why they also have the
lowest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe?
Alice Thomson
...
A series of books by Sanderijn van der Doef provides Dutch children with all they
could need to know about sex. The book for five-year-olds has pictures on the
cover of toddlers kissing each other on the lips. Inside, children are told why their
mothers have breasts and shave their armpits, how smiley-faced sperm travel, how
human beings prefer to lie on top of each other but dogs mate from behind, and
what their father's penis looks like. The book for 11-year-olds shows a girl
examining her genitals in a mirror, and explains about periods and the Pill.
Van der Doef is a star in her country and her manuals have become classics. Dutch
parents read them to their children at bedtime, for information and enjoyment.
“Here sex is a normal daily part of life, like shopping or football. In England it is a
joke,” says the author. “My books teach children what adults do when they love
each other and how babies are created. Children as young as 4 should know if they
were born by Caesarean section or after artificial insemination. It is vital to be
honest.”
Deconstructing the Dutch Utopia:
Sex education and teenage pregnancy in the Netherlands
Joost van Loon with additional research by Norman Wells
UNICEF points towards the pivotal role of both sex education and easy
access to contraception, which are believed to contribute to lowering teenage
birth rates. However, it is unable to determine...
By contrast, in this report, we have attempted to look more critically at the
validity of such ‘common sense’ assumptions. The research we draw upon
derives from four different sources: published research findings; official
statistics; official documents regarding sex education including text books;
and a small-scale qualitative investigation in four primary and four secondary
schools, where teachers who were involved in sex education programmes
were interviewed.
http://www.famyouth.org.uk/pdfs/DDU.pdf
Deconstructing the Dutch Utopia:
Sex education and teenage pregnancy in the Netherlands
Joost van Loon with additional research by Norman Wells
...
The report concludes that the way in which sex education is taught in the
Netherlands closely resembles that of Britain and is not a critical factor in
influencing the comparatively low teenage pregnancy rate. Instead, the
comparatively low benefits for single parents, the more traditional family
structures (with fewer mothers in full-time employment and lower divorce
rates), have a direct bearing on the ability of parents to involve themselves in
the everyday lives of their children and thus also to contribute constructively
to their moral and social development.
So what should sex education
cover?
What should we consider?
• Local culture and diversity
• Resources available
• Expertise and knowledge of the sex-education teachers available
Channel 4 (UK) “The sex education show”
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-sex-education-show
note: the images at start of this lecture were from the video clips in their archives
The sex education show (UK)
... We spoke to literally hundreds of teenagers across
the country and a worrying 76% of them said they want
more sex education. Yet earlier this year a government
bill that was going to make sex education compulsory in
all schools for the very first time was dropped.
However, the need for sex education has never been
greater, we still have the highest rate of teenage
pregnancies in Western Europe, and teenage STI rates
have rocketed by 58% in the last 5 years!
http://sexperienceuk.channel4.com/sex-education/about/the-show
Condom Masterclass
http://sexperienceuk.channel4.com/videos/7689
Virginity Class
http://sexperienceuk.channel4.com/videos/8041
Anatomy Class
http://sexperienceuk.channel4.com/videos/8037
Some additional sources
• Sex Education in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education
Note: in this discussion I have focused more on
the biological aspects of sex / sex education,
which is only natural given the inevitable time
constraints and my academic interests. I have
not gone into issues of “relationships” etc., but
these are vitally important components of sex
education programs too. The same sorts of
issues in communication apply to conveying
messages about relationships.