Transcript sexeduc Raisa Cacciatore - COFACE

Sexuality education for children
- what children need to know?
Brussels 14.12.2011
Raisa Cacciatore
M.D., Specialist in Child Psychiatrics
Expert Physician at the Sexual Health Clinic of the Family Federation of Finland
www.vaestoliitto.fi www.raisacacciatore.fi
Levels of teenage sexual activity across developed
countries are similar…
% of women aged 20-24 who had sex in their teenage years
United States
Great Britain
Canada
Sweden
France
0
20
40
60
By age 15
By age 18
By age 20
80
100
©The Alan Guttmacher Institute
Young people who have had sexual intercourse; 15-year-olds
(%)
HBSC, 2008
Romania
46
12
Greece
46
18
Bulgaria
31
Estonia
23
Ukraine
47
24
36
0
23.05.2010
Boys
Girls
26
England
Finland
47
10
20
30
26
28
40
40
50
School Health Promotion Study 2010
BZgA on behalf of the expert group
School Health Promotion Study, Finland
Have had intercourse
2000/2001 - 2008/2009, %
2000/ 2002/ 2004/ 2006/ 2008/
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009
14-15 year olds
Upper secondary school
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
23
21
20
20
21
26
26
26
23
22
36
36
34
34
35
49
49
48
46
44
100
90
80
70
60
50
Kissing
40
Petting with
clothes on
30
Petting without
clothes
20
Intercourse
10
0
14yo
15yo
16yo upper
secondary
school
17yo upper
secondary
school
16yo
vocational
school
17yo
vocational
school
School Health Promotion Study 2010 Finland N= 100 000
Those boys, who had lowest
knowledge on sexual heath
• Had most often already had intercourse
• Had most often experienced sexual abuse or
harassment (the more experiences, the worse
was knowledge)
– These boys were 2-3x more less enjoying the
school work
– Had lower results in school work
– used 10x more the school nurse services
N= 33 000 14,5 year olds
Kontula ja Meriläinen, Koulun seksuaalikasvatus 2000-luvun Suomessa.
Väestöliitto, Väestöntutkimuslaitos
Self-determination - Protecting sexuality
Need of protection =
The parent’s responsibility
Abilities and skills =Independent decision
making capacity
Age
COMMUNICATION SKILLS,
DECISION MAKING SKILLS,
SOCIO-EMOTIONAL SKILLS
POSITIVE SELF-ESTEEM
I want to take care of
myself!
I don’t take risk with
myself!
I protect myself!
I enjoy my life!
I LOVE MYSELF!
• The information of slow, stepwise
development
• The possibility to understand all changes
and to grow up safe
• The support for self-worth, dignity,
communication skills and refusal skills
• Counseling: rules, rights and limits
more sure, more want
towards experiences
personal, shy and unsure
period full of questions
playful speculations, open
and eager attitude
Sexuality education is needed in all three levels:
Cognition:
Values, attitudes
understanding, reasoning, knowledge,
communication skills, decision-making skills
Emotions:
Love, shyness, uncertainty, jealousy, desire,
disappointments, need for closeness
Biology:
Pubertal changes, body changes, menstruations,
ejaculations
Sexuality education is needed in all three levels:
Cognition: To make informed choices
Emotions: To cope with strong feelings
Biology: To understand and to take care of own body
Tools to live healthy and happy!
The Nine Step Model
Erja Korteniemi-Poikela and Raisa Cacciatore
The National Board of Education in Finland 2000
Step 1: Adoring parent
Step 2: Love of idols
Step 3: Known but hidden
Step 4: Close and told to a friend
Step 5: I like you
Step 6: Hand in hand
Step 7: Kissing
Step 8: What feels good?
Step 9: Maturity to make love
Early interaction in family:
closeness and comfort
Knowledge of rules and limits.
If someone touches you badly:
1. Say: ”NO!”
2. Go away!
3. Tell to an adult
you trust!
The richness of a kiss
SENSE, EMOTION, BIOLOGY.
Ability to assess one's own maturity: what do I want?
All levels are important
Do I know how, can I?
How does it feel like?
Learning sexual
communication.
Learning about rights.
Estimating own and other’s
maturity
”On which step you are at the moment?”
50 adolescents, 15-18 yr olds (Rauma 5.-6.5.2006)
Adoring parent
Love of idols
Known but hidden
Close and told to a friend
I like you
Hand in hand
Kissing
What feels good?
Maturity to make love
Ability to estimate own and others maturity
Self-worth
Communica
tion
Decisionmaking
Refusal
skills
Dignity
• Possible to teach!
• Understanding oneself
•Abilities to handle with feelings
• Understanding the risks
• Abilities to protect one-self
Reasonable way
to behave /
informed choice
Sexuality education should
take into consideration love,
mutual respect and selfconfidence.
Understanding stepwise
development helps young
people develop not to hurry.
Right information helps to
reach and maintain healthy,
respectful and meaningful
relationships.
Stepwise development of childhood sexuality
There are several childhood steps of
sexuality before intercourse.
All steps are important and equal.
Children and adolescents need
information of all these steps,
so that they can fight against media
and peer pressure and recognize abuse.
The child/adolescent himself can
estimate own maturity and step.
This helps him/her not to hurry.
Safely towards
adulthood
-Knowledge that children
and adolescents can accept
and understand.
-Ability to form enriching
sexual relationships on the
right time.
One of the lowest teenage
sexually transmitted
disease level
abortion rates
pregnancies