Transcript Practical Aspects of Sexual Education S. Ozalp, T. Bombas, M.Joao Trindade, F. Branco Why are teenagers still getting pregnant? Adolescents: pregnancy, parenting, prevention 6th Seminar, ESC, 8 Oct.

Practical Aspects of
Sexual Education
S. Ozalp,
T. Bombas,
M.Joao Trindade,
F. Branco
Why are teenagers still getting pregnant?
Adolescents: pregnancy, parenting, prevention
6th Seminar, ESC, 8 Oct. 2001, Coimbra
Prof. Dr. S. Sinan ÖZALP
Osmangazi University
Faculty of Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Eskişehir TURKEY
Sexual Education for Adolescents is a Human Right
 Young people, as all human beings, have the
right to experience and fully develop their
sexuality, as well as the right to highest
attainable standard of sexual education and
reproductive health.
 A good and well planned school curriculum,
which must include sexual education, will
certainly bring more choices possibilities for
the young people.
 The youth need to be equipped with the skills,
tools and knowledge that will enable them to
face the future with confidence, responsibility
and hope.
Definition of Sexual Education
 Comprehensive sexuality education is a
consciously planned, usually formal process for
teaching about the biological, psychological,
sociocultural, and spiritual aspects of human
sexuality, and for developing the skills and attitudes
necessary for a positive and healthy sexual life.
 Sexuality education approaches sexuality as a
natural, positive, and healthy part of human life and
addresses the pleasures and joys of human sexuality
as well as its undesirable aspects, such as sexual
violence or sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Aims of Sexual Education
 Provide accurate information on all
aspects of human sexuality, including
gender
 Assist people to consciously explore,
consider, question affirm, and develop
their own feelings, attitudes, and values
on the various dimensions of sexuality.
Aims of Sexual Education
 Enhance self-esteem and social skills for
developing mutually satisfying,
supportive, equitable, and loving intimate
relationships, and for self determination
in the experience of one’s sexuality,
including the expression of one’s gender,
and control of one’s reproduction
 Enable women and men to responsibly in
the expression of their sexuality, in their
reproductive behavior, and in their
intimate and social relationships.
Sex Education:
Reasons of Dissatisfaction
 In practice many claim they learn more
from friends than from teachers
 They also complain that when do get sex
education, it focuses on biology, issues
such as feelings, relationships,
homosexuality and sexual decisionmaking are often omitted
 For many young people most learning is
still acquired through sexual experience
rather than through sex education.
Sex Education
 I was uncomfortable and the teacher was
uncomfortable
 The way it was, I would have preferred
not to have even had it.
 It was embarrassing.
Constraints
 The question of morality.
 Teachers face a real dilemma as to how to
approach the issues of sexual morality and
family life.
 Not developing a climate in the classroom
in which young people feel safe to discuss
their feelings
Sexless course about sexless behaviour
in a sexless society
Effects of
Community leaders
Friends
Family Members
School teachers
Cultural Values
Religious Beliefs
Where Do Young People Learn
About Sex?
 Debate: Whether schools should teach or
leave that to families.
 Reality: They learn sex not from their
schools or families but instead from their
friends, other peers, and books,
magazines, and the mass media.
 Reality: Much of the information young
people learn from these sources is
misleading, incomplete, or wrong.
 Reality: They learned too little, too late.
Sex Education From School Programs
 Education in the school curriculum.
 The quality, extent and content of courses
vary wildly.
 Problem: Poor understanding of
reproductive biology or contraception.
 Problem: Teach only the biology of sex
and omit important information about
sexuality and preventing pregnancy.
 Problem: Schoolbased programs, at the
secondary-school level, can not reach
those who begin sex earlier or who drop
out or never attend school.
Sex Education From Parents and
Other Family Members
 Policy- makers, program managers, and
parents themselves often agree that
parents are the preferred providers.
 Reality: In many societies few parents
talk to their children about sex.
 Problem: May not receive accurate or
complete information.
Parents’ Approach to Sex Education
 They must be well-informed.
 They must talk with their children about
reproductive health and sexual
responsibility and answer all their
questions fully and accurately
 Listen to their children compassionately,
without dismissing their concerns as
childish or condemning their questions as
improper
Sex Education From Peers and Friends
 For some young people, friends are the
primary or only source of such
information
 Because friends and peers are so
influential, some health programs are
training young people to work as peer
educators
Sex Education From Mass Media
 Source: TV, radio, books, and popular
magazines, “adult” movies.
 Problem: Entertainment media imply
that sex is largely risk free, that everyone
is doing it, and that planning for
protection spoils romance.
 Solution: To counter common massmedia images of sex through appealing
and entertaining programming that
present more responsible and realistic
models for healthy behavior.
The Mass Media Approach to
Sex Education
 Stop glorifying irresponsible sex
 In entertainment, depict people who benefit
form using contraceptives
 In news coverage and other informational
formats, provide accurate information and
healthy guidance about reproductive health
and contraceptives
 Make the public aware of young people’s health
needs
Political Leaders Approach to
Sex Education
 Political leaders can enact and enforce
laws and policies that improve young
people’s access to reproductive health
information and services
 Insist that the news and entertainment
media provide more responsible coverage
and treatment of sexual behavior
Community and Religious Leaders
Approach to Sex Education
 Advocate and organize substantial
reproductive health programs in schools
 Call for for responsible depiction of
sexuality in the mass media
Ten Elements of Effective
Sexuality Education
1.The program presents a positive, accurate,
and comprehensive view of human sexuality.
2.The program respects and empowers
students.
3.The program respects cultural and sexually
pluralism and promotes universal values.
4.The program addresses a diversity of
learning styles and abilities.
5.The program addresses all three learning
domains: cognitive, affective, and
behavioral.
Ten Elements of Effective
Sexuality Education
6.The program is interdisciplinary and
integrated across the curriculum.
7.The curriculum is comprehensive in scope, ageand experience- appropriate, and logically
sequential.
8.The program is supported and reinforce by the
family, peers, religious groups, reproductive
health clinics, and local media.
9.The teachers are willing, comfortable, and
well-trained.
10.The program promotes lifelong learning.
 Evonne Hedgepeth and Joan Helmich,Teaching about Sexuality and HIV:Principles and
Methods for Effective Education, NewYork, New York University Press,1996,pp,14-38.
Request from the Adolescents
 Not only the improvement of the educational
system, but also the inclusion of comprehensive,
non-judgmental, reliable, youth friendly and
responsive to the different needs of young people
sexual education in school curricula.
 These programs should be developed, implemented
and evaluated by young people.
 Such information and education should address
gender relations and equality, responsibility for one
self as well as for partners; sexuality and freedom of
expression
Request from the Adolescents
 Young people, as all human beings, have the right to
experience and fully develop their sexuality, as well as
the right to highest attainable standard of sexual
education and reproductive health.
 A good and well planned school curriculum, which
must include sexual education, will certainly bring
more choices possibilities for the young people.
 The youth need to be equipped with the skills, tools and
knowledge that will enable them to face the future with
confidence, responsibility and hope.
 A good and well-planned school curriculum, which
must include sexual education, will certainly bring
more choices for the young people.
Adolescents should be actively involved
in the planning, implementation and
evaluation of development activities
that have a direct impact on their daily
lives. This is especially important with
respect to services concerning
reproductive and sexual health.
Sex Education Programs Involving
the Adolescents
 Discussions and activities work better than
classroom-type lectures
 A workshop approach allows young people
to explore their own attitudes and feelings
and make discoveries for themselves, and
gain the confidence to make their own
decisions regarding sexual behaviour,
including the confidence to delay a sexual
relationship until they are ready
 Plays, songs, radio shows and other popular
communication methods are also useful.
 Speak to adolescents in their own
language and through their own lines of
communication such as TV shows they
watch, etc.
 Whenever there were points raised about
the specific needs and problems, it must
be put forwarded by adolescents
themselves.
Adolescents Approach
 Work with parents, community leaders,
teachers, and health care providers to design
mutually acceptable approaches to meeting
their own reproductive health needs
 Act responsibly in sexual matters, for their own
sake and that of others
 In sexual situations, respect the rights, wishes,
and concerns of others, including use of
contraceptives to avoid unwanted pregnancies
and of condoms for STD protection.
What is Good Sex Education
 Building self-esteem and self- confidence
 Provide the opportunity to acquire accurate
information
 Allowing to clarify attitudes and values and
explore potential consequences of decisions
they might make
 Encouraging young people to develop a sense of
responsibility for their own sexual health and
respect for the feelings, values and well-being of
others
 Enabling young people to develop the
communication and personal skills that are
necessary for building and maintaining
relationships as friend, partner, parent and
family member.
Qualifications of Sexuality Educators
 Untrained sexuality educators often believe that
they know more than they do,and do not realize the
importance of specialized expertise.
 Not just adolescents, but educators,need to identify
and work through their own attitudes and values,
biases and prejudices.
 Developing expertise in sexuality education takes
training,practice feedback, supervision, refresher
training, and time.
 Providing reference materials to educators on
sexuality and sexuality education is a simple,
essential step.
 Sexuality educators must be carefully selected.
 Not everyone is suitable!
Educators Approach to Sex Education
 Develop school curricula that give
students age appropriate information
about reproductive health
 Train and support teachers so that they
can teach about reproductive health and
contraception accurately and
comfortably
 Facilitate better communication about
sexuality and contraception between
students and their parents.
Leaders of Reproductive Health
Programs Approach to Sex Education
 Provide information and services at times and
in ways that are acceptable and convenient
 Remove other unnecessary barriers to services,
including limits on access to contraceptives for
reasons of age or marital status;
 Help the mass media inform the public about
sexuality and reproduction accurately and
encourage the entertainment media to depict
sexual behavior responsibly; and
 Know where to refer young people for more
information and health services.
Leaders of Reproductive Health
Programs Approach to Sex Education
 Establish health care protocols that meet
the needs of young adults
 Be sensitive to the concerns of the
community while acting as advocates for
meeting young adults’ needs
 Involve young people in program design,
delivery, and evaluation;
 Train health care providers to offer high
quality care to young adults in a
nonjudgmental, confidential manner
Results of Sexual Education
 Increases in sexual knowledge and personal
comfort with sexuality
 Increased tolerance toward the behaviors
and personal values of others
 Delay in the onset of onset of sexual
intercourse and increased likelihood of
using contraception when individuals do
begin having intercourse
 Increased communication with parents
about sexual matters, which correlates with
more responsible behavior
 Increased self-esteem and decision-making
skills.
 Evonne Hedgepeth and Joan Helmich,Teaching about Sexuality and HIV;
Principles and Methods for Effective Education, New York:New York University
Press, 1996, p.3.
Results of Sexual Education
 Does not lead to increased sexual activity
 No evidence that sex education in schools leads
to earlier or increased sexual activity in young
people
 Sex education resulted in either delayed sexual
activity or decreased overall sexual activity
 Access to counseling and contraceptive services
did not encourage earlier or increased sexual
activity
 Sex education increased the adoption of safer
sexual practices among sexually active youth
 Sexuality Education Does Not Lead to Increased Sexual Activity.Press Release,26
November 1993. Geneva: WHO,1993
Sex Education is a Complex Process
 Gather information
 Observe the behavior of peers and other
people
 Develop attitudes and values
 Experiment with behavior
 Rely on different sources for sex
information during different stages of
life.
What shall we do now?
 All persons have the right to equal access to
education and information to ensure their
health and well-being, including access to
information, advice and services relating to
their sexual and reproductive health and
rights.
All persons have the right to access to
education and correct information related to
their sexual and reproductive health, rights
and responsibilities
IPPF Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, 1996
 All persons have the right to sufficient
education and information to ensure that any
decisions they make related to their sexual
and reproductive life are made with full, free
and informed consent.
 All women have the right to information,
education and services necessary for the
protection of reproductive health safe
motherhood and safe abortion and which are
accessible, affordable, acceptable and
convenient to all users.
IPPF Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, 1996
Family Planning Association of
Turkey (FPAT)
 Runs four model clinics in different cities,
and conducts four community-based
health service projects for marginal
groups and deprived urban communities
where there is a high level of unmet need.
These projects aim to assist local
communities to mobilize their own
resources to promote reproductive health
care and contraceptive use, and include
education programs for women and
young girls especially.
FPAT
 Through its 23 branches, the Association conducts
information, education and communication (IEC)
activities in urban and rural areas, focusing
especially on activities for young people and male
involvement, for example, through programs for
military conscripts. The FPA has organized young
peoples' panels discussions in order to assess
priorities in sex education. It runs two youth sexual
health projects and has set up a Youth Group. The
FPA broadcasts a weekly radio and TV programs
`Healthy Family - Happy Society', with audience
feedback.
 There is a great difference in sexuality
between boys and girls?
norms and values are given to sexuality.
 Norms and values influence policy and
programs, leading to more inequality and
discrimination against women.
 Maybe make it a serious class you need a grade
in, in order to graduate, to make it really mean
something. It may be opposed in some places, like
by religious organization not letting this
information come through, but then special
programs could be establish by government to
oversee the implementation of sex education, so
that it's done right.
 Maybe a law was passed, but not enough is being
done to make it happen.
 Keeping information from young people is very
dangerous.