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NOTICE CONCERNING MATERIAL ON THIS FEMALE SEXUALITY EDUCATION SITE:
The photographic and written research and scientific information of this site is provided for purely educational purposes. Some content, however, may not be suitable for all audiences. Anyone under 18 years of age should visit this site with the permission and direct involvement of their parent or guardian. The sole purpose of this page is meant for educational and informational purposes. This is meant to be a frank discussion of female sexuality as well as relationship issues with some male sexuality discussed. If you do not wish to review these pages, due to mature content please go back now.
PLEASE NOTE: All information listed on Reproduction/Sexuality site is for information purposes ONLY. The Web owner of this site does not list the following sections as Support or Encouragement of various sexual practices or attitudes. It is only here for information purposes only. Most segments on this web site have been culled from other Sexuality Books, and Information that can also be found on the web or in Medical Abstracts.
I would like to acknowledge that a great many people are contributors to these
pages and that I have not as of yet given the proper citations and such. Please
be advised that this will be rectified ASAP. I thought though that the info was
significant and presentable in its form so I have placed this IMPORTANT
Information here for those, whom are at risk the most and need to know, are our
youth.
I have also enclosed for your convience the names, locations, and telephone
numbers of local (FREE) STD/HIV clinics here:
Listed below are 2 clinics in Columbus, OH
1.Columbus City Health Dept. 181 S. Washington Boulevard Columbus, OH 43215 Phone: (614) 645-7773 Days/Hrs: Mon-Fri (8am-3: 30pm) / AIDS: Daily
(call)
2.VD Hotline of Greater Columbus 1515 E. Broad Street Columbus, OH Phone: (614) 253-8581 Days/Hrs:
This
sums up what we, as parents need to do to protect our future generations from extinction,
turmoil, distress, and disease. This is not a test we only have one chance since
the disease of AIDS only needs the opportunity ONCE to infect OUR CHILDREN with
the VIRUS that causes AIDS - HIV! This is a recopied version in its entirety of
an other web sites newsletter article. PLEASE READ!
IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY - SEXUALITY, EDUCATION AND YOUTH
by Doortje Braeken,
Youth Consultant, International Planned Parenthood Federation.
For our young people sex is a thrilling subject.
They romanticize it, seeing it as a source of joy, but at the same time they
can be very afraid of it. By the age of 16 half of the young folk in the world
have had sexual intercourse (l). Acknowledging this, parents, educators and
health professionals should want to support young people at the beginning of
their sexual careers, but instead they often deliver them all kinds of
messages, ranging from "do not do it", through "wait until you
are married," to "sex is fun as long as you do it in a safe and
honest way."
Many young people find their parents, teachers or
any other adults for that matter, not very well equipped to talk to them about
sexual health. Young people do not want to be subjected to the moralizing of
adults. To a large extent youngsters share the values of their parents in their
attitudes to abortion, sexual intercourse or fidelity, but at the same time
their actions are governed by other, external, factors. To begin with they take
risks, proceeding through life by trial and error at the same time, as they may
have to face psychological, family and social problems, which can delay their
maturity.
Adults often talk about the rebellious,
irresponsible behavior of young people, but this often results from their own
ignorance of the conditions inflicted upon youngsters by society, such as a
lack of information, poor education or no access to contraceptive services.
Education is an important tool to support and
help young people. However clear this may be, there is no agreement on the
messages, content and methods of education when applied to sexuality.
Who are these young people?
Before considering educational approaches that
teach sexuality to young people, it is important to understand what I mean by
"youth". Although internationally the term "adolescent" is
frequently used, I believe it might be more appropriate to think in terms of
"youth" or "young people". The word "adolescent"
only refers to those who fall within the age range that spans puberty. Yet, to
support young people effectively in their sexual development, action must be
undertaken both before and after the child reaches puberty. Some young people
are already involved in sexual activities before they reach puberty while
others wait until their mid twenties. I would therefore like to refer to the
age group between 10-24 years old. Obviously children of 10, adolescents of 16
and youngsters of 22 do not face the same problems, nor do they possess the
same degree of understanding and self-expression. There are also big
differences in the standard of education and socio-economic environments
between young people. Maybe even more important is the influence of gender.
There are big differences between what young boys and girls believe is to be
gained from a sexual relationship, when expressed among themselves, as well as
those differences perceived for them by adults. In the context of sexuality,
gender is obviously a powerful force and it should be harnessed to form the
basis of sound education in sexual health and safer sexual practices.
We know that in most Western industrialized
countries young people start their sexual life around 16-17 years (2). Studies
from Africa and Latin America have reported increased percentages of
"unmarried" young adults who are sexually active (3).
Reports also show that, in Western industrialized
countries, the level of knowledge about contraceptive methods, STD's and AIDS
is rising. There are many signs indicating that young people are intending to
improve their preventive behavior. But it is also clear that knowledge and
awareness are not always translated into safe behavior (4). Additional factors
determining behavior are peer pressure and the individual's perception of the
meaning of sexuality.
The reasons why young people do not use
contraceptives or practice safer sex have been identified as:
§
Social norm: using
or carrying contraceptives will make people think I am a slut.
§
I am after sex: the
pill is like a driver's license; it gives me permission to have sex.
§
I cannot discuss
this with my parents: my parents will not understand.
Studies from the Netherlands show that there are
four important factors that control the use of contraceptives by young girls.
Firstly, teenagers need to be educated concerning sexuality, sexual
relationships, fertility and contraception. Secondly, they should be motivated
to prevent pregnancy and not to take risks. Thirdly, they require communicative
skills and self-confidence to discuss the need for prevention with their
medical advisor and with their partner. Finally, they should have easy access
to contraceptive services.
These studies show that the quality of their
relationship with their partner, the level of their feeling of self esteem and
the control they have over the relationship, determine whether young people
will engage in safer sexual techniques or use preventive measures (5).
Education should therefore focus on the development of self-empowerment and the
ability to cope with social norms and pressures. After the transfer of
knowledge, education should place emphasis on a discussion of attitudes to
social norms and values, as well as upon an understanding of the importance of
communication skills. In this way young people can be guided to set realistic
goals and make the right decisions in life.
There are still many obstacles that prevent the
teaching of sexual health issues to young people. There is a shortage of
trained and skilled professionals. There is a great dearth of suitable teaching
materials. In some countries there are still legal constraints to providing
educational materials and contraceptives.
Sex education in schools
In Europe, public opinion is generally in favor
of sex education but in reality sex education in schools often falls short of
expectation. Only in a few countries, like Denmark, Portugal and Sweden is sex
education well integrated into the school curriculum (6).
School-based programes are delivered either
through formal curricula or as part of extra curricular activities. Formalized
sex education is developed through the introduction of guidelines and
curricula. Some countries have extended their program beyond the school setting
to include parents and out-of-school projects in their activities. Most
education on sexual and reproductive health starts in secondary schools but
there is a move towards introducing these subjects at an earlier age, in
primary schools or even in the pre-school years.
Recently Kirby (7), reviewed several school based
sex education programs. His study showed a variety of approaches, ranging from
the promotion of sexual abstinence to the dispensing of contraceptives. It was
found that most programs are inadequately evaluated. Only a few of the programs
produced promising outcomes. According to this overview five groups of sex
education programs have emerged:
§
Curricula emphasizing
students' knowledge of the risks and consequences of pregnancy. The value of
these programs appeared to be restricted to knowledge gains.
§
Curricula emphasizing
value clarification, communication and decision making skills. These programs
address generic human values and social skills. Evaluation has shown attitudes
change, only when specific points were emphasized. The programs did not affect
the timing of first intercourse nor did they reduce risk taking or teenage
pregnancy.
§
Curricula
advocating sexual abstinence. Although short- time attitude shifts were
reported, these programs had no effect on the actual sexual behavior of the
young people.
§
First-generation
HIV/AIDS curricula. These programs were built on the successes and failures of
the other programs. They relied heavily on classroom discussions. Skill
oriented activities were not included. And again evaluation showed that
although there was an increase in knowledge and a change in attitudes, the
actual behavior did not alter very much.
§
The theory based
curricula: these curricula combine knowledge, attitude and skill related
activities. They try to relate to other activities in the school and programs
running outside school. Attention is given to the atmosphere of the school and
other prevailing conditions in the hope that the efficacy of the sex education
is improved.
The advantage of school-based sex education programs
is that large numbers of young people can be included. There are, however, also
disadvantages to this approach. For many schools it is difficult to reach a
consensus on the attitude and content of the programs, so many are restricted
to the transfer of biological and medical information.
Examining the content of the various programs,
one can see that many of them are confined to the medical aspects of sexuality
and reproductive health. The programs often concentrate on technical
information rather than addressing the sexual behavior of the young, their
aspirations and how to handle learning experiences. There are also programs,
which try to integrate all these aspects into the larger context of life styles
and health education. Some recent initiatives concentrate on one particular
issue like AIDS, the prevention of sexual abuse or self-empowerment.
The following topics are covered in most programs:
·
Families and family
life
·
Decision making
skills
·
Abstinence
·
Puberty
·
Values
·
Reproductive and
medical information
·
Communication
The topics that are rarely covered are:
·
Masturbation
·
Abortion
·
Sexual fantasies
·
Sexual preferences
and different life styles
·
Sexual dysfunctions
·
Sexuality, art and
culture
Effective sex education in schools should be
based on a student-centered approach. It requires a clear and sensitive insight
into behavior, and the use of teaching techniques such as participatory and
experiential learning, which are often quite new for the teachers. School based
programs should be part of the school program in general and should not be
delegated to only one teacher or to an outsider. Correctly used they seem to be
an effective way to deliver sex education, however, it is equally clear that a
lot of time and effort must be deployed to train and support the teaching
staff.
Sex education outside schools
The out of school strategies range from mass
media activities to community based programs.
The media
Young people love mass media entertainment, all
of it - radio, television, music, film, comic books, and the lot! The
entertainment media love young people. Love, romance and sex are the stuff of
entertainment. Many young people say that it is from these sources that they
learn about sex, although what the young see and hear about sex in this type of
entertainment is often misleading, incomplete and distorted (8).
Only in the Nordic countries are there specialized
television and radio programs on sexuality designed for young people, to help
them to protect themselves by the adoption of safer sexual practices.
Community based programs
The advantage of community-based sex education programs
is that they can reach young people who do not attend school regularly. They
can also address certain matters more openly and explicitly. They can be
directed to the specific needs of different target groups.
In addition to giving information these programs
aim to encourage discussion on emotions, and attitudes towards safer sexual
practices and to develop decision-making and communication skills. They also
help young people to adopt safer sexual practices.
Young people are not a homogeneous group. They
have differing needs concerning sex education, which must be recognized.
Recently some new issues have arisen and new groups have developed in
community-based programs for young people. One new issue is gender. Although all
educators do not acknowledge it, gender plays an important role in the sexual behavior
of young people as young men and young women have different views, attitudes
and aspirations towards sex. In the past, priority was given to girls in many programs,
sometimes unconsciously, especially in regard to self-empowerment and
self-esteem. Now it is becoming clear that self-esteem is equally important for
young men. Both young men and young women need to explore their attitudes and
feelings towards sexuality and towards one another in order to enable them to
define sexuality on their own terms, while at the same time developing a proper
regard and respect for the feelings of their partner.
Sexual orientation is still neglected in many programs.
The Nordic and Western European countries show a more positive attitude towards
young people who engage in homosexual contacts, but despite this only a few programs
show an integrated or lifestyle approach.
Sexual abuse has also been a recent inclusion
into sex education. Although in the more traditional programs this problem is
not given prominence nor seen as an important subject in adolescent education,
we now know that much more sexual abuse occurs to young people than is
reported. Sexual abuse can profoundly affect self-image. Those programs, which
are now emerging to tackle this problem, are mainly to help girls. Young men
are left out again. In the Netherlands an educational program for young sex
offenders has proved to be very effective (10).
There are still many young people in society who
are at risk and have special needs, for example young people who are drug
abusers or juvenile delinquents. Very few programs address the requirements of
these youngsters. All young people whose rights of sexual self-expression are
denied deserve our sympathy, understanding and help, including those with
mental or physical disabilities, who should have the same rights to sex
education as their normal peers. Some countries like Sweden, England and the
Netherlands have started to include these persons in suitable programs.
The role of young people
A recent advance in the sex education programs is
the development of peer-led programs, especially in the area of HIV/AIDS.
It is still not clear what the impact of peer
education programs will be. Evaluation of them must be a priority. The
importance of involving young people as educators and counselors is self
evident, but in many countries in Europe this approach is used only because professional
educators and health service providers do not understand the actual cultural
and social setting. This is especially so when it concerns sexual health and
AIDS education. Some professionals like to believe that young people are a
"hard to reach" group. Hard to reach by whom: by well-educated,
middle class, often elderly and staid professionals?
It is important to define the degree to which
young people are involved in planning, implementing and evaluating these programs
and activities. There is more to participation than simply involving young
people in education and counseling programs, as is so often seen in "youth
to youth" projects. Participation must have empowerment as its objective.
In 1969 Arnstein developed a so called "participation ladder" (9)
starting with "unreal participation" - activities in which young
people play a role but have no influence. Most youth activities include this
form of participation. Then the rungs progressed through and we end up with an
inferior system to protect our youth.
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