Magdalena Hulth, Anne-Li Lindgren, Anna Westberg Broström
{"title":"Child sexuality and interdependent agency in sexuality education texts for Swedish preschool practitioners 1969−2021: three discourses on children’s sexual play","authors":"Magdalena Hulth, Anne-Li Lindgren, Anna Westberg Broström","doi":"10.1080/14681811.2023.2261382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2261382","url":null,"abstract":"This paper provides a discourse analysis of 12 Swedish sexuality education texts intended for preschool practitioners and published between 1969 and 2021. Using Fairclough’s framework, we identify three discourses about children’s sexual play in relation to children’s sexual agency in the texts: child sexuality as encouraged and entangled with adult sexuality; child sexuality as conditioned by what is perceived as normal or abnormal in children; and child sexuality as repressed. These three discourses mainly appear chronologically, but also overlap and connect with one another. When analysis begins from children’s position and a theoretical understanding of children’s and adults’ agency as interdependent, it becomes possible to see how the child is construed as agentic, and how the adult role changes from encouraging sexual play to regulating and monitoring behaviour so that it does not occur. Over time, discourse on young children’s sexual play has changed our understanding of both adults and children. Adults are increasingly construed as less knowledgeable in relation to young children’s sexuality, and young children have become understood as more dangerous and in need of having their sexuality constrained and civilised.","PeriodicalId":47510,"journal":{"name":"Sex Education-Sexuality Society and Learning","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135386489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ellie Bostwick Andres, Edmond Pui Hang Choi, Alice Wai Chi Fung, Kevin Wing Chung Lau, Neda Hei Tung Ng, Monique Yeung, Janice Mary Johnston, Lai Ming Ho
{"title":"Comprehensive school-based sexuality education: outcome evaluation results from Hong Kong","authors":"Ellie Bostwick Andres, Edmond Pui Hang Choi, Alice Wai Chi Fung, Kevin Wing Chung Lau, Neda Hei Tung Ng, Monique Yeung, Janice Mary Johnston, Lai Ming Ho","doi":"10.1080/14681811.2023.2257605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2257605","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTThis study evaluated the effects of a comprehensive school-based sexuality education programme in enhancing sexual health knowledge and understanding among adolescents, parents and school personnel in six secondary schools in Hong Kong. Study outcomes were evaluated through pre- and post-tests. A total of 1588 students, 40 parents and 271 school personnel participated. Baseline student knowledge scores were highest among younger students, with significant improvements observed in both years for all grades except one. Baseline student attitude scores were ≥ 85% for younger students, with no significant improvement, while older students showed significant improvements. Parents scored below 40% correct at baseline for knowledge items, while self-efficacy items were generally higher. Baseline teacher knowledge scores were higher than parents, but self-efficacy scores were comparable or lower. Baseline guidance counsellors’ surveys indicated low confidence levels and awareness of community resources to support students. This study identified a clear need for sexuality education in Hong Kong and a special focus on students in schools traditionally serving a high proportion of non-Chinese speaking students. The programme has significant potential for expansion in Hong Kong schools as well as for dissemination in Mainland China.KEYWORDS: Sex educationsexual healthadolescent behaviourhealth promoting schools Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Health and Medical Research Fund (Ref: 02180538), which is administered by the Food and Health Bureau of Hong Kong.","PeriodicalId":47510,"journal":{"name":"Sex Education-Sexuality Society and Learning","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134960046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“I wouldn’t want you talking to my kids!”: the politics of age when conducting research about porn with young people","authors":"Claire Meehan","doi":"10.1080/14681811.2023.2251896","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2251896","url":null,"abstract":"Much research has been conducted on young people as a population rather than with them. Traditionally, porn research has focused on effects – on the assumption that people, especially young people, are impacted by the sexual media they consume, which leads to negative outcomes such as violence and addiction. In this sense, porn is framed as risky and children and young people become especially ‘at risk’. Sex, sexuality and sexual media are then portrayed as a threat from which young people should be protected. Nevertheless, for many young people watching porn is a normal activity and engaging with porn online is a part of everyday life for some teenagers. Scholars have indicated that many young people perceive porn as ubiquitous, as part of society, and difficult to avoid. In this reflexive article I will interrogate the need for such research, even if it is considered as a form of ‘dirty work’, within an alarmist and sensationalist media-driven culture. By examining my experiences of the ethics review process, access to participants, and the fieldwork itself, I hope to demonstrate moments of texture and detail throughout the process which future sex, sexuality and porn researchers can draw upon.","PeriodicalId":47510,"journal":{"name":"Sex Education-Sexuality Society and Learning","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135859790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The teaching body in sexuality education – intersections of age, gender, and sexuality","authors":"Rebecka Fingalsson","doi":"10.1080/14681811.2023.2254710","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2254710","url":null,"abstract":"This paper illuminates how teachers are influenced by age, gender and sexuality in teaching about sex and relationships. In this analysis grounded in feminist theory, age, gender and sexuality are considered to be enacted as doings. Six interviews with teachers working with sexuality education in K-12 schools in Sweden were chosen from of a larger body of material consisting of 21 interviews with professionals engaged in school-based sexuality education. The six interviewees were selected because they explicitly addressed how teachers’ age, gender and/or sexuality come to matter in the classroom. Findings show how male and female teachers organise their teaching in relation to normative expectations of age, gender and sexuality. In sexuality education, the diverse life-courses of (hetero)sexual women offer a wide range of pedagogic possibilities for female teachers to address issues of sexuality, consent and relationships whereas male teachers are constrained to doing safe(r) forms of masculinity by directing attention away from their bodies and experiences. In understanding these results, I argue that the figure of the tant has been key in forming the pedagogic backdrop to Swedish sexuality education, hence embedding a normative ‘who’ in the ‘how’ to teach sexuality education.","PeriodicalId":47510,"journal":{"name":"Sex Education-Sexuality Society and Learning","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135967371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emmalee A. Ford, Catherine Chojenta, Tanmay Bagade, Sally Sweeney, Jessie M. Sutherland
{"title":"Fertility knowledge in a cohort of Australia’s adolescents: a cross-sectional study of reproductive and sexual health education","authors":"Emmalee A. Ford, Catherine Chojenta, Tanmay Bagade, Sally Sweeney, Jessie M. Sutherland","doi":"10.1080/14681811.2023.2255543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2255543","url":null,"abstract":"Fertility information is an important component of comprehensive sexuality education, but the extent to which adolescents are taught or informed about fertility is unknown in Australia. This study examined knowledge of fertility using an anonymous, online survey of > 2,600 adolescents aged 15–18 across Australia. Respondents represented diverse backgrounds, including sexuality and gender diversity (>60% identifying other than heterosexual, 17% gender identity other than man/woman). Average knowledge of fertility was significantly poorer compared to average knowledge of reproductive and sexual health content linked to the national curriculum (p < .001). Linear regression and LASSO variable selection modelling identified significant, but small associations between some sociodemographic factors and knowledge about fertility or overall reproductive and sexual health. Over 80% of respondents considered their sexual health education insufficient, which was associated with poorer knowledge on all outcomes measured in linear regression models. These findings suggest that including fertility content explicitly within the Australian national curriculum will likely increase adolescent understanding of fertility. The strong participation of the adolescent LGBTQ+ community in the survey demonstrates their interest in contributing to reproductive and sexual health education reform. Inclusivity, particularly of sexuality and gender should be a key consideration in reproductive and sexual health education delivery in Australia.","PeriodicalId":47510,"journal":{"name":"Sex Education-Sexuality Society and Learning","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136060348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Young people and sexual consent: contextualising ‘miscommunication’ amid ‘grey areas’ of ambiguity and ambivalence","authors":"Emily Setty","doi":"10.1080/14681811.2023.2259321","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2259321","url":null,"abstract":"Educating young people about sexual consent aims to help them develop healthy relationships and prevent sexual harm. Yet, there remains no consensus on how to define consent nor the connection between consent and sexual harm. This article discusses findings from qualitative research conducted with young people in England that has explored issues of sexual consent. It engages with tensions around the so-called ‘grey areas’ and oft-critiqued ‘miscommunication model’ of consent and suggests that some form of ‘miscommunication’ may underpin some, albeit not all, experiences of sexual harm among young people. Young people may experience problems articulating and interpreting consent not because of malintent or substandard or disparate communication skills but because of interpersonal and sociocultural power dynamics that constrain the communication and operation of consent. Consent education needs, therefore, to support young people develop the socio-emotional skills and literacy required to navigate gendered and heterosexual (inter)personal pressures, expectations, and sexual scripts. It should involve active participation of young people whereby they identify the conditions in which sexual activity unfolds and the power dynamics that constrain the operation of consent.","PeriodicalId":47510,"journal":{"name":"Sex Education-Sexuality Society and Learning","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136059977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cutting facts and values together-apart: an agential realist exploration of Swedish sexuality education","authors":"Karin Gunnarsson, Simon Ceder","doi":"10.1080/14681811.2023.2253436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2253436","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing from a practice-based research study in Swedish secondary schools, the aim of this paper is to explore how facts and values are made and unmade as separate and entangled phenomena in sexuality education. In this exploration, we work with a posthumanist approach – agential realism – and more specifically the concept of agential cuts. The empirical material draws from two moments in the teaching of sexuality education, one concerning nakedness and one concerning gender diversity. The analysis puts forward how the lesson topics in relation to school subjects and exercises become significant actors in how facts and values are enacted in the teaching. This implies that facts and values are enacted together-apart within a relational set of interdependency and hence are always present although temporarily more forcefully and ephemeral. To conclude, we discuss the complexities of how facts and values are part of enacting the everchanging knowledge area of sexuality education and urge for acknowledgement of this matter.","PeriodicalId":47510,"journal":{"name":"Sex Education-Sexuality Society and Learning","volume":"71 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136073284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ariella R Tabaac, Michelle M Johns, Dougie Zubizarreta, Sebastien Haneuse, Andy S L Tan, S Bryn Austin, Jennifer Potter, Laura Lindberg, Brittany M Charlton
{"title":"Associations between sexual orientation, sex education curriculum, and exposure to affirming/disaffirming LGB content in two US-based cohorts of adolescents.","authors":"Ariella R Tabaac, Michelle M Johns, Dougie Zubizarreta, Sebastien Haneuse, Andy S L Tan, S Bryn Austin, Jennifer Potter, Laura Lindberg, Brittany M Charlton","doi":"10.1080/14681811.2022.2072286","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14681811.2022.2072286","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sexual health education experienced by lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth varies widely in relevancy and representation. However, associations among sexual orientation, type of sex education, and exposure to affirming or disaffirming content have yet to be examined. Understanding these patterns can help to address gaps in LGB-sensitive sex education. Our goal in this study was to examine the prevalence and associations among abstinence-only until marriage (AOUM) and comprehensive sex education with LGB-affirming and -disaffirming content sought/received before age 18 (from 1999-2014) by sexual orientation (completely heterosexual with same-sex contact, completely heterosexual with no same-sex contact, mostly heterosexual, bisexual, gay/lesbian) in a sample of 12,876 US young adults from the Growing Up Today Study. Compared to completely heterosexual referents, LGB participants who received AOUM sex education were more likely to encounter LGB-disaffirming content, and this effect was largest among sexual minority participants. Conversely, exposure to comprehensive sex education was associated with receipt of LGB-affirming information. Overall, participants commonly reported receiving AOUM sex education, which may lead to deficits and potential harm to sexual minorities.</p>","PeriodicalId":47510,"journal":{"name":"Sex Education-Sexuality Society and Learning","volume":"23 5","pages":"506-523"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10530727/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41178805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Julia Brasileiro, Laura Widman, Kate Norwalk, Jordyn McCrimmon, Lily Mullins
{"title":"National trends and disparate access to formal and informal sex education among youth involved with the child welfare system in the USA.","authors":"Julia Brasileiro, Laura Widman, Kate Norwalk, Jordyn McCrimmon, Lily Mullins","doi":"10.1080/14681811.2022.2134102","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14681811.2022.2134102","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aimed to understand whether youth involved with the child welfare system in the USA are receiving formal and informal sex education. Data come from the Second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing, a nationally representative sample of children and adolescents in contact with child protective services. Participants included young people (<i>n</i>=1093, aged 11-21) involved with the child welfare system. Participants reported whether they had received formal sex education about a) abstinence only; b) contraceptives/condoms only; c) abstinence and contraceptives/condoms; or d) none. They also reported whether they knew where to access family planning services. We examined the prevalence of sex education experiences and differences in sex education access and knowledge based on participants' pregnancy history and sociodemographic characteristics. Only half (49%) of participants had received any form of formal sex education. Pregnant youth were less likely to have received any sex education compared to non-pregnant youth (<i>p</i>=.045). 72% of adolescents who had received sex education about contraceptives/condoms reported knowing where to access family planning services compared to only 46% of adolescents who had not received sex education about contraceptives/condoms (<i>p</i>=.014). There is a pressing need for comprehensive sex education among young people involved with the child welfare system in the USA.</p>","PeriodicalId":47510,"journal":{"name":"Sex Education-Sexuality Society and Learning","volume":"23 6","pages":"723-739"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10578646/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41239847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}