Objective To determine whether a theoretically based sex education programme for adolescents (SHARE) delivered by teachers reduced unsafe sexual intercourse compared with current practice. Design Cluster randomised trial with follow up two years after baseline (six months after intervention). A process evaluation investigated the delivery of sex education and broader features of each school. Setting Twenty five secondary schools in east Scotland. Participants 8430 pupils aged 13-15 years; 7616 completed the baseline questionnaire and 5854 completed the two year follow up questionnaire. Intervention SHARE programme (intervention group) versus existing sex education (control programme). Main outcome measures Self reported exposure to sexually transmitted disease, use of condoms and contraceptives at first and most recent sexual intercourse, and unwanted pregnancies. Results When the intervention group was compared with the conventional sex education group in an intention to treat analysis there were no differences in sexual activity or sexual risk taking by the age of 16 years. However, those in the intervention group reported less regret of first sexual intercourse with most recent partner (young men 9.9% difference, 95% confidence interval − 18.7 to − 1.0; young women 7.7% difference, − 16.6 to 1.2). Pupils evaluated the intervention programme more positively, and their knowledge of sexual health improved. Lack of behavioural effect could not be linked to differential quality of delivery of intervention. Conclusions Compared with conventional sex education this specially designed intervention did not reduce sexual risk taking in adolescents.
The sociology of consumption pays relatively little detailed and systematic theoretical attention to children, while the sociology of childhood tends to view children’s consumption through what can be called the ‘production of consumption’ approach. This is surprising given the range of empirical and theoretical debate in the sociology of consumption, where ‘mode of consumption’,‘consumption as aesthetics’ and ‘material culture’ represent a further three approaches. By bringing together the sociologies of childhood and consumption, a framework for empirical research is advanced. Four inter-related themes are suggested: learning to consume; lifestyle and identity formation; children’s engagements with material culture; and the parent-child relationship. It is argued that such a framework offers scope to further understandings of how cultures of consumption impact on children, children and parents, and construct notions of childhood. A focus on children’s consumption also represents an opportunity to clarify key processes of influential theories of social change.
Interventions are unlikely to achieve their desired aims unless they are implemented as intended. This paper focuses on factors that impeded or facilitated the implementation of a specially designed sex education programme, SHARE, which 13 Scottish schools were allocated to deliver in a randomized trial. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data provided by teachers, we describe how this intervention was not fully implemented by all teachers or in all schools. Fidelity to the programme was aided by intensive teacher training, compatibility with existing Personal and Social Education (PSE) provision, and senior management support. It was hindered by competition for curriculum time, brevity of lessons, low priority accorded to PSE by senior management, particularly in relation to timetabling, and teachers' limited experience and ability in use of role-play. The nature of the adoption process, staff absence and turnover, theoretical understanding of the package, and commitment to the research were also factors influencing the extent of implementation across and within schools. The lessons learned may be useful for those involved in designing and/or implementing other teacher-delivered school-based health promotion initiatives.
In this paper we explore some current issues in, what has come to be called, the new sociology of childhood and how these relate to the process of researching children's lives in general, and to our own research in particular. We discuss the developmental model of childhood, before going on to explore ideas about children as, on the one hand, inhabiting a relatively autonomous realm and, on the other as part of the same social world as adults but with different sets of competencies. The implications of these differing positions for researching children will be assessed prior to a discussion of the design of our current research, on children and risk, and the wider implications of our reflections on the research process.
Objective To assess the impact of a theoretically based sex education programme (SHARE) delivered by teachers compared with conventional education in terms of conceptions and terminations registered by the NHS. Design Follow-up of cluster randomised trial 4.5 years after intervention. Setting NHS records of women who had attended 25 secondary schools in east Scotland. Participants 4196 women (99.5% of those eligible). Intervention SHARE programme (intervention group) v existing sex education (control group). Main outcome measure NHS recorded conceptions and terminations for the achieved sample linked at age 20. Results In an "intention to treat" analysis there were no significant differences between the groups in registered conceptions per 1000 pupils (300 SHARE v 274 control; difference 26, 95% confidence interval − 33 to 86) and terminations per 1000 pupils (127 v 112; difference 15, − 13 to 42) between ages 16 and 20. Conclusions This specially designed sex education programme did not reduce conceptions or terminations by age 20 compared with conventional provision. The lack of effect was not due to quality of delivery. Enhancing teacher led school sex education beyond conventional provision in eastern Scotland is unlikely to reduce terminations in teenagers. Trial registration ISRCTN48719575.
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