Constructing the ideal Muslim sexual subject: problematics of school-based sex education in Iran

Abstract

School-based sex education is an underdeveloped and challenging issue to address in Iran. This paper provides insights into the main challenges in developing and implementing school-based sex education in Iran. Through an investigation of one Iranian boys' school that, in contrast to the majority of Iranian educational institutions, has an established strategy for educating its pupils on sexual matters, it is possible to critically explore the underlying principles and practice of sex education in this institution. Given the sociocultural milieu provided by Iranian society and the problematic nature of childhood, adolescent and premarital sexualities within that society, developing and implementing school-based sex education programmes is a difficult endeavour. Premarital sexuality in Iran is unacceptable to such a great extent that many parents and schools, even when aware of the risks associated with poor sexual health knowledge, may choose not to approach sex education, since to do so may be to acknowledge premarital sexuality and, supposedly, lead to premarital sex. There is a need for evidence-based research to examine the different aspects of sex education for young Iranians and to demonstrate its importance and effectiveness.

The effect of sexual health courses on the level of nursing students' sexual/reproductive health knowledge and sexual myths beliefs in Turkey: A pretest‐posttest control group design

“…For instance, research in Iran shows that the great majority of those who are against or suspicious of sex education identify religious faith as the reason for this. 9,10 People in Turkey show similar tendencies. Although Turkey is a secular country, sex education is taboo and sex education has never been included in formal education.…”

Sexualpädagogik in der Sekundarstufe I in Österreich

“…Daher widerstrebt der Aufklärungsunterricht vielen Eltern, selbst wenn sie sich der Risiken bewusst sind, die mit mangelndem Wissen über sexuelle Gesundheit verbunden sind. Sie möchten lieber keine Sexualerziehung, weil sie denken, zu viel Wissen könnte vorehelichen Geschlechtsverkehr fördern (Tabatabaie 2015). Im Vergleich verschiedener Länder zeigen sich demnach zwar unterschiedliche Auffassungen von Eltern, die aber mehrheitlich den Tenor einer zustimmenden Haltung besitzen.…”

Roles of Family in Introducing Early Sexual Education to Children

“…It is because the sexual discussion is considered taboo (Oktavianingsih & Ayriza, 2018;Pohlman, 2017;Kocsis, 2017) [6,18,19]. Parents prefer not to talk or feel incapable to provide appropriate answers about sexuality when their children ask (Pandia et al, 2017;Oktavianingsih & Ayriza, 2018;Tabatabaie, 2015) [20,6,21].…”