‘When you come to it you feel like a dork asking a guy to put a condom on’: is sex education addressing young people's understandings of risk?

Abel, Gillian; Fitzgerald, Lisa

doi:10.1080/14681810600578750

Cited by 66 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…2,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] In fact, young Australians themselves nominate school programs as one of the sources they use most for information on sexual health. 11 While there has been some criticism that topics such as loving relationships and homosexuality are not routinely covered, 12 school education remains of primary importance in preparing young people for healthy and enjoyable sex lives.…”

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confidence: 99%

Teacher training in sexuality education in Australia: how well are teachers prepared for the job?

et al. 2011

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Young people's sexual health is a major concern worldwide and in Australia. The sexual behaviour of young people has changed over the past 50 years -with a trend towards first sex at an earlier age, 1 and high rates of unprotected sexual intercourse among young women and men. 2 While an AIDS/HIV epidemic seems to have been prevented successfully in Australia, infection rates for sexually transmissible infections, such as chlamydia, have recently increased significantly among young people in Australia. 3 At the same time, sources of information about sexuality and sexual behaviour are increasingly readily available to young people, yet these are extremely varied in their reliability.In this context, school-based sexuality education is increasingly important in assisting young people to find reliable information, supporting their decision-making, reducing risky sexual behaviour and consequently preventing the increase in sexual infections. 2,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] In fact, young Australians themselves nominate school programs as one of the sources they use most for information on sexual health. 11 While there has been some criticism that topics such as loving relationships and homosexuality are not routinely covered, 12 school education remains of primary importance in preparing young people for healthy and enjoyable sex lives.Hence, we need to ask the question whether teachers are adequately trained to deliver effective sexual health education and to influence young people's sexual behaviour. Pre-service teacher training is clearly one important component of effective sexuality education in schools and is an opportunity to build a sound foundation for this work. It can help to reduce common barriers and challenges in the implementation of sexuality education at school level and improve teaching quality simply by making teachers feel more confident. 13,14 Yet, very little is currently known about the pre-or in-service training delivered by universities and colleges to prospective teachers of sexuality education. Studies in this area are either out-dated or do not exist. [15][16][17] To better understand the current situation of sexuality education at school and the barriers for implementing effective programs, more research on educators and their experiences within the context of professional development is needed. Thus, we reviewed the broader curriculum and policy content for sex education in Australian tertiary teaching institutions, as well as the availability and content of preservice teacher training.* First, the review included desk research of internet resources identifying sexuality, health and physical education content listed by teacher registration institutions as well as universities and colleges. Second, 15-min phone interviews were conducted with key contacts at each participating teaching institution (mostly course coordinators or lecturers specialising in health education) to validate the inclusion and content of sexuality education topics, whether these were compulsory and how many hours were all...

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Teacher training in sexuality education in Australia: how well are teachers prepared for the job?

et al. 2011

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“…Abel and Fitzgerald (2006) found that for New Zealand teenagers negotiating condom use, risks to reputation were more important than risks associated with non-use of condoms such as pregnancy or STIs. Whilst public health discourses emphasise the need for self esteem, particularly in this realm, they fail to acknowledge the dangers for 'acceptable' female identity and behaviour of assertiveness and self esteem, if it results in women becoming more assertive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘They think it's all up to the girls’: gender, risk and responsibility for contraception

Brown

2014

Culture, Health & Sexuality

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“…Knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases is accurately dispersed, but students rarely personalize this information. According to Abel and Fitzgerald (2006), most students stated that they did not fear getting an STI because they did not know anyone who had contracted one. It is also difficult for students to identify with the curricula because most sex education programs describe sex in the context of a committed relationship.…”

Section: Statement Of the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is also difficult for students to identify with the curricula because most sex education programs describe sex in the context of a committed relationship. In the majority of cases, this is far from reality; most students had their first sexual encounter in a casual, one-night experience (Abel & Fitzgerald, 2006).…”

Section: Statement Of the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex-Positive Curricula: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Physical Fitness, Self-Concept and Sexual Functioning

Jiannine¹

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‘When you come to it you feel like a dork asking a guy to put a condom on’: is sex education addressing young people's understandings of risk?

Cited by 66 publications

References 23 publications

Teacher training in sexuality education in Australia: how well are teachers prepared for the job?

Teacher training in sexuality education in Australia: how well are teachers prepared for the job?

‘They think it's all up to the girls’: gender, risk and responsibility for contraception

Sex-Positive Curricula: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Physical Fitness, Self-Concept and Sexual Functioning

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