Sex in the classroom

CHILDREN are learning about the basic facts of life from as young as seven or eight but they are still ringing help-lines in their thousands every year with questions about sexuality.

The question many parents are asking themselves is whether they or their children’s schools are doing enough to inform their offspring about sexuality, responsible decision-making and other important issues facing teenagers from an increasingly young age.

The evidence of young people becoming sexually active from an earlier age is undeniable.

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency revealed in major research last year that the average age at which Irish boys and girls first have intercourse is 17. But a growing proportion of the young population is having sex from as young as 12 and 13. Where, then, does the responsibility lie for teaching the facts of life and when should that teaching begin?

This was considered in the consultations that led to the revised primary curriculum being drawn up in 1999, with relationships and sexuality education (RSE) being an important strand of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) subject area.

Sex education is taught up to Junior Certificate level but the Government is considering extending it to fifth and sixth-year students.

The details are expected to be announced by Education Minister Mary Hanafin this week when she reveals the findings of research carried out for her department and the Crisis Pregnancy Agency into sex education in schools.

However, findings of a survey by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) on the draft SPHE senior cycle curriculum last year give a clear indication of young people’s views.

One student told the NCCA that RSE must be included in the senior cycle course because there are so many people of their age having sex.

“They don’t realise that they don’t have to have sex with somebody to get sexually-transmitted infections. We should learn more about preventing STIs and being able to say no,” the student wrote.

In a clear signal of how much sexual activity is taken for granted among young teenagers, another junior cycle student asked what information they wanted from RSE wrote: “Sex and contraception, coz that’s something we are all coming across now — know what precautions to take to protect ourselves — we need to know about STIs and the effects that all different ones have.”

These are some of the topics on which advice was sought among the 20,794 calls to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) Childline service specifically about sexual issues and pregnancy last year. As these account for one-in-five of all calls answered by the service, the society’s chief executive Paul Gilligan has called for a life skills education in all primary schools, focusing on positive sexuality among other things.

“I know that they are learning about these subjects as they finish primary school but these things need to be integrated into school from the very beginning,” he said.

“I’m not suggesting we teach them about sex as soon as they start school but it can be done in an age-appropriate way and should also involve parents,” said Mr Gilligan.

This, he said, is one of the big challenges — to make sex education a partnership between teachers, parents and pupils.

“The system is coming under pressure because parents believe it’s up to schools to teach these things, and a lot of teachers may not be comfortable with the topics they’re being asked to teach,” Mr Gilligan added.

This is a theme reflected by students who spoke to the NCCA, with many stressing the importance of their relationship with the SPHE teacher.

“You can make as many changes as you want but it is just not going to work unless teachers are shown how to put it across properly,” one young person wrote.

Others suggested that strangers should be brought in to teach these subjects, as young people may be embarrassed discussing sexual matters with a teacher they know well.

From a parent’s perspective, the role of the school may sometimes be in conflict with their own religious beliefs or their entitlement to insist that it is something that is taught at home.

One person who responded to the NCCA questionnaire referred to the concerns of Catholic parents.

“Some parents in some schools may be uncomfortable with these outcomes and consider them inappropriate and not in keeping with Catholic ethos,” they said.

The lack of provision by some schools of the Stay Safe programme teaching young children how to identify dangerous situations and protect themselves has been attributed to religious concerns. Research is being carried out as to why almost one-in-five primary schools do not offer the course, although many of its tenets are covered in the SPHE curriculum.

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency reported last year that only one-in-five men and around two-in-five women aged under 25 had discussed sex education with their parents, mainly because they found it difficult to do so.

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency has a DVD and booklet for parents of children aged 11-15. “You Can Talk To Me” assists parents in discussing sex and relationships with their child.