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Course of Study:
(EDN248) "Teaching Health and Physical Education in Primary Schools"

Title of work:
ACHPER Active & Healthy Magazine, v. 19 (3/4) 2012

Section:
Young people agree it's time for schools to say ‘let’s talk about sex’
pp. 10--12

Author of section:
Alischa Ross

Name of Publisher:
ACHPER
Young People agree it’s
time for schools to say
‘Let’s Talk About Sex’
Alischa Ross, Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS (YEAH)
What to add in and what to leave out of the Australian
Curriculum is a challenging debate in what we know is an
already overcrowded list of expectations of what schools can and
should be responsible for teaching.
Without doubt, health and physical education is no exception,
with the responsibilities of teachers already stretching from
sports and fitness to anatomy, mental health and nutrition. So
where does sex education fit into all of this?
On a scale of sexual health wellbeing, Australia’s young people
rate as a ‘sexual health crisis’, with a 20 per cent increase in the
rate of STIs diagnosed amongst people in the past three years.
In reality, this manifests as approximately one in twenty young
people in classrooms across Australia with a STI at any given time.
Yet for many health and PE teachers, the thought of having to
address a room full of hormonal teenagers about sexual health
makes them run a mile. But we can’t point the finger of blame
at teachers, when we know that many have had little
or no training support, or access to quality resources to help
them broach such a challenging and complex area of personal
development.
To add further insult to injury, teachers, who were all once
students themselves, often don’t know the experience of ‘good’
sexual health education with many of their own memories
of school based sexual health being limited to anatomy and
reproduction or in some instances non existent.
How on earth can we expect teachers to take on the challenge
of leading sexual health education in the classroom if their own
lack of training and support is further amplified by their own
less than adequate experience of sexual health education or lack
there of?
That’s not to say we have all had bad sexual health education
at school. But in reality, the majority of stories you hear when
you ask almost any audience to reflect on what happened
when they were at school, too often highlights horror stories of
awkwardness shared by both teacher and students, drawings
of anatomically incorrect genitalia, and loaded euphemisms to
prevent actually saying it like it is.
Fortunately there are always a few very positive stories of school
based sex education scattered in amongst the cringe worthy
ones, but they always have the same common ground – ‘if it
wasn’t for the wonderful teacher I had in health classes we
would have missed out on sex education like so many of my
friends and siblings did growing up’.
We must celebrate the teachers who have bravely stepped into
the realm of sexual health education and openly shared
accurate, inclusive and relevant information with their students.
But surely young people deserve better odds of getting the
comprehensive sexual health information they need than the
luck of landing in a classroom with a competent, knowledgeable
well trained teacher? Perhaps curriculum standards could be
a better way to ensure that all students have a fair and equal
opportunity to access the important sex and sexual health
information they need to make informed and positive choices
about their sexual health wellbeing. After all, sexual health and
wellbeing is not just for young people, it’s knowledge for life.
Historically, there is probably no other topic that has been linked
with as much controversy or contention across the ages than
talking openly about sex and sexual health with young people.
After all, when we hear people say things like “I need to talk to
my kids and have ‘The Conversation’”, most of us know that
is code for ‘the birds and the bees’ – oops, there goes another
euphemism - or should I just say learning about sex and sexual
health?
Sexual development, identity and experience are very personal
topics that are affected by people’s beliefs, morals and values
and we all have the right to our individual views, choices and
opinions. So how can we respect this diversity and the role of
parents and other sources of information and at the same time
equally respect the rights of young people to have access to
the knowledge, tools and support they need to make their own
informed choices around their sexual health and wellbeing?
To do this I propose we first must move beyond the challenges
of moral judgement that too often create barriers in our ability
as a society to talk openly, honestly and in an age appropriate
way to young people about sexual health. And why should we
address this challenge? Not only does the evidence tell us that
a large percentage of young people are having sex younger,
having more sexual partners and have low levels of knowledge
about basic sexual health, but this topic is one of the few health
and development issues guaranteed to be relevant and affect
100 per cent of any classroom of students.
So what do young people think and want when it comes to
sexual health education? The Let’s Talk About Sex: National
Youth Survey was developed in partnership between YEAH (an
Australia youth driven sexual health promotion organisation)
and the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition (AYAC). It was
designed to give young people a platform to voice their
opinions, experiences and needs around access to sexual health
information and education. In total 1,219 young people took
part in the online survey, with an even demographic spread
across all states and territories across Australia.
The results from the Let’s Talk About Sex survey found that more
The findings from the survey highlight the importance and
than 80 per cent of young people support lessons about sex
value of consulting with young people as experts in their own
and sexual health information to be the same in every Australian
experience and as a key stakeholder group in the development
school, with supporting statements focusing on the ‘right of
and implementation of sexual health policy and education.
every student to sexual health education’ and the need for
The survey clearly shows that while many students did not have ‘a basic standards and incremental age appropriate sexual
access to sexual health education at school, the clinical, scientific health content within all schools covering every topic’.1
and anatomical approach to sexual health often experienced in
Of the 20 per cent of respondents that said ‘no’ sexual health
the classroom is not meeting the needs of young people.
should not be the same in every school, all provided responses
Young people overwhelmingly supported and expected a
describing the need for flexibility to adapt sexual health
consistent approach to sex and sexual health information
information delivered within schools to meet the specific or
in Australian schools.
prevalent needs of students or address specific issues relevant
We understand that young people access sex and sexual health to the location or demographic of the school community. Some
information from a range of sources both in and outside of context-related raised issues included teenage pregnancy, high
school and so there is no one-stop-shop for education. Clearly an STI rates in the area, high Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
appropriate strategy to address sex and sexual health education population, location (e.g. regional or remote school), and
for young people must include a cross-sector approach but populations that include high numbers of students from diverse
in saying that we cannot avoid our duty of care to respond to cultural or specific religious backgrounds.
young people’s needs and expectations for quality school based
So we can comfortably concluded that closer to 100 per cent
sex education. Young people want school sex education to be
of young people support sex education being delivered in all
something they can rely on and the good news is this is
Australian schools but there is a strong need for both content
something we have an opportunity to shape standards around,
standards as well as some flexibility to adapt content.
unlike those we cannot control, such as the Internet.
The strong evidence of young people wanting comprehensive
The overwhelming support for sexual health to be delivered in all
sex education delivered in all schools has equally been backed up
Australian schools tells us that the current development of the
by teachers in the first National Survey of Australian Secondary
Australian Health and Physical Education Curriculum is
Teachers of Sexuality Education that found 94 per cent of
a vital opportunity to improve the quality of what school can
teachers said they believed that sexuality education should be
offer to young people in terms of their sexual health knowledge
part of the national curriculum.
and awareness.
2
When it comes to sex education, young people not only expect
school to provide basic and consistent information so they So we have a strong evidence base from two of the most
can understand their bodies in terms of anatomy, puberty and significant stakeholder groups, teachers and students, who are
reproduction; but they are also seeking more information about both advocating for the need for school based sex education. So
the complexities of their lived sexual health and development why is it that the Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum:
by telling us they want to access more information and practical Health and Physical Education, released earlier this year, did not
skills on how to navigate healthy relationships, how to better identify any specific references to the inclusion of sexual health
access youth health services and information about sexuality and within the aims, structure, organisation, scope or sequence of
sexual diversity. the proposed National Health and Physical Education curriculum?
Perhaps it’s time to put away the fruit and vegetables (what do There are clearly a number of ways in which sex education in
bananas really have to do with sexual health anyhow?) and find schools can be improved to offer improved outcomes for both
teachers and their students. Yet surely one of the first important
more meaningful and appropriate ways to face and teach the
facts about sex and sexual health in school based settings. After 1 Survey respondents (2012) Let’s Talk About Sex: National Youth Survey,
all, teachers know better than most, that young people know AYAC and YEAH
when an adult is uncomfortable talking to them and when the 2 Smith, A et al (2011) Sexuality education in Australian Secondary Schools:
truth of the matter is being somewhat side stepped. Results of the 1st National Survey of Australian Secondary Teachers of
Sexuality Education 2010, Australian Research Centre in Sex Health and Society
steps is to ensure that the new national guidelines that will be introduced in 2014 in the form of
the Australian Curriculum, must include sexual health within its teaching framework. We have
failed before we have started if we expect teachers, school
communities and education departments to implement standards around sexual health education at
state and territory levels if we do not address it in the National Curriculum framework.
Beyond working to ensure that sex and sexual health education are included in the Australian
Curriculum there are many more steps we must take to address the specific issues that both
teachers and students have been vocal in identifying as problems in the current common practices
and experiences.
Teachers play a vital role in the ongoing relationship they have with their students and it is
important that sex education not be addressed as a one off or one class issue. Therefore quality
training for teachers to address their ability to feel supported and well resourced to deliver sex and
sexual health education is vital. We know that there are big gaps in teacher training opportunities,
with 16 per cent of teachers saying that they had no formal training in sexuality education and a
majority relying on in-service training that was a one-off or short duration.3
Clearly we can do more to provide better access to quality sexual health education and training for
teachers but are teachers solely responsible or always best placed to be delivering sex education in
school based settings?
Results from the National Survey of Australian Secondary Teachers of Sexuality Education found that
around a quarter of teachers believe that students do not feel comfortable to discuss sexual matters
with teachers, and a quarter of schools already adopt a team taught approach, or engage external
agencies to deliver sexual health education.
Similarly, young people overwhelmingly support the role of both external sexual health peer
educators (trained people of similar age to them) and trained sexual health community educators
to teach sexual health education in schools.
In the Let’s Talk About Sex survey, young people were asked ‘Who do you most prefer to teach sexual
health information in schools?’ Young people responded:
• 68% strongly agreed or agreed that Sexual health peer educators e.g. trained young people
were most preferred
• 68% strongly agreed or agreed that Sexual health educators from community organisations
were most preferred
• Whereas 32% agreed that Health and physical education teachers were a preferred choice.
• A smaller proportion preferred school nurses (27%), science teachers (19%) and faith-based
organisations (17%).
So looking to the evidence to guide us, perhaps a shared approach to delivering better sex
education could alleviate pressures on teachers and add value to both the role of health and PE
teachers and youth participation in shaping best practice for school based sex education?
The review of current literature and the results of the Let’s Talk
About Sex survey both highlight the need for a shared approach
in the delivery of sexual health education in schools. Teachers have a vital role to play but there are
ways in which we can add value
to their work whilst simultaneously supporting and meeting the needs of both students and teachers.
Without doubt, addressing sexual health in the classroom is a complex issue, but one that is so relevant to
young people and society as a whole, that we need to address the ‘elephant in the room’.
Getting the National Curriculum right has been described by those involved as a once-in-a-generation
opportunity. I encourage you
to take a moment to think about your own experiences of school based sexual health education. Was it
comprehensive, accurate, delivered in a way to which you as a young person could relate? If
it was then let that be an inspiration, and if it failed to give you the knowledge and the tools you needed as a
young person don’t you owe it to your students to try and break that cycle?
There is an opportunity to be a generation of teachers who are not afraid to demand and seek the training
you need and to engage the support of external agencies with sexual health expertise to
add extra support and weight to what you do.
Clearly we have a collective responsibility to provide young people with the accurate, youth-friendly, and
inclusive sexual health education they need to make informed, positive health choices around their sexual
health and development.
As the guardians of the Australian Health and Physical Education
Curriculum, the members of ACHPER have a vital role to play
in not only determining whether sexual health is included as an essential part of the Australian Health and
Physical Education Curriculum, but also in the ongoing implementation and review of the curriculum.
For that reason we invite you to voice your views, as did the young people who took part in the Let’s Talk
About Sex survey. We want to know how you felt about your own experiences of school based sexual health
education and also your views on the role of sexual health peer education as a tool that could add value and
support you as a teacher of sex and sexual health education.
Visit http://www.redaware.org.au/achper to access the short survey for ACHPER members. Completing
the survey should take approx. 5 minutes.
A copy of the full Let’s Talk About Sex Report can be downloaded from
http://www.redaware.org.au/wp- content/uploads/2012/10/Lets-TalkAboutSex_AYACYEAH_
FinalReport.pdf
YEAH is Australia’s only national youth led and Commonwealth
Government funded safe sex education organisation.
AYAC is Australia’s non-government youth affairs peak body. For more information please visit
www.redaware.org.au
or www.ayac.org.au

About the Author

Alischa Ross is CEO of YEAH. She can be contacted via email at alischa@yeah.org.au.