Tasks

  • Research current sex education curriculum requirements

Summary

This week has been the second week of the university starting block, I haven’t made a lot of progress regarding research this week as I have been settling back into uni life.

I did however review some articles on the current state of sex and relationship education (SRE) in schools, which were interesting to read.

I read a Glamour Magazine article written by Shahed Ezaydi (titled: How Sex Education In UK Schools Is Letting Down Young Women & Cultivating Misogyny) where Ezaydi talked to several women about their experiences with sex education and the changing government requirements surrounding SRE. Reference: Ezaydi, S. (2021) How Sex Education In UK Schools Is Letting Down Young Women & Cultivating Misogyny. Glamour Magazine [online]. 02 Septamber. Available from: https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/sex-education-uk-schools [Accessed 05 October 2021].

Some main quotes that stick out to me, highlighting how poor the current sex education curriculum is, are:

The majority of my sex education was focused on unprotected sex and pregnancy, but without being taught anything on contraception or how young people could practice safe sex.

We received a talk about how to dress modestly and remain pure for our future husbands. We didn’t learn anything practical about sex that teenagers should know, like puberty, consent, or birth control

There are still huge gaps in the curriculum: there is no mention of pleasure whatsoever and the guidance states to teach about the LGBTQIA+ community ‘when appropriate’. This leaves far too much responsibility on schools, and results in inconsistent learning

Ezaydi talks about the recent changes to government advice and regulations regarding SRE, which adds the following topics to the curriculum:

  • The importance of social media
  • Online pornography
  • Sexting
  • Grooming
  • The changes in attitudes towards gender and sexuality

These changes are heading in the right direction, but without the proper delivery of this information students will not be engaged and are likely to not retain any of the information they are told.

Another article I read was a study by Dr Pandora Pound, investigating what young people think about their sex education - their views and experiences. Reference: Pound P, Langford R, Campbell R. (2016) What do young people think about their school-based sex and relationship education? A qualitative synthesis of young people’s views and experiences. BMJ Open [online]. 6 (9). [Accessed 05 October 2021].

The article is a summary of a collecition of studies on young people’s views towards their sex education. In summary most students were not in favor of the current SRE curriculum and were requesting improvements to the information given and the delivery of SRE.

Some notable points, which resonated with me, were:

  • Sex is often portrayed negatively.
  • Schools refuse to accept that some students are already sexually active.
  • SRE topics are brought up too late and should be introduced to students at a younger age.
  • Topics are too biologically driven - there is no mention on sex being fun and pleasurable.
  • SRE is embarassing and there is judgement for not already knowing the information, pressuring students to not engage.
  • SRE should not be taught by teachers but someone more specialised.
  • Students views remained the same over the 25 year span of the studies, meaning UK government policy changes has very little affect on the effectivness of SRE.

Next Steps

  • Setup an initial supervisory meeting with Lloyd.
  • Look at previous projects and proposals as well as the proposal template provided on Blackboard.