Over 800 adolescents were asked their opinions of school-based sexuality education. Although this controversial topic will affect all young students in some way or other, their voices are not often heard.
Sexuality education in New Zealand:
What adolescents are being taught and what they really want to know
Kim J. Elliott, Auckland Sexual Health Service • Robyn M. Dixon and Vivienne A. Adair, The University of Auckland
Sexuality education is the only subject in New Zealand schools which requires parents to be consulted on the content. Since it is associated with moral and social issues, it is a controversial topic. However, what has been notably missing from the debate is the voice of those most immediately concerned with the outcome—the adolescent.
Adolescents make up nearly one-fifth of the New Zealand population. The health status and behaviours of adolescents affect their health in adulthood, and that of future generations. New Zealand adolescents are a major risk group for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS, and the adolescent pregnancy rate is second only to that of the United States (among the so-called Western or developed countries). As such, these are issues that require urgent attention.
At an age when youth may feel anxious about their developing bodies and sexuality, many feel unable or unwilling to turn to caregivers for help and, at the same time, are vulnerable to peer pressure and exploitation. Due in part to rapid social change, today’s adolescents perceive their life experiences to be significantly different from those of their parents. This can have some influence on their health, in that adolescents in general are often reluctant to accept parental advice about health-related behaviour, particularly if it is given in a way which is perceived to be condemning or hypercritical.
Accordingly, institutions such as schools can be important agents for the transmission of sexual beliefs and values. Recent Finnish research showed that most adolescents accept sexuality education and see it as useful. Those who feel more prepared for the onset of pubertal change, with its associated physical and emotional fluxes, express more positive feelings towards puberty and cope better with that change. Comprehensive sexuality education that facilitates insights into personal, familial, and societal values may improve decision-making skills, raise self-esteem, and lead to more informed sexual behaviour (see notes).
In the 1980s and 1990s, sexuality education in New Zealand moved away from a biological emphasis to a more holistic focus.
The need to address issues of communication such as relationship skills, decision making, and negotiation skills was being acknowledged. What was sex education became sexuality education. Further, it was recommended by the Department of Health in 1990:
That the approach and style of sexuality education focus on the learner, promote a sense of cultural identity, promote equity, achieve balance and coherence, and provide for accountability.
Most recently within New Zealand, there has been a move towards affirming the diversity of needs amongst adolescents. However, a holistic viewpoint has not always been adopted, due in part perhaps to the low status of health education within the school curriculum. Competition for pupils, continuing financial constraints, and a lack of adequately trained staff appears to have taken precedence over the needs of the learners.
Although the tendency of sexuality education programmes to reflect the concerns of adults rather than those of the adolescent has been noted (see notes), there continues to be a gap between the public agenda of sexuality education and the needs and opinions of youth.The student-centred approach to sexuality education suggested by Campbell and Campbell (1990) stated that curriculum developers must start with data indicating the types of questions adolescents have about sex.
The study
Designed to provide data from the adolescent perspective, this study aimed to find out: the level at which sexuality education was being taught at school; which topics were taught; how helpful adolescents perceived this information to be; and what additional information adolescents would have liked to have received as part of their school-based sexuality education programmes.
The sample consisted of 810 adolescents, ranging in age from 15 to 21 years. Subjects were taken from four urban Auckland coeducational schools with different socio-economic backgrounds. There was an almost even gender representation. The majority of the participants (55.4 percent) identified themselves as being Pakeha/European in ethnicity, with 29.0 percent classifying themselves as Asian, 8.8 percent as Pacific Island, and 6.9 percent as Maori.
In the absence of an appropriate measure, the Sexuality Education Programmes Questionnaire was developed to evaluate attitudes towards school-based sexuality education programmes. The first section of the questionnaire requested demographic information including gender, age, ethnicity, present class level, and class level/s in which the student had received sexuality education. The second section used a combination of five-point Likert-type scales plus closed and open-ended questions, to gather information on topics covered in school-based sexuality education programmes and the degree to which students perceived these topics to be helpful.
Results and discussion
Year sexuality education taught
Table 1 indicates that students in forms 1–4 (ages 11–15 years) were those most likely to be receiving sexuality education, with the number of senior students receiving any sexuality education dropping off rapidly after form 4.
This practice does not appear to be in line with student requirements. When asked, students indicated that they would like more time spent on issues of sex and sexuality at the senior levels. Although statements on this topic were not specifically sought, seven students commented that school-based sexuality education classes should start earlier in their school lives, while 24 suggested that the programme be extended beyond the junior levels. Eight students requested that the sexuality education classes both start earlier and end later.
I think it would be more useful to continue sex ed all through school to form 7. Because the older students are more likely to be sexually active and need the programme. (Pakeha, female, 18 years)
I missed out on a lot of sexuality classes as I was in “brainy” classes so we did more “academic” things while the others offended health classes etc. (Maori, female, 16 years)
The senior forms (forms 5–7, ages 15–18 years) are those in which adolescents are more likely to be engaging in sexual behaviour, or thinking about doing so. It is therefore more likely that adolescents will at this time be aware of questions and issues pertaining to sex and sexuality that they wish to have answered. As such, extending school-based sexuality education programmes throughout the senior forms could provide the opportunity for students to be more active in their learning, by having the content of the programmes more directly linked to their relevant issues and enquiries.
One of the reasons for the decrease of sexuality education programmes in the senior forms could be the priority which school staff give to the teaching of more academic subjects. The subject of health is seen as a viable option only for those not in “in the brainy classes”.
There appears to be an assumption that the more academically able are also more able to deal with the non-academic subject of sex. By minimising the span of school-based sexuality education programmes, strong messages are being sent to youth about the relative unimportance of understanding and coming to terms with sexuality in their lives. Given New Zealand’s high teenage pregnancy rate the need for more extensive school-based sexuality education programmes appears considerable.
Topics covered
Students were asked to indicate what topics they had covered in their school-based sexuality education programmes (see table 2). Three percent of students (n = 31) indicated that they had not received any school-based sexuality education, and could not therefore answer this or related questions. Students reported that the most frequently covered topic was male puberty, while abstinence was the topic least likely to be covered. The topic “other” included such student generated topics as date rape, sexual abuse, and masturbation.
The six most commonly taught topics were those with a biological or practical focus. Those topics which focus more on the psychological, social, and values-based aspects of sexuality (sexual identity, relationship choices, gender roles, sexual orientation, and abstinence) were taught less often.
The possible reasons for this are many and varied. One could be that of time restrictions. With relatively little time devoted to sexuality education over the year, teachers may feel that time is best spent on teaching the practicalities of sex, with a view to reducing teenage pregnancies and the prevalence of STIs. Another reason could be that teachers feel more comfortable teaching facts-based topics such as puberty and STIs, rather than values-based topics such as sexual orientation and sexual identity.
These results lend support to the call for increased training and development for those at the “front-line” of sexuality education teaching (see notes). Along with more time being allocated to the teaching of sexuality education in schools, this professional development could go some way towards all topics being taught as required in the health education syllabus.
Perceived helpfulness of topics
In order to be effective, the content and presentation of school-based sexuality education programmes must match the needs of the adolescent. The results of the present study show that both female and male students rate STIs as the most helpful topic, and assertiveness skills as the least helpful. It is perhaps not surprising that STIs rated as the most helpful topic, given the immediate practical application to adolescents who are considering becoming sexually active. What is surprising is the low overall rating of assertiveness skills. Given that this is a life skill which could be applied to many areas of adolescents’ lives, it could be expected to rate higher. A possible explanation is that adolescents already view themselves as assertive and thus do not see assertiveness skills as a new, and therefore helpful, topic. Alternatively, assertiveness may be seen as a useful skill, but the manner of presentation may have been unhelpful.
It has been noted that there are sharp polarities in the ways that male and female students approach issues of sexuality (see notes). The results of the present study appear to confirm this. Female adolescents, it seems, are concerned with issues of decision making and pregnancy, while male adolescents appear to view assertiveness skills as more useful knowledge to acquire. Interpretations of this finding are numerous. It may be that female students are more concerned with topics such as contraception and pregnancy purely from a practical point of view. For example, what type of contraception is available, what best suits their needs, and how pregnancy affects the female body. It could also be that female students view the issue of pregnancy, both preventing it and making decisions around it, as an exclusively female concern. If this inference is accurate, it is disturbing, and perhaps indicative of the amount of responsibility which continues to rest with the female in regard to contraception prevention and related issues (see notes).
Also of interest is the fact that both male and female students named information on pubertal changes as helpful. This could be because school-based sexuality education programmes are the predominant source of information puberty for students; or because pubertal change is a prevalent issue in adolescents’ lives; or that so much time is devoted to the topic of puberty that it is covered in relative depth. Support for the first interpretation is offered by data which shows that only a third of adolescents cited their mother as a source of information, and even fewer named their father. If further studies reveal low levels of pubertal information being received from parents, then weight is added to the value of school-based sexuality education programmes.
Significant differences also existed between ethnic groups in relation to the perceived helpfulness of topics. Maori rated safer sex as the most helpful topic while Pakeha, Pacific Island, and Asian students all ranked STIs as the most helpful. Although these two topics appear similar, safer sex involved dispensing information on safer sex practices such as condom use, while STIs focused on the identification of sexually transmitted infections and their symptoms. Given the assertion by Te Puni Kokiri (1994) that Maori are more at risk for HIV/AIDS than other ethnic groups in New Zealand, the active concern of Maori youth towards the provision of safer sex practices in indicated in the present study, is in line with the Maori health initiatives outlined by Broughton (1996).
Pacific Island and Asian students were more likely to perceive male puberty and sexual identity as helpful than Pakeha students. Asian students were also more likely than Pakeha students to find sexual orientation helpful. Asian and Pacific Island youth may come from familial structures in which issues of sexual orientation, sexual identity, and male puberty are even less likely to be discussed than in the family structures of other ethnic groups. Therefore, school-based sexuality education programmes could provide a crucial source of information about these issues.
Student satisfaction with content
The extent to which adolescents are learning what they want to know in their school-based sexuality education programmes is largely affected by the content and presentation of those programmes.
Respondents identified 33 issues they wished to see included in their school-based sexuality education programmes. The most frequently named issues were sexual identity, negotiating skills, the emotions involved with sex and sexual activity, relationship choices, and abstinence. Other desired topics included assertiveness skills, decision making, sexual orientation, parenthood, sexual abuse, abortion, emergency contraception, masturbation, date rape, and the services available in the community to contact for help or information around sex and sexuality.
The qualitative data also suggested that sexual identity and the emotions attached to relationships were important issues that needed to be covered. Fourteen students made statements that directly related to the desire for more information on the emotional aspect of sexual relationships, and 13 students requested time to be spent on issues of sexual orientation and sexual identity. For example:
Most of the topics covered were only done briefly, what about the feelings that go along with sex and sexual partners and what to do about/with these feelings? (Pakeha, female, 17 years)
As a teenager I find it hard to find relationships where the give and take are equal. They need a programme to help you find the people who are right for you, how to develop strong and loving relationships, how to know when and how to move to the next stage for example, friends to boyfriend girlfriend. (Pakeha, male, 16 years)
Doesn’t go into how a successful relationship should work, basically is all based on physical things. (Pakeha, male, 17 years)
These comments point to the importance to adolescents of discussing the values-based aspects of sexuality. This is particularly noteworthy in light of the results presented earlier which show that the topics most often taught are facts based.
In addition, 155 students indicated that there were topics that they would have like to have been covered in more depth. The most frequently cited were STIs, pregnancy, and contraception. Other topics included safer sex, sexual orientation, sexual identity, negotiating skills, assertiveness skills, relationship choices, intercourse, decision making, and requests for all topics to be covered in more depth, for example:
This [sexuality education] was helpful, but I felt there could have been more detail. (Pakeha, female, 18 years)
Need to be reinforced with aspects of the study [sex education] more often. Not just once in your school life. (Maori, male, 17 years)
These courses seemed to skim the surface of the BIG issues. (Pakeha, female, 17 years)
A large number of students wanted topics that were not included. One interpretation of this is that information on these topics is unavailable from other sources. Another is that adolescents need to have information on such an important issue in their development presented to them as fully as possible. Additionally, these findings and the prevalence of comments in the qualitative data support Quinlivan (1996), who stated that greater attention needs to be paid within sexuality education programmes to a theoretical exploration of a range of sexual identities and their implications. Other values-based aspects of sexuality also need to be addressed, such as the psychological and social aspects of relationships, and sexual expression.
Some students (n=131) felt that too much time was spent on some areas, in particular male puberty and female puberty. Previous results support this, showing that female and male puberty are amongst the topics most frequently taught. However, as mentioned earlier, adolescents do consider information on puberty to be helpful and the simple repetition of its teaching may contribute to this.
Other “overdone” topics included assertiveness skills, contraception, pregnancy, safer sex, decision making, games, and “having neat books”, for example:
That you don’t actually had to have it [puberty] four years running as in my circumstances. It gets really boring it’s just the same stuff over and over again. (Pakeha, female, 16 years)
Too much time spent on assertiveness skills, could have been spent on more important things like sexual orientation. (Pakeha, female, 16 years)
In summary, many students are dissatisfied with the current content of their school-based sexuality education programmes.
Educational implications
Sexuality education programmes appear to be primarily directed at forms 1–4, and to decline at the senior levels. Implicit in this practice is a belief that sexuality education has a lesser value than other more career oriented subjects. Sexuality, however, affects and is affected by the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of an adolescent’s development. If schools place sexuality education at a lower level in terms of teaching time, teacher training, funding, and resources, then its potential as an information source and a forum for modelling the open discussion and acceptance of issues around sexuality is being seriously undermined.
The topics which were reported to be most often covered were facts based as opposed to values based. Implications for this practice are that sex and sexuality are taught in terms of prevention rather than comprehension. The possibility of healthy desire, or the exploration of sexuality, appears to be rarely discussed. Knowledge of facts about sex is important, however there is more to sexuality than the plumbing of the reproductive system. Rather than allocating more time to, and thereby attributing more merit to, the facts-based aspects of sexuality education, we could perhaps better serve our youth by giving equal priority to values-based aspects of sexuality. As such, adolescents could learn of the importance of taking both facts and values into consideration when making decisions about sexuality.
Just as having the road code read to you is not the same as learning how to drive, if all we teach adolescents is biology, then that is all they may think sex involves. The possible repercussions of this at such a crucial period of development cannot be ignored. Adolescents need to be taught to reflect on the nature of their relationships, and the level of trust and honesty which exists in them. Research has shown (see notes) that factors which adolescents cite as encouraging them to engage in sexual activity include a longing for attachment and the need for love. By addressing these issues rather than predominantly concentrating on the factual aspects of sex, students could be given a more holistic view of sexuality and the place it has in their lives. The quality of adolescents’ relationships and their understanding of their own needs and expressions of sexuality may well be their best defence against STIs. As two students said:
With a lot of the talks we received most people know most of the things that were discussed regarding the technicalities etc.
Maybe more talks could have been on the positives rather than prevention and negatives. (Pakeha, male 17 years)
Too much emphasis on saying no—you don’t always want to say no. (Pakeha, female, 17 years)
The latter comment is also in indication of the need for openly addressing the issue of desire as advocated by Fine (1988).
Creators and providers of sexuality education programmes need to take into account the different needs of the students at whom the programmes are aimed. Part of this would be a consideration of the differing cultural norms, gender requirements, and sexual orientations of the students. Also of value could be the recognition of adolescents as emerging sexual beings, who may already have considerable knowledge or experience of issues around sex and sexuality.
The results of the present study also indicate that students want more topics covered in their sexuality education programmes. Many students also want the topics to be covered in more depth. In order to achieve more client-centred sexuality education, an understanding is required of adolescence as a period of transition. Adolescents’ needs may shift. For example, those in the junior forms may require information on pubertal changes, while students in the senior forms may require more discussion around relationship issues.
Conclusion
In this time when many aspects of society are client centred and market driven, and even the local gym surveys attendees as to which type of classes they prefer, it is disappointing not to have seen the same consideration shown to our youth. Caught between childhood and adulthood, they are expected to successfully negotiate the minefield of sexual relationships as an adult, yet to accept only those resources they are given, as would a child. Their position however lies somewhere in-between, which is where perhaps our best efforts as parents, educators, researchers, and health professionals could more usefully be directed.
NOTES
All correspondence regarding this paper is to be directed to the first author.
Kim Elliott is the co-ordinator of the Education Unit at the Auckland Sexual Health Service, Auckland Hospital, Private Bag 92024, Auckland. Ph: 09 303 2885. Fax: 09 307 2884. E-mail: kime@ahsl.co.nz
Robyn Dixon and Vivienne Adair lecture at the School of Education, The University of Auckland.
Other sources for sexuality education include:
Benson, M. & Torpy, E. (1995). Sexual behavior in junior high school students. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 85, 279–284.
Cleland, A. & McKay, L. (1992). A study of the effectiveness of sexuality education programmes (Research report). Auckland: University of Auckland.
Davis, P. & Lichtenstein, B. (1996). AIDS, sexuality and the social order in New Zealand. In P. Davis (Ed.), Intimate details and vital statistics: AIDS, sexuality and the social order in New Zealand (p. 112). Auckland: Auckland University Press.
Education Review Office. (1996). Sexual and reproductive health education in New Zealand schools (Report to the Ministry of Health). Wellington: Author.
Kirby, D. & Stout, J. (1993). The effects of sexuality education on adolescent sexual activity. Pediatric Annals, 22 (2), 120–126.
Maskill, C. (1991). A health profile of New Zealand adolescents. Discussion paper 14. Wellington: Department of Health.
That the adolescent pregnancy rate is second only to that of the United States is noted by:
Department of Health. (1992). Adolescent health: Potential for action. Wellington: Author.
Owens, J. (1992). Achieving effectiveness in intervention: A literature review of intervention programmes for the prevention of adolescent pregnancy. Commissioned by the New Zealand Family Planning Association.
That adolescents are often reluctant to accept parental advice is noted by:
Taylor, B. (1988). Swept under the carpet. Report of the Youth Mental Health Project. Wellington: National Youth Council.
For Finnish research, see:
Hannonen, S. & Kekki, P. (1995). Adolescent readers’ responses to the booklet on sex. Journal of Adolescent Health, 16, 328–333.
The advantages of feeling more prepared for the onset of pubertal change are noted by:
Stein, J. & Reiser, L. (1994). A study of white middle class adolescent boys’ responses to “semenarche” (the first ejaculation). Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 23 (3), 373–384.
That comprehensive sexuality education leads to more informed behaviour is noted by:
Barth, R., Fetro, J., Leland, N. & Volkan, K. (1992). Preventing adolescent pregnancy with social and cognitive skills. Journal of Adolescent Research, 2, 208–232.
The move towards affirming the diversity of needs amongst adolescents is noted by:
Hughes, K. (1996). Sexuality education: A teacher perspective of effectiveness. Unpublished master’s dissertation, University of Auckland, Auckland.
That the needs of the learners have been overshadowed by other constraints is noted by:
Tasker, G. (1996). For whose benefit? The politics of developing a health curriculum. Delta: Policy and practice in education, 48 (2), 49 (1), 187–210.
That programmes tend to reflect the concerns of adults is noted by:
Campbell, T. & Campbell, D. (1990). Considering the adolescents’ point of view: A marketing model for sex education. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy, 16 (3), 185–193.
Devine, M. (1995). Health education: What do young people want to know? Interchange, 31, 279–292.
Watney, S. (1991). School’s out. In D. Fuss (Ed.), Inside/out: Lesbian theories gay theories (pp. 387– 404). New York: Routledge.
Those calling for increased training for those in
the “front-line” of sexuality education teaching include:
Edge, E. (1994). An aggressive approach to teacher training: a necessary ingredient in preventive HIV/AIDS education. Sex Information Education Council of the United States Report, 23, 11–12.
De Gaston, J., Jensen, L., Weed, S. & Tanas; R. (1994). Teacher philosophy and program implementation and the impact on sex education outcomes. The Journal of Research and Development in Education, 27 (4), 265– 270.
Hughes (1996), see above.
Male and female approaches have been noted by:
Carter, D. & Carter, S. (1995). Adolescent receptivity to the health curriculum in Western Australian High schools. Australian Journal of Education 39 (2), 189–199.
Murstein, B. & Mercy, T. (1994). Sex, drugs, relationships, contraception and fears of disease on a college campus over 17 years. Adolescence, 29 (114), 303–322.
The amount of responsibility resting with the female in regard to contraception, etc, is noted by:
Suri, K. (1994). The problem of teenage pregnancy: An educational imperative. Journal of Multicultural Social Work, 3 (3), 35–48.
Weisberg, E. & Buxton, M. (1992). Sexual activity and condom use in high school students. Medical Journal of Australia, 156 (9), 612–613.
That Maori are more at risk for HIV/AIDS than other ethnic groups is noted by:
Te Puni Kokiri, Ministry of Maori Development. (1994). Mate Ketoketo/Arai Kore. A report about HIV/AIDS and Maori. Wellington: Te Puni Kokiri, Ministry of Maori Development.
Maori health initiatives have been outlined in:
Broughton, J. (1996). He Taru Tawhiti: Maori people and HIV/AIDS. In P. Davis (Ed.), Intimate details and vital statistics: AIDS, sexuality and the social order in New Zealand (pp. 187–22). Auckland: Auckland University Press.
That attention needs to be paid to a theoretical exploration of a range of sexual identities is noted by:
Quinlivan, K. (1996, December). Claiming an identity they taught me to despise: Lesbian students respond to the regulation of same sex desire within New Zealand secondary schools. Paper presented at the conference of the New Zealand Association of Research in Education, Nelson, New Zealand.
That there is more to sexuality than the plumbing of the reproductive system is noted by:
Feldman, S. & Elliott, G. (1994). At the threshold: The developing adolescent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
The need for openly addressing the issue of desire is advocated by:
Fine, M. (1988). Sexuality, schooling and adolescent females: The missing discourse of desire. Harvard Educational Review, 58 (1), 29–53.