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This paper focuses on the production of school sex education policies. At the start of the decade, two moral panics – about high teenage pregnancy rates and AIDS/HIV – coloured UK Government policy formation. The legislative response put control of sex education into the hands of governing bodies of individual schools. As a result, policies vary widely in quality, presenting local education authorities with a monitoring problem even before policy is put into practice. In 1995, Avon Local Education Authority published a document to help schools develop their sex education policies. In 1997, a project to look at the sex education policies of schools in Bristol began, developing a set of criteria to measure their quality. It found that the quality varied from good to superficial, and that the policies held by most secondary schools in Bristol had serious deficiencies. The main problems with the policies included both specific and general issues. Many either failed to address the topics of sexuality and abortion at all, or addressed them only superficially, despite explicit advice from the local education authority that these topics should be covered by schools’ policies. Many did not make it clear that parents have the right to withdraw their child from sex education, nor did they say what would happen to pupils who are withdrawn. Few schools made their commitment to staff training explicit. Most policies failed to deal adequately with the issue of confidentiality. These findings do not mean that sex education lessons in secondary schools are inevitably poor. Nevertheless this study shows that a considered approach to formulation of sex education policies should be one of the first steps included in a national strategy on sex education.

The goal of empowerment is widely aspired to in health promotion. In practice, however, there are several limitations to this approach when applied to school‐based sex education. It is frequently difficult for pupils to express their perceived needs, there are strong arguments for not leaving the sex education agenda entirely to young people, and several barriers exist which constrain pupils from actively participating in sex education exercises. The practical difficulties in implementing empowerment principles suggest that compromises should be made, recognising that participation in decision making has to be consistent with age and capabilities, that social factors inhibit pupils from negotiating their learning needs and that considerable research findings on young people’s sexual health needs already exist.

Homosexuality and bisexuality have existed since the beginning of life itself, yet such expressions have been repressed by many societies, from Plato's Greece to Shakespeare's England to America in the 1990s. Likewise, contraceptive devices have been in existence for over 3,200 years, but their availability has long been suppressed by religious groups and societies.

This paper seeks to examine the way sex and relationships education programs, as part of Health Education extra curriculum activities, have been implemented in the Greek primary schools.

The paper presents and discusses data from an anonymous survey research questionnaire distributed to the 68 Elementary sector Health Education Coordinators throughout Greece (received responses n=34).

Findings indicate that there is an uneven distribution on teachers' choices when selecting a thematic unit for implementing Health Education projects. It has been found that Nutrition is by far the most popular topic for project development and implementation. In contrast, Sex and Relationships Education is by far the least popular, occupying only 1.6 per cent of the share of programs. Obstructive factors for Sex and Relationships Education implementation are related to the Greek educational system as well as pragmatic and moral reasons on the teachers' part.

A response rate of the survey of only 50 per cent is a limiting factor.

On the basis of these data, teachers' awareness and training, as well as material development, are important for Sex and Relationships Education programs to become an active innovation. The role of the central administration is emphasized as well.

The paper raises an awareness of the issue of an unsuccessful implementation of Sex and Relationships Education programs in Greece, in the light of a range of sexual health‐related problems that affect the population.

This paper aims to identify the preferences towards sex education and information from a religiously diverse sample of young people. The research builds on growing evidence towards religious affiliation having a strong influence on sexual attitudes and behaviour.

A total of 3,007 young people aged 15‐18 attending schools in London, UK, completed a cross‐sectional survey. The questionnaire identified preferred sexual health “topics”, preferences for where they would like to receive this education and who they thought would be the ideal person to deliver the information.

The largest religious group was Christian (34 per cent), followed by Muslim (24 per cent), Hindu (21 per cent), “Don't believe” (15 per cent) and “Other” (7 per cent). There were a number of similarities across the practising religious groups such as preferences for more information on sexually transmitted infections and how to make sex more satisfying. The data also showed significant differences across the religious groups, in particular between Hindus and Muslims, and their preferences towards the ideal person to deliver sex education. Hindus were notable for showing a higher preference towards someone of similar age, and also reporting the least preference for someone of the same religion. By contrast, Muslims reported a higher preference for religious compatibility on the premise that such a person could “identify with” their own religious and cultural beliefs.

Although derived from a sample that is not statistically representative of all young people, the findings demonstrate the potential and importance of being able to respond to the competing sex education preferences of religious groups. The forthcoming challenge is to research the ways in which this potential for sex education can be harnessed in a sensitive manner.

This paper is valuable in terms of establishing young people's preferences for information on sex and relationships, but less so in terms of identifying the types of sex education that are most beneficial. Indeed, it is likely that this paper will be of particular relevance to the “knowledge and understanding” element that is specified in this guidance.

Discusses some of the continuing obstacles that prevent sex and relationship education (SRE) programmes in England from being more effective. The prevalence of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections that disproportionally affect the young indicate the urgency with which action needs to be taken. Discusses current sex education practices in England with reference to recent SRE guidelines and strategies, and in the light of the findings of a focus group of health care and education workers who deliver SRE to young people. The focus group uncovered several barriers to successful SRE. Suggests that apart from commissioning SRE guidelines the Department for Education and Skills needs to take a more overall and direct role in assuring that all young people are offered an adequate SRE. Concludes that any real and lasting changes can only be achieved if sex and relationship education goes beyond the individual to include a focus on social and cultural processes.

This paper aims to investigate the unique issues childhood burn survivors experience in relation to sex education and sexual development.

Using a phenomenological approach, participants described their lived experiences with regards to sex education and the sexuality issues they encountered as child burn survivors. One‐to‐one semi‐structured interviews and a focus group were used to gather data, which were analyzed using a constant comparison method.

Results provide educators with better insight into the experiences of burn survivors as well as strategies for approaching sex education. Findings centered around five areas: exposure, sex education content, timing of sex education, characteristics of the educator and most appropriate methods of delivery.

Sexuality is a value‐laden topic that has the potential to increase apprehension and decrease willingness to discuss. As a result, the sample may not be wholly representative across age groups, concerns or social attitudes regarding sexuality present within this population. Additional limitations are also noted. Future studies, which utilize a mixed method approach with a larger sample of both adolescent and adult burn survivors, would increase the value and generalizability of the findings.

Research findings confirm that persons living with childhood burn injuries experience similar feelings and concerns regarding their sexuality as their able‐bodied peers which contradict social views. However, mainstream sex education falls short of addressing their unique needs and as such this study's findings provide strategies to allow for appropriate knowledge acquisition to ease the transition from childhood to adulthood.

This study seeks to explore what young women want from their school‐based sex education.

Qualitative methods were used to explore the perspectives of two groups of young women from Uganda and Scotland.

Of particular importance to all the young women were: a diverse sex education curriculum appropriate to the ages of the students, being taught by an outside female facilitator, single‐sex classes and access to a female teacher. Furthermore, they proposed that discussion between small groups of friends is very useful. The Scottish group said that having a young teacher, teaching about emotions and relationships and being guided through their own decision making is also important. The Ugandan group emphasized the importance of being taught by female family members and having written materials provided on sex education.

The study showed that young women from different backgrounds have strong opinions about sex education, and are an important resource for policy makers.

This paper explores the benefits of teaching young people about sex through a sexual debut framework.

Dominant conceptual frameworks that shape young people’s introduction to sexual intimacy are analyzed.

Sexual debut is a process by which young people are given the power to decide the who, what, when, where, why, and how of their first sexual encounters. The evolution and nuances of young people’s first sexual engagements can be understood through the interface of culture, social, and psychological contexts, language, actions, experiences, and how they transform those processes into their own conceptualization of sexual behavior and involvement with it.

This framework explains a process by which young people engage in particular sexual acts at a particular time and place with a certain partner. It allows for future data gathering and analysis to refine this model.

Benefits of teaching children they have power to influence with whom they want to become sexually active, what types of sexual activities they want to experience, when they wish to engage in those actions, and where they occur should reduce the risk of abuse, rape, and harm.

The debut model challenges abstinence approaches to sex education. The implications of this research reinforce the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to support young people’s participation to influence their lives and well-being.

It provides a realistic view of sexual experimentation and has the potential to reduce risk and increase young people’s well-being.