The fact that some adolescents are sexually active is often constructed as problematic. Attempts to moderate or govern adolescent sexuality involve legislation, education and the promotion of abstinence. The provision of comprehensive school-based sexuality education to adolescents is often controversial with opposition being frequently based on the erroneous assumption that sexuality education acts as an incitement to behaviour rather than a moderator of behaviour. An oppositional strategy of promoting only abstinence and foregoing any balanced discussion of contraception and realistic strategies to avoid or manage sexual behaviour, while appealing to some, shows little evidence of improving the sexual safety of young people.
Young people’s sexual cultures are extremely dynamic – a fact that challenges the provision of education that adequately reflects young people’s experience. The redefinition by young people of oral sex as being something other than sex is an important example of the ways in which sexual cultures can change is ways that create fundamental challenges to the design of appropriate interventions. Similarly, the need to include sexual diversity in dealing with young people further exacerbates the already controversial nature of sexuality education in some quarters. Drawing on a range of recent, and not so recent, studies of young people’s sexual behaviour, some evidence will be presented of progress to date and some potential current and future challenges will be identified.
Conflict of Interest: None disclosed
Financial Support/Funding: None disclosed
Recorded: Sydney, Australia, April 2007
more about this speaker
