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This December
2000 edition of ReCAPP focuses on:
Positive
Sexuality
Using a
"sex-positive" approach to sexuality education can help youth develop
personal values, self-esteem, a comfortable communication style, and responsible
decision-making skills. Positive Sexuality, as we mean it here,
is both an educational approach and an important outcome for healthy adolescents.
This edition
on Positive Sexuality includes:
Teaching
Positive Sexuality to youth begins with values, honest communication,
and straightforward, factual information. Positive Sexuality includes:
- an understanding of sexuality as a natural and healthy aspect of human
life;
- knowledge of human sexuality and reproductive rights with which to
make responsible choices;
- respectful communication and exchange of personal thoughts and feelings
between partners; and
- practice of safe and mutually consensual sexual activity.
Many youth
(and adults) blame our culture for promoting a deafening silence around
the subject of sex and sexuality. Some ridicule the over-simplified "just
say no to sex" advice to teens. Additionally, many experts assert that
our society's pregnancy and disease prevention efforts unintentionally
promote "sex negativity." The subject of sex is more often discussed in
a context of danger and fear than one of healthy pleasure and natural
openness.
The goal
of a comprehensive sexuality education program is to facilitate sexual
health. One of the points to make in such a program is that sexual intercourse
is only a small part, or expression, of human sexuality. According to
the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS),
there are six key concepts related to human sexuality. These include:
- Human development (e.g. sexual development, reproduction)
- Relationships (e.g. intimacy, enhancing personal relationships)
- Personal skills (e.g. taking responsibility, decision-making, communication)
- Sexual behavior (e.g. expressing sexual feelings and sexuality)
- Sexual health (e.g. health promotion and disease prevention)
- Society and culture (e.g. tolerance for different sexual values and
lifestyles)
(adapted from Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education,
SIECUS, 1993)
Therefore,
our sexuality is more than what we do with another person sexually;
it is a natural and vital part of who we are. Viewing sexuality
as a natural human expression can affect an adolescent's social development
and self-image as well as his or her reproductive health. Teens need accurate
information and the tools to make informed choices that will help them
avoid serious consequences including pregnancy and sexually transmitted
infections (STIs). As the Coalition for Positive Sexuality asserts, "All
young people — those who are sexually active as well as those who
are not — have a need for, and a right to, accurate, frank and positive
information about sex."
Promoting
comprehensive sexuality education enables adolescents to become knowledgeable
and to make healthier decisions that affect their lives. There are many
ways that educators can promote what we call Positive Sexuality.
Below are a few tips for educators:
- Help to create a safe setting for teens to learn and share.
A safe and comfortable environment is important for the discussion of
sexuality issues for youth as well as adults. It is generally easier
to process information in an educational setting when teens feel safe
enough to express their feelings without fear of judgement by adults
and peers. Creating a safe environment by agreeing to groundrules —
such as the right to pass (not speak up), the idea that there are no
'stupid questions,' and that 'put-downs' are not allowed — helps
establish a general sense of comfort and openness.
- Provide straightforward and factual information. Popular misinformation
about certain sexual behaviors should be corrected. For example, teens
should know that masturbation will not lead to blindness or hair growth
on their palms. On the other hand, many teens are kept in the dark about
facts they may need. Educators can bring useful information to light.
For example, if teens are not prepared and have unprotected sex anyway,
they should be aware that there is something they can choose
to do to avoid becoming pregnant. Emergency contraception is safe and
effective, even after intercourse, if it is taken in time.
- Clarify your own values. All of us have values that we bring
to the work we do. Some of those values, however, may be better left
at the door before we enter into a discussion of sexuality with teens.
Our own values and opinions should be separate from the factual information
we provide to students. A priority for educators who teach adolescents
is to facilitate their learning of accurate information rather than
share our own personal opinions and values.
- Be aware of the messages you send. Educators should be conscious
of their own negative messages, which can include verbal messages, non-verbal
messages such as frowning, or other body language. Even subtle, non-verbal
messages can feel judgmental or send a negative message to youth around
you.
- Be inclusive and respectful of everyone's experience. Behaviors
such as talking down to teens, excluding lesbians and gay youth by referring
to sex as (only) penile-vaginal intercourse, or failing to address issues
like sexual violence, homophobia, or abortion, ignore the experience
of many youth (from the Coalition for Positive Sexuality: www.positive.org).
Attitudes and behavior which ignore, deny, or 'put down' some youth
can lead to emotional scarring. Youth must feel accepted by others to
experience Positive Sexuality.
- Recognize and affirm the sexual rights of teens, which include:
- The right to accurate information about sexuality and HIV/AIDS;
- The right not to express your sexuality unless you want to;
- The right to say no to any unwanted touch of any kind;
- The right not to be pressured into being physical or sexual;
- The right to make decisions about sexuality, at any time;
- The right to stop being physical or sexual with a partner at any
point; and
- The right to express sexuality safely, without risk of pregnancy,
or sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS.
(adapted
from SIECUS: www.siecus.org/teen/)
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