The Christianity viewpoint is the dominating opposition. It is usually associated with a right-wing position that is anti-abortion, and ‘pro-family’. The Christian view has ruled Western thinking for a very long time, it has not only been a subject of intellectual debate, but it has penetrated popular thinking. The Christian attitude of suspicion towards the body and particularly sexual desire has lasted two thousand years. Although churches in the twentieth century have adapted, there is still a sense of restrictiveness and distaste in their teaching about it (Horrocks, 1997). The catholic church for example regards self-control as a cardinal virtue. Self-control in relation to sex is described as chastity, one fails to practice chastity by practicing sex ‘without friendship’, or with no view to procreate, by masturbating; by having sex simply for individual gratification; by promiscuity, fornication, homosexual intercourse and by self-indulgent sexual fantasies(McCabe, 1988).
Sexual health education is a sensitive and sometimes controversial topic. The Sex Information and Education Council of Canada (SIECCAN) is designed to support the provision of high quality sexual health education in Canadian schools. The guidelines state that the programs are aimed at sexual health enhancement. For example, positive self-image and self-worth, maintenance of physical/reproductive health and prevention of sexual health problems.
Studies by SIECCAN have shown that 85% of parents approve of schools providing students with information on reproduction, birth control, STD/AIDS prevention, healthy relationships, abstinence, sexual orientation, puberty, sexual abuse/rape, and individual, family and community moral beliefs about sexuality (cited in McKay, 2000). Another study, students rated the following topics as the most important in sex education. These were, preventing sexually transmitted diseases, sexual assault/rape; how to get testing and treatment for STD’s; methods of birth control, conception/pregnancy/birth; building good/equal relationships; making decisions about sexuality and relationships; saying no to sex; parenting skills; talking with girlfriends/boyfriends about sexual issues; peer pressure; and puberty (McKay & Holowaty, 1997).
Although the topics from the parents’ point of view and the students are very similar, two things came to my attention. One of these is that students wanted advice on parenting. This implies that students did not see their parents as role models for the types of parents they would want to be, especially when it came to sex education. Another study that supports this notion found that out of six possible sources of sexual health education, schools were preferred over family and friends (McKay & Holowaty, 1997). The parents shared a similar view, 89% of parents preferred schooling to be their children’s source of sexual education (Dupas, Lafond & Dionne, 2001). Together these studies lead to the conclusion that students and parents do not feel comfortable discussing sexual issues. It also implies that students want to be different in their parenting skills when it comes to sexual education.
Another aspect that interested me in these studies, was that the topics the students were interested in seemed to have a more pragmatic tone to them. For example, parents wanted children to be taught about STD’s, whereas the students wanted to know how to get tested for STD’s. Studies have shown people are more likely to retain information when practical use is attached to it. Levanathal in the 1960’s wanted to persuade a group of college seniors at Yale University to get a tetanus shot. A variety of pamphlets were issued to students, one with high fear, one with low fear and one with a map and the times the clinic was open.
There are two interesting results from this study, one is that there was that an equal number of students from the low fear and high fear went to get the tetanus shot. The students knew, without seeing the gory pictures what the dangers were and what they ought to be doing. The second interesting thing was that 28% of students who were given a pamphlet with the information of how and when to go to a clinic actually went to get the tetanus shot, compared to 3% who did not receive such information. However, it wasn’t that the students didn’t know where the clinic was, in fact, only a few of those who went actually used the map. It was that the pamphlet changed from a normal academic lesson to a practical and personal piece of advice. Once the advice became practical and personal, it became memorable (cited in Gladwell, 2002).
More practical and personal advice, is exactly what the students were asking for. Why are the educators not listening to them? It is due to lack of comfortability talking openly about sexual matters, especially in a personal and practical way. This stems from the Christians restrictive attitude towards sex. However, as society, in particular the younger generation rebels against the Christian way, it opens the way to a more comprehensive, open, practical and personal discussion relating to sex. Sex education should not only inform students of the implications of having sex, but also inform students on practical matters such as, as female and male masturbation, sexual positions and different techniques one can use to achieve an orgasm.
Many sexual topics, such as female and male masturbation are still very much taboo, with open discussion about all aspects ones sexual health it will allow individuals to explore attitudes, feelings, values and moral perspectives from a more objective point of view. It may also prevent ongoing sexual abuse incidences, as the child will be more educated in what they believe is right and wrong, as well as feel that they can talk about it with others. A large protection for sex offenders, is the taboo of the topic. Without it, may discourage many offenders from committing the crime in the first place.
Inga Muscio (1998) tackles topics from sexual assault to reproduction to menstrual products in the book, Cunt:A Declaration of Independence. The book is considered a Bible of independent womanhood, it is 373 pages of philosophy on gender, sexuality, rape, anatomy, self-examination, menstruation, abortion, masturbation, prostitution, feminism, self-defense and everyday life. One part in the book is the story of the author’s cousin mulling over whether to discuss masturbation with her 7-year-old daughter. “ ‘I don’t do that, I don’t play with my wahchee’…. ‘I know. I mean, it doesn’t matter. I just wanted you to know that if you ever did, it’s all right. Everybody plays with their wahchee, I swear to god’”. When the 7 year old learns that almost everybody masturbates she “laughed crazy, absolutely thrilled, and yelled ‘Everybody plays with their wahchee!’”. It is an amazingly positive experience, where it not only shows the sexual education of the 7 year old, but most likely, many of its readers (Muscio, 1998).
The research I am proposing, has the aim of making the relationship between students and teachers as open as the one demonstrated by Muscio (1998), in her book, Cunt, a Declaration of Independence. Research relating to the methods and success of sexual education has been conducted throughout Europe and the United States of America. However, little research has been conducted on the Australian schooling system, in relation to sexual education. The difference in perspective of sex education between Europe and the U.S is great. In the Netherlands, teachers have complete freedom to teach anything the students want to learn about sexuality throughout the entire schooling period. The Dutch believe students should be active in their education, the students’ question drive the lessons and any topic may be openly discussed, including homosexuality and masturbation. Teachers emphasise communication and negotiation skills, but little direct attention to negative consequences of sexual behaviour. (Berne & Huberman, 1999). Germany has a similar approach, where it ascribes to a positive, non-repressive, dialogue-based approach. The strategy is a theme-centered, role-playing and exploration rather than traditional lectures (Berne, et. al, 1999)
The Dutch and German approaches are very different to the American. Sexuality is generally taught in health and science curriculum. It is only taught in the grades of seven to nine, and the instructors have little or no training in sexuality education. The average curricula often range from one to fifteen classes and are seldom integrated with other aspects of health education, such as drug education, social studies, literature and humanities. Studies, focusing on how sexuality education is not meeting the student’s needs has found that one in three American adolescent males report that no reproductive health instruction was taught prior to their first intercourse. Both students and teachers believed that a more comprehensive sexuality education is necessary (Berne, et, al. 1999).
Although many studies have been carried out throughout the United States and Europe, I found little research conducted in Australia. I believe it is important for Australia to create an avenue for further research and an advocacy agenda for supporting comprehensive sexuality education. It is important to tailor the curricular to a nation, due to the differing religious values and community attitudes. By the University supporting this field of research, it will not only benefit those in the education faculty, it would also provide interesting results for those in the faculty of health, philosophy, sexology, psychology, history, anthropology, art, religion, ethics and sociology. It would therefore motivate a collaborative and multidisciplinary research activities. Another positive aspect of this field of research is that sexuality is a topic everyone can relate to, and most find interesting. Therefore, discussion of results and theories would easily be spread both within and beyond the academic community.
The research I propose the University to support is focusing on the best method in which to teach sexual education in the Australian community. With the emphasis behind a practical and personal approach. The way in which I suggest researching such an issue is through interviews. By conducting interviews with teachers, parents, students, young offenders, criminal and the mentally challenged it will not only produce a entire community perspective it would create an awareness within the community of the issue. It would stimulate thoughts and reduce the taboo view and stereotypes of sexuality. The results of such a study would allow training for sexual specialists and would stimulate theories for future researchers. Due to the aim of this study being one of successful education, results of this research would then be able to be successfully taught to members in the community, thus this study is pragmatic in nature.
Another way in which this study would be useful, is the way in which it would break down the views on sexuality that has been created with the hype over Freud’s psychoanalysis. Although this study agrees with Freud’s notion that repression of sexuality is harming to ones psychological health. It does not promote the pervasive masculinism and biological bias that Freudian theory supports. This research views sexuality itself as a modern concept with a historical origin and a line of development. Previous studies have shown that other cultures have found varying ways in which to talk about, think about and analyse sex, sexual behaviour and feelings. Taking this perspective, is adopting the social constructivist view of sexuality. This argues that sexuality is a historical concept that came into being at a certain time and in certain cultures (Horrocks, 1997).
Even the strand of biology in sexuality, which is often seen as scientific and objective in its approach can be seen in a social constructivist view. The terminology used to explain biological formations can be loaded. For example, fertilization is expressed in a way where the sperm is ‘active’ and the egg is ‘passive’. In this light, sex can seems to denote something that is very abstract, even artificial. Ones sexuality is in fact a product of ones self-consciousness. It is ones own sexual feelings, thoughts and acts as I think about them and speak about them ( Fiske & Shrewder, 1986).
Although social constructivism is very semantic in its approach, a general criticism would be that if all identities are in a state of constant flux, due to reactions to constant social pressures. That in fact, in the end, all identities are illusory or symbols of oppressive power. How can one study such a thing, if all results will be invalid once they are constructed. If social constructivism is promoted, and everything is deconstructed, it would create a feeling of eternal chaos, where an individual would lack coping abilities (DeLamater & Hyde, 1998).
Social constructivism can easily be criticized, or limited in its recognition as a science, due to the lack of empirical data produced. Social constructivism accepts and thrives of subjectivity and interpretations, it holds a positivist, antirealist view of science, where there is no one reality behind the observations. That theories constructed from these observations are merely useful if it predicts and explains. However, due to the constant flux of ones constructs, a theory may then stop to predict and explain and can therefore be disregarded. This is an instrumentalist view of science, as it only views theories as tools or instruments by which we use to help explain the world around us (Horrocks, 1997) .
It is the instrumentalist, antirealist, positivist view of human nature that makes it a core target for empiricists and realists. Social constructivists rely mostly on descriptive or qualitative data. Therefore, the theories inferred from this data is not easily recognised within the scientific community. However, if there is one field of research that takes on a more subjective approach it is the study of sexuality. Sex is the most primitive and passionate of human activities. It seems the least of human activities that can be applied to the behaviourist’s stimulus-response theory. Sex is often a very emotional and sometimes spiritual experience, thus extremely difficult to undertake in an empirical society(Leahey, 2000).
The challenge of such research has most likely been a reason to avoid it. However, I view the challenge as even more of a reason to pursue it. There is no superior a place for the study of education than in an institution of education. The research can only benefit itself in educating is members, in addition to the wider community. It is can be viewed as a selfish study in the way that an educational institution is studying the methods of education. However it can also be considered as altruistic in its aims of helping others shape a full sexual life and understand its positive effects. In understanding individual sexual development and finding personal identity, and discovering different lifestyles.
By discovering different lifestyles, one is beginning to understand the subjectivity of ones reality. If one learns of the variety of ways in which human beings pursue their life, one is more likely to understand that individuals have different perspectives. This helps breakdown stereotypes, which is a dominating cause of social problems. If the study of sexuality education can help the society understand the historical and cultural context with which the community lies in, it will help breakdown many barriers. Although sexual education is presented with the challenge of it being a taboo topic. It is also a topic that all humans can relate to, and are emotional and often spiritually involved with. Therefore if one can educate the community in this faculty, what is learnt will then easily carry over to perspectives held in other faculties. With sexuality education having this powerful effect, it would be an excellent choice for further research.
REFERENCES
Berne, L. & Huberman, B. (1999) European Approaches to Adolescent Sexual Behaviour & Responsibility: Executive Summary & Call to Action. Advocates for Youth.
Crasnow, S, L. (2001) Models and reality: When science tackles sex. Hypatia, 16, 138-150.
Chalmers, A. (1999) What is this thing called science: an assessment of the nature and status of science and its methods. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
DaLamater, J, D. & Hyde, J, S. (1998) Essentialism vs Social Constructionism in the Study of Human Sexuality. The Journal of Sex Research, 35, 10-18.
D’Emilio, J. & Freedman, E. B. (1997) Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dupras, A., Lafond, J, S. & Dionne, H. (2001) The motivation to become a human sexuality professional. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 10, 101-110.
Ellis, H., Kinsey, A., Masters, W. & Johnson, V. (1976) The Modernization of Sex. NY: Harper and Row.
Fiske, D, W. & Shweder, R, A. (1986) Metatheory in Social Science: Pluralisms and Subjectivities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Horrocks, R. (1997) An Introduction to the Study of Sexuality. Hampshire: Macmillian Press Ltd.
Leahey, T, H. (2000) A History of Psychology: Main Currents in Psychological Thought. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Lee, M. (2003) Cunt: A Declaration of Independence. Off Our Backs, 33, 61-65.
McKay, A. (2000) Common questions about sexual health education. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 9, 129-138.
Muscio, Inga. (1998) Cunt: A Declaration of Independence. Toronto: Seal Press.
Pardini, P. (1998) The History of Sexuality Education. Rethinking Schools: an urban education resource, 12, 4-11.
