HOT TOPIC: Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Sexuality Health Education

Sexuality education means different things to different people, but there is one thing all experts agree on – it’s not just about biology. That’s why the preferred term is sexuality education rather than sex education.

When Sexuality Education Starts

Sexuality education starts in a student’s first year of school, where they learn about friendships, families and respect. In later years, students will learn about puberty and body development. Since it’s not just about biology – though that remains important – many students who receive sexuality education may not immediately recognise that that is what they are learning about.

By Year 10, it’s likely that most students will have been part of a teaching and learning programme that included aspects of sexual and reproductive health and may include topics such as contraception and abortion.

Goals of Sexuality Education

The goal of sexuality education is to build on knowledge, skills, and behaviours that enable young people to make responsible, well-informed and safe choices throughout their life. Sexuality education encompasses a variety of topics including love, safer sex, diversity, personal rights and responsibilities, effective communication and risk behaviours.

Quality school-based sexuality education is:

• Comprehensive
• Inclusive
• Supported by the latest research
• Ongoing and integrated into a student’s cross-curriculum learning
• Part of a student’s whole-school learning experience.

Quality school-based sexuality education is a core teaching responsibility that schools undertake to equip students for a healthy and fulfilling adult life.

Importance of Inclusive Language

Inclusive language is a way of acknowledging and respecting the diversity of bodies, genders and relationships. It reflects the fact that people, including students, can express their gender and sexuality in different ways and can have different biological sex characteristics.

The basics include:

• Avoiding gendered language
• Avoiding assumptions of heterosexuality
• Understanding that gender, sex and sexuality are separate concepts
• Understanding that LGBTIQ+ terminology is diverse and constantly evolving.

Inclusive language ensures we don’t leave people out of conversations. This includes both when we are communicating directly with someone, and when describing someone who isn’t present.

Teaching Resources

There are a wide range of learning resources and supports available to teachers when it comes to quality sexuality education. At User Friendly Resources, we provide a wide range of health teaching resources including the ‘Focus On Health Education’ series. This major six book resource provides a wealth of material to assist teachers with addressing a range of health issues and choices which face young people today.

Each book contains teacher notes providing ideas and source materials for classroom activities. These notes are extensive and will allow teachers to present lessons confidently, and respond to most questions that arise. Our Dramatic Shorts series is another great resource for teaching important concepts and themes through narrative with gender and sexuality-neutral characters.

About User Friendly Resources

User Friendly Resources have proudly equipped Kiwi teachers with quality teaching resources for over 25 years. All of our resources are developed by teachers, for teachers, with a distinctly student-centric approach to learning.

Explore our range, find out more about us or get in touch online if you have any questions.