“I have the feeling that it is a forgotten theme, while it is very important,” says Auguste (17) about the sex and relationships education lessons. He is in the sixth grade in Antwerp and took the lessons this school year and in the second grade. “In the second year we barely had a few lessons. All we saw after that was reproduction in the sixth, but that was very scientific and technical.”
Auguste echoes the demand of a large group of young people who want more and deeper sexual education. This is what Ilse Delbaere says, who, as a researcher at the Care Ethics Expertise Center of the Vives University of Applied Sciences, participated in a study of 1,700 students at Flemish secondary schools. “In general, students are satisfied with sex education, but some of them indicate that certain aspects could be different,” says Delbaere. “For many, the focus is too much on biology. One student literally described it as ‘egg cell meets sperm cell and poof you have a baby’. Young people find sexual and relational matters more interesting.”
The research shows that 30 percent of young people do not talk about sexuality at home. “There are several reasons for this,” according to Delbaere. “Some of the students find it awkward. For others, the parents avoid the subject. The school remains the source of information for many to learn about sexuality. We also hear that students want sex education more often and earlier. It is not discussed in the second grade, even though they indicate that they have a lot of questions.”
Positive approach
Lander (14) is in second grade and has just completed the chapter on reproduction in natural sciences. “First it was about reproduction in flower plants, then about puberty, the menstrual cycle and briefly about STDs and contraceptives,” says Lander. “I think it’s good that we are now seeing it in the natural sciences, but it could also be done in the subject People and Society. There we can talk about other things, such as inappropriate behavior.”
Maya (13) from Brussels also found the sex education lessons too focused on physical aspects. “I want to learn about things that we really need,” she says. “For example, I wonder what you should do if you are not ready for it and the other person is, or vice versa. That concerns me more than how a boy gets an Adam’s apple.”
“That biological view is good and necessary,” says Delbaere. “We see a knowledge gap among students about reproductive health. For example, only 39 percent of students know that the fertile period is in the middle of the menstrual cycle. But sexuality is more than just biology and can also be approached positively. Now it is often only about the disadvantages of sex, such as STDs or unwanted pregnancy.”
“All lessons were strongly focused on reproduction, while schools can offer more,” thinks Auguste. “They can teach about relationships, contraception or boundaries. Our handbook contains one sentence about homosexuality, which acknowledges ‘that it exists’. There is nothing else. As a result, the book is inadequate for many students.”
Freedom for schools
Sensoa sounded the alarm in an opinion piece last week, after three Flemish parliamentarians submitted a proposal for new minimum targets for the first degree. If parliament approves this, schools will have more freedom to shape a pedagogical project themselves, provided there is a stronger focus on Dutch, languages and mathematical sciences. But according to Wannes Magits of Sensoa, relational and sexual education require a stronger framework. “Otherwise it will be pushed back due to time pressure and only dealt with ‘if there is still time left’,” he fears.
According to Magits, the minimum goals of sexual and relationship education are reduced to the functioning of the reproductive organs. Koen Daniëls (N-VA), who contributed to the agreement as a Flemish member of parliament, adds nuance and refers to ‘sexual integrity and boundaries’ and ‘sexual health and development’, which are also included. “We must also take the ruling of the Constitutional Court into account,” says Daniëls. “That destroyed the final objectives of the second and third grade, precisely because they were too detailed.”
This is also what Flemish MP Loes Vandromme (CD&V) says. “The minimum goals serve as a framework that schools can then work on themselves.” She points out that Sensoa is not the only organization that is taking the lead. “Everyone wants to see their own goals explicitly stated, but we cannot continue to fill the final objectives endlessly.”
On April 30, the School Association, together with Sensoa, is organizing a training on sexuality education for teachers.
