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By means of an online survey, this study investigated factors predicting the intention to use sexually explicit material among 52 sex educators. The online survey was based on the theory of planned behaviour and measured attitudes towards sexually explicit material, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and the intention to use sexually explicit material when teaching. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that descriptive norms and absolute obstacles predicted the intention to use sexually explicit material. Multivariate analyses of variance showed that sex educators were more likely to use sexually explicit material in a special education setting than as part of general education. Sex educators who had viewed and discussed sexually explicit material during their professional training had a higher intention to use sexually explicit material than those who had not. These findings may be important elements to consider in the training of sex educators and organising sex education classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controversies about sex education have complex, yet often overlooked, occupational implications related to stigma for teachers. In this study, we interviewed 26 future sex educators in their last year of certification about how their anticipatory socialization experiences spoke to the management of potential occupational stigma. Our analysis revealed two stigma management communication (SMC) strategies future sex educators learned, strategies we term cooperation and opportunism, and identified the ways in which those strategies were responses to stigma content cues of responsibility and peril, respectively. We contend that the interactivity of stigma communication is an important site for the theorizing of as-yet-unidentified SMC strategies, strategies that can be enlisted in a diversity of health education and healthcare contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although peer-led health education is common, the long-term impact of being a peer educator is under-studied. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the long-term impact of being a peer sexual health educator. The sample consists of African American young adults who had served in this role. Being a peer sexual health educator had perceptual, cognitive, and relational impacts. This study has implications for the design and evaluation of sexual health programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Men can play a significant role in teaching their children about sexuality but fathers’ practices and perceptions in this domain remain under explored. This study presents an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of eight fathers’ perceptions and practices in educating their ten-year-old children about physical maturation, reproduction and relationships. A Foucauldian analysis with a focus on governmentality and biopower revealed tensions and contradictions between the fathers’ aspirations and their realities, which appeared to be underpinned by the dynamic, contradictory, shifting, plural nature of fatherhood identities. Whilst fathers wished to adhere to the cultural imperative for father–child emotional closeness, a disparity between their ambitions and their conduct emerged. Care appeared to be a deeply gendered concept for the fathers and despite their aspirations for an intimate relationship with their children, gendered norms for motherhood and fatherhood prevailed resulting in passivity in their role as sexuality educators. The study concludes by arguing that challenges to structures and subcultural contexts, which may deter fathers from fully engaging with their sons and daughters in this aspect of communication are required. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sexuality professionals are likely to experience unwanted sexualization based solely on their profession. Sexuality professionals are sexualized by various groups of people including strangers, colleagues, or even friends and family. The research literature discusses how sexuality researchers experience and navigate this sexualization but includes little information about the ways in which sexuality educators are sexualized. At the 2016 National Sex Ed Conference, we facilitated a workshop for sex educators to discuss how they are sexualized and how they would suggest navigating such experiences. Through this workshop proceeding, we examine how educators echoed many of the same strategies used by sexuality researchers found in the literature along with some unique population concerns and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a comparative study of peer- and teacher-led Sex and Relationship Education (SRE). One lesson delivered by a peer educator, and one lesson delivered by a teacher was observed with the aim of exploring the communicative process between educators and students within SRE. It is claimed that open communication between students and peer educators promotes the adoption of positive attitudes to sexual health, making it a potential alternative to teacher-led provision. Yet to our knowledge, no studies have investigated the communicative process within peer-led adolescent health interventions to examine factors underpinning its potential efficacy. The development of a coding scheme to measure the extent to which educators and students are communicating openly within SRE is used to describe the communicative process between sex educators and students, characterise differences in communication within peer- and teacher-led conditions and discuss how these differences affect student participation in SRE. Results suggest interaction of students in the peer-led condition was different to that of students receiving teacher-led SRE; and provide valuable insight into educator-student communication in the context of classroom-based SRE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recognition of the importance of a developmentally appropriate approach to sexuality education, there is little direct guidance on how to do this. This study employed in-depth interviews with experienced sexuality educators and developers of sexuality education materials to identify how this concept is understood and applied in the field. Developmentally appropriate sexuality education was conceptualized consistently across interviews to include (a) addressing developmentally relevant topics, (b) adapting content to cognitive development, (c) accommodating developmental diversity, and (d) facilitating the internalization of sexual health messages. However, these views fell short of incorporating the breadth of knowledge offered by adolescent development research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sexuality education teachers in the USA are often the only officially sanctioned voice in schools charged with teaching students about sexuality and gender. This paper considers the ways in which sexuality education teachers conceptualise gender and anti-queer bullying in order to explore the ways in which teachers understand their own role in the systems of power that lead to gender policing and anti-queer bullying. The study finds that teachers' notions of gender are often linked to essentialist and stereotypical notions of sex and that their beliefs about anti-queer bullying reinforce problematic discourses that dismiss bullying as immature and silence queer potentials for young people. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

People with disabilities are at increased risk of exposure to HIV, yet they lack access to HIV prevention, treatment care and support including sexuality education. Lack of knowledge, skills and confidence of educators teaching sexuality education to learners with disabilities is related to this increased vulnerability. This study identifies possible challenges educators of learners with disabilities face when teaching sexuality and HIV education. Five focus groups were conducted in three purposely selected types of special schools representing four impairment groups in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Educators recognise that teaching about sexuality is part of the South African Life Orientation curriculum and understand its importance to learners. However, they identified a number of challenges to such work, including barriers in communication and language, cultural values and expectations, learners' knowledge and behaviour, handling of sexual abuse cases and the teachers' own life experiences. Educators feel a lack of support from parents, departments of education, fellow educators and members of the community. They report the need for training and adapted HIV and sexuality education tools and resources to accommodate learners with disabilities. This training needs to provide knowledge on disability and HIV, offer guidance on disability-appropriate communication strategies, deal with sexual abuse and include educational tools for the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the context of researchers’ and educators’ concerns about the pervasive use of technology to communicate with one another, this study explored whether the frequency of emerging adults’ computer-mediated communication (CMC) is correlated with their perceptions of intimacy, relationship, and sexual satisfaction. The sample included 298 young adults ages 18–29, primarily female students in human sexuality courses, who had been in a face-to-face romantic relationship for at least six weeks and who used CMC to communicate with their romantic partner. Examining the frequency of CMC, intimacy, and relationship satisfaction, the only significant correlation was with participants who sent a moderate number of emails to their partners in a typical day. There were no significant correlations between sexual satisfaction and frequency of any form of CMC (texting, instant messaging, or email). The findings of this research suggest that the use of CMC among this sample is not problematic. For some, in fact, CMC may be considered a helpful tool for maintaining their relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Instructors of sexual health courses in rural areas face unique challenges as they are often forced to use school-based prevention curricula field-tested in urban areas. Research has yet to consider what future sex educators’ regional expectations are for their profession and how those expectations might have an impact on the classroom. Drawing from interviews with 26 sex-educators-in-training, we find that future educators tended to expect that rural communities would be less diverse, more conservative, and less informed about sexual health matters, even though research demonstrates that today's rural communities inconsistently align with those perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Content analyses have cataloged the sexual scripts present in magazines largely because of their perceived value to readers and their potential role as sex educators. Although it is generally agreed that magazines have the potential to influence sexual attitudes and behavioral intentions, the effects of this medium are not as frequently researched as are other forms of media. The current study tested whether exposure to magazines was associated with intentions related to sexual consent negotiation. A survey of 313 college students indicated that exposure to men's magazines was significantly associated with lower intentions to seek sexual consent and lower intentions to adhere to decisions about sexual consent. In contrast, exposure to women's magazines was significantly associated with greater intentions to refuse unwanted sexual activity. Overall, the findings of this study further reinforce the critical need for responsible and realistic portrayals of sex in entertainment media, specifically magazines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why might intelligent, assertive females overlook sweet, caring guys, choosing instead to date males whose traditional masculinity makes them popular with other powerful males but who treat females and “weaker” males poorly? This lesson provides a structure for, reflection on, and critique of contemporary gender stereotypes. Students explore the history and effects of gendered sexuality, which begin at birth and continue until death. Gendered sexuality refers to the ways in which we experience our sexuality based on the interaction of our biological sex and gender socialization. The story told in this lesson illuminates how expectations for males and females are based on an historical and cultural legacy that all too often goes unexamined. We describe this legacy as an historically constructed pair of binaries, called theFour Boxes of Gendered Sexuality:Good Girl vs. Bad GirlandTough Guy vs. Sweet Guy. Educators may use this lesson to assist a range of populations in understanding where these expectations come from, what enforces them, and their effects on sexual attitudes and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers brief profiles of sex educators Maria Bakaroudis, Elizabeth R. Boskey, and Kurt Conklin, who contributed to the writing of the journal.

To help students critique sex/gender norms, sexuality educators should address men's anal pleasure. Men's anal receptivity blurs accepted binaries like male/female, masculine/feminine, and straight/queer. By suppressing men's receptivity, the taboo against men's anal pleasure helps legitimize hegemonic sex/gender beliefs—and the sexism, homophobia, and male dominance they encourage. Conversely, by deconstructing men's anal taboo and creating a new language of anal pleasure—“prostage” (pro-STAHJ)—educators can help students challenge restrictive gender norms. We base this argument on an anonymous, online, mixed methods survey we conducted with 228 undergraduate men, as well as existing literature on men's anal sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An increasing number of colleges and universities are moving toward online education (Allen & Seaman, 2011; Farnsworth & Bevis, 2006). While there are reservations about the effectiveness of teaching sexuality education online, it is essential that formally trained sexuality educators participate proactively in this paradigm shift. By embracing these opportunities, sexuality educators are able to reach students who may otherwise not have the opportunity or desire to participate in formal sexuality education. Based largely on the experiences of the authors, this article presents a foundational framework of best practices for teaching human sexuality courses online at the college and university level and offers concrete strategies for those developing online sexuality curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sexuality education debates are layered with discourses based on markedly different constructions of sexuality. Rather than seeing these discourses as purely oppositional, this article frames them as complex and varied. It provides a new framework for understanding sexuality education which differentiates 28 discourses by orientation to education, whether conservative, liberal, critical, or postmodern. Their key assumptions, school-based approaches, sexuality frameworks, authorities, and methods are detailed. The article argues the value of considering multiple approaches and postmodern perspectives. This framework provides an introduction to sexuality education for those new to it and a fresh (re)conceptualisation of the field for other readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explored vhaVenda mothers' perceptions of imparting safe sex education to their adolescent daughters. Data was collected through six focus group discussions with each group consisting of six to eight mothers. The results indicated that mothers want their children to be knowledgeable about sexuality to avoid consequences associated with negative sexual behaviour. The mothers were of the vew that children ought to receive sexuality education from parents. Nonethless, relatively few parents appear to be eager to discuss sexuality in great depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many assumptions made about the beliefs behind abstinence-only until marriage (AOUM) sex education, yet comparatively little research examining the views of abstinence education providers. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 abstinence grantees throughout New York State, I examine how individuals working in abstinence organizations conceive of AOUM education and understand their work in the broader spectrum of sex education efforts. I contrast these understandings with the national-level abstinence discourse, using data collected from two national, government-sponsored conferences for federal abstinence grantees. The comparative focus reveals a disjuncture between the national agenda and the varied understandings that local abstinence organizations bring to abstinence education. While the national movement frames abstinence using a discourse of scientific morality, local providers resist this framing. Local providers express ambivalence around AOUM education and manage contradictory feelings by discursively repurposing abstinence education in ways that better reflect the needs of their communities. This local level variation underscores the importance of contextualizing research on sex education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the way sex education for unmarried youth is understood at the national and local levels in India. It begins by describing the dominant political debates regarding the teaching of sex education in central government schools. These discussions are not gender neutral, and reveal some political dissatisfaction with India's participation in a globalizing world. Young people's access to formal sex education in the bustees (urban slums) of Kolkata is related to the construction of hegemonic Muslim femininities and masculinities. The article examines young people's experience with informal sex educators, and reveals that although informal sources are not adequate, young people are ambivalent about learning sex education in a formal context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A departmental review of education curricula in Queensland, Australia has found that minimal or no learning about sexuality education takes place. Its public schools and teachers are able to avoid or not fulfil their obligations regarding the teaching of sexuality education and reproductive health to children and young people. This lacuna in schools' duty of care may significantly compromise the well-being, choices, life skills and opportunities for young people as they mature towards adult citizenship, and may even lead to potentially hazardous situations for them. To redress this deficiency, a new curriculum and supporting documents have been developed by Queensland's curriculum authority. This paper audits both the current Human Relationships Education and the new Sexual and Reproductive Health Education curricula. This paper also analyses the rationale for teaching school students about sexuality, relationships and reproduction as an essential part of Health and Physical Education, in light of significant contemporary sexuality education issues and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans-inclusive sexuality education can be complex, confusing, and outright intimidating for even the most seasoned sexuality educator to teach. Historically, standalone “Trans 101” sessions have successfully raised awareness about the highly marginalized transgender community. However, their potential success has been limited by being taught in isolation from other gender and sexuality education efforts. As natural allies to this sexual minority, we as sexuality educators are in a position to contribute to positive social change by becoming more trans inclusive in our own work. This article reviews the current status of trans inclusion in sexuality education and provides concrete strategies for implementing a new level of trans inclusivity within sexuality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a combined methodology of a survey, in-depth interviews, and group discussions, this paper focuses on the local knowledge, experience, and practices of using Chinese universities as platforms to introduce sexuality and gender. It examines Chinese social and political contexts of sexuality and sexual education, through existing conceptual frameworks of sex/sexuality, and the voices of the students, teachers, researchers, and administrative authorities. This paper analyzes the obstacles and facilitators at the institutional level and individual capacity level and the strategies currently used to overcome the obstacles accordingly. It also provides recommendations for capacity building and resources for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big Decisions is a 10-lesson abstinence-plus curriculum for ages 12-18 that emphasizes sex as a big decision, abstinence as the healthiest choice, and the mandate that sexually active teens use condoms and be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. This program can be implemented with limited resources and facilitator training when abstinence must be vigorously promoted. The content, including contraceptives, is well researched and cited. Weaknesses include references to abstinence without definition until Lesson 5 and scant attention to sexually active students except to mention they can decline sex in the future (safer sex is addressed in a supplemental lesson). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of including sexual health assessment (SHA) within the biopsychosocial evaluations of mental health and medical practice is discussed, and various protocols available in the extant literature are reviewed. Six principles for SHA are presented as well as a model protocol consisting of six basic lines of questioning with specific examples of effective phrasing. The emphasis of this paper is to help sexuality educators know how to teach trainees in the mental health and medical professions to engage in, and become more proactively involved with, the clinical practice of Sexual Health Assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book Sexual Wisdom is designed to be a workbook that will help readers to understand how they view a variety of sexuality related issues, and how these issues may affect their lives. This review includes strengths and weaknesses that educators may want to be aware of when deciding whether or not to use the book in a variety of educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study measured the sexuality education and HIV knowledge, attitudes, and risk behaviors of young adults (n = 410), ages 18-21, who recently graduated from public high schools in a midwestern state. Based on the participants' responses to specific questions, students were placed into one of three groups: students who received no sexuality education; students who received abstinence-only sexuality education; and students who received abstinence-based sexuality education. Students who reported having completed an abstinence-based sexuality education scored significantly higher on HIV knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors than those who reported receiving an abstinence-only sexuality education (p < .001). The mean scores on the HIV risk behavior scale were also significantly higher in the no sexuality education group when compared to the abstinence-only group (a higher score represented less risk-avoidance of risk behaviors). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growing popularity of brief group interventions (weekend workshops, sexuality attitude reassessment seminars, and other formats) since the 1960s, there is a paucity of evaluative evidence as to their effectiveness. An abundance of anecdotal testimony suggests these interventions may have powerful and lasting impact on individual participants. The related scientific investigations on attitudinal change and group dynamics, in contexts outside the field of sexual health, offer many reasons to support the proposition that brief group interventions in this field, if conducted with an attentiveness to the many factors that can influence outcome, could be highly efficacious. Five programmatic suggestions are offered to guide future outcome studies. These include proposals concerning the need for collaboration, for improved qualitative as well as quantitative methods, for longitudinal designs, for the use of technology, and for the content of evaluative measures that assess effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethical issues about conducting sexuality education often arise. This paper describes one system of ethics and how the sexuality educator can use that system to determine whether an action is moral or immoral and, therefore, the appropriate action to take for that sexuality educator to be consistent with his or her values. Ethical principles are presented along with examples of potential ethical dilemmas. Examples of common ethical issues related to the conducting of sexuality education are given. Two examples are used to show how ethical dilemmas can be resolved using this system of ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a reported increase of intentional seroconversion in the United States over the past several years in the gay community (Crossley, 2004; Trinufol, 2003). This article reports on a sample (n = 24) of men who identify their motivations behind their pursuit of seroconversion. Respondents were asked to identify what motivations were connected to their attempt to become seropositive. Three general variables emerged as potential indicators: (1) seeking relief from emotional HIV fatigue, (2) the wish to be closer with one's HIV positive partner, and (3) the expectation to become HIV positive. By identifying these possible motivations (both psychological and sociocultural), sex educators and therapists providing counseling to the gay male community may be better equipped to more effectively identify clients at high risk for intentional seroconversion. Recommendations for assessment and intervention with those at high risk for such behaviors are provided by the authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As with many states, Florida has official directives that are intended to influence what type of sexuality education, if any, takes place in public school classrooms. However, little is known about contextual factors that facilitate or challenge the ability of teachers to implement effective sexuality education initiatives. Levels of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies continue to rise in Florida; indeed, the state ranks second in annual incident HIV infections. The need exists to examine the capacity of Florida's schools to develop educational responses to these issues. Methodology: Community-based participatory research (CBPR), scientific review, and a statewide mail-based survey were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data from 479 public school personnel throughout Florida. Results: Even though the vast majority of teachers (87%) acknowledged that some form of "sex education" took place in their schools, it was not accessible to all students, was most often afforded little time, occurred late in the students' academic career, had little to no uniformity in terms of what was being taught and who was teaching it, had no standards in terms of training or quality assurance, and may not adequately address the realistic needs of students. Conclusions and Recommendations: Teachers in Florida reported numerous barriers to providing comprehensive sexuality education. State organizations and advocacy groups located within Florida may consider initiating campaigns to promote comprehensive sexuality education in Florida's public schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the communication and initial sexuality education between parents and children as it relates to later sexual activity. The study asked 192 undergraduate college students from a Midwestern state university their perceptions about past communication with their parents regarding sexuality. The students completed a 180-item survey instrument, which consisted of questions from the Parent-Child Closeness Scale (PCC) (Buchanan, Maccoby, & Dombusch, 1991), the Sexual Communication Scale (SCS) (Somers & Canivez, 2003), and the 1998 National College Health Risk Behavior Survey (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998). Researchers investigated whether the frequency and breadth of communication from the parent to the child led to a later onset of sexual behavior. Consistent with previous research, few parents were perceived as proficiently performing the role of sex educator for their child/children. Suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This piece concerns the controversy engendered by Martin Cole's 1971 film Growing Up, an attempt to start a revolution in school sex education practices by showing explicit scenes of unsimulated sexual acts. Although Cole's film was never widely shown it marked a turning point in English school sex education by defining the limits of the 'tasteful' and the acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on classroom observations and discusses sexual education that addresses homosexuality. Tolerance of queer lifestyles as well as support for judicial equality between heterosexual and homosexual couples is generally perceived as being high in the Norwegian political context. Norwegian sexual politics is, however, based on a binary understanding of sexuality, linked to stable and authentic sexual identities, and this perspective is highly influential in Norwegian education on sexuality. Homotolerance appears to be the most prominent ambition when teachers deal with homosexuality in their teaching. Informed by queer theory, I intend to investigate how teaching that sets out to create homotolerance reproduces heteronormativity. I will argue that even though education on homosexuality may create increased homotolerance, the very same education does also marginalise and stigmatise homosexuality as well as reproduce binary and heteronormative concepts of sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the life and works of Albert Ellis, founder of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS) in the U.S. He is generally considered to be the grandfather of cognitive-behavioral therapies and, based on a 1982 professional survey of U.S. and Canadian psychologists, was considered as one of the most influential psychotherapists in history. He also wrote the book "Sex Without Guilt," wherein he expressed the opinion that religious restrictions on sexual expression are needless and often harmful to emotional health.

Content analysis is widely used to analyze sexual themes and messages on television. Although researchers generally use a sampling procedure to identify programs for analysis, there is currently no gold standard for the number of episodes needed to establish a valid, representative sample. This study sought to explore how many episodes of weekly television programs should be examined for an accurate assessment of sexual content present throughout the season. Various sampling strategies were used to select episodes from programs that ran in the 1998-1999 season, and results were compared with data collected from all episodes of these programs to test representativeness. Findings suggest that to provide a representative assessment of sexual content on television programs for behavior-level variables, a random sample of five episodes of weekly television programs is sufficient, while three episodes may be acceptable if variation is minimal. A random sample of seven episodes is needed for character-based analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a larger survey study on young adult sexuality conducted over a 17-year period at a Midwest U.S. university, more than 6,000 college students completed questions on the sources of their sex education and the degree to which they have communicated about sex with various types of individuals. Participants reported receiving more sex education from peers and media than from parents (and mothers more than fathers). Respondents also reported communicating more about sex with peers than with parents or any other categories of individuals. Differences were found in the degree of sex education from various sources and in communication with various targets based on gender, ethnic background, and social class. Furthermore, changes were found over the 17-year period. More recent cohorts of students perceived that they received more sex education from media, peers, and professionals, and communicated more about sex with professionals, relative to earlier cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-five years since the onset of HIV/AIDS, young people aged 15–24 now make up half of new HIV infections. This paper advocates for comprehensive sexuality education as an effective panacea to reverse this, with teachers stepping up and embracing their role as sexuality educators. The exploration of this challenge is informed by a small-scale participatory study of teacher responses in a rural primary school in Nakuru district, Kenya. Dialogue was held with 18 teachers (11 females, seven males) on the challenges they faced in teaching sexuality education and teachers emerged as disorientated and embarrassed in conversations about sexuality issues with the pupils. Because sexuality education lacks a curriculum, teachers have found it challenging to integrate it into regular subjects; they also observed that parents seem resistant to addressing this at home, and thus this task falls to them. In the study, a process of self-awareness of the need for them to step up and teach sexuality education emerges among the participants. A key finding is that participatory and dialectical interventions that can prepare teachers and develop their confidence in teaching sexuality education are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education programmes for sex and relationships are greatly needed globally. One way such information can be delivered is via the media. Sex and relationship advice has long been a popular media component, but the quality, accuracy and effectiveness of such advice - particularly from the sex 'expert' or 'agony aunt' - has not been adequately addressed. Given the rising cult of the 'expert' and 'self-improvement' features within the media alongside growing sexual health problems, this paper discusses problems associated with providing media sex education and makes suggestions for effective communication of sex and relationships messages for those who wish to be media sex educators or who already offer media sex and relationships advice and seek to improve their skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In HIV and AIDS and life skills education in southern Africa peer education has been advocated as a way of democratizing relations between educators and students and encouraging participatory pedagogies. But what makes a peer educator, or rather how do people make themselves peer educators? Similarities in terms of age, social status and background do not automatically result in teachers and students identifying as peers and engaging in participatory teaching and learning. This paper focuses on an interview with men and women in their 20s who were identified as peer educators and taught life skills education to children in a 'black' high school. How did they, as full-time paid employees several years older than their students working for a Christian organization, construct themselves as peers in relation to the male and female students they taught? It is argued that this involved contradictory ways of relating to students, moralistic and student-centred, and that they subverted and reproduced conventional gendered identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goal/Objective: The overall goal is to allow students to discuss their perceptions of sex and sex education, and realize the importance of these issues as a communicative topic within the family; students will identify and articulate their perceptions about, and experiences with, sex education in family communication interactions. Courses: This activity can be used primarily in Family Communication, but may apply in other applicable courses such as Gender Communication [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the current legislation requiring sex education as part of the school curriculum in Portugal, great obstacles to its implementation remain. Furthermore, sex education is far from being systematically administered. Thus, the main interest in our project was to validate a scale that measures teachers' attitudes towards sex education. There are to date no scales in the literature, with tested psychometric characteristics, that achieve this objective. Hence in this work we constructed the Sex Education Teachers' Attitudes Evaluation Questionnaire and we proceeded to validate it. This questionnaire also includes a scale of knowledge of sex education and one of comfort with the themes of sexuality. The 176 individuals who participated in this research are teachers from the second and third basic educational levels and from high school. The scales revealed great consistency and adequate validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of the case studies about the risks of HIV and mycobacterium tuberculosis on community-based organizations worldwide featured within the issue. Advanced care, theories, services, training, resources and policy analysis on the disease-causing microorganisms are given to provide knowledge and precautionary measures to community-based workers. Experts who are responsible in giving the orientation and basic theories are the social workers, drug counselors, sex educators, community-outreach workers, harm reduction program workers and more. These group of people are accounted to disseminate information for the prevention of further transmission of the parasitic microorganism.

HIV prevention programs and clinicians have a need to identify clients' attitudes toward unprotected anal intercourse (UAI). This study reports on the development of the Unprotected Anal Intercourse Attitudes Inventory (UAI-AI), a multi-factorial measure designed to assess gay and bisexual men who are HIV-negative or untested. This self-report measure may be useful in helping both counselors and clients discuss the complex psychosocial issues that can be associated with UAI and safer sex. Factors identified include Anger/Self-Destructiveness/Fatalism, Pleasure Seeking/Risk-Taking/Escapism, Intimacy Needs/Rational Choice Making, Erroneous Perception of Risk, and Condom Related Erectile Dysfunction. Based on their work with hundreds of clients at TalkSafe, a NYC prevention program for HIV-negative gay and bisexual men, the authors suggest clinical guidelines for counseling these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article suggests that sex education in Church schools should address the personal as political through proclaiming the liberating potential of incarnational theology. The author suggests that Christian sex educators should be alert to the construction and commodification of desire and its attendant capitalist implications. While resisting this grand narrative they should encourage the young to embrace their own human/divine natures and dance in the sensuality of their erotic power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This story is about sacred eroticism in the context of globalization. It is about Gaia and Jean-Luc, a bi and poly woman originally from Italy and a Catholic priest from Africa. They meet in central Italy in the summer 2000, while in Rome the first world gay-pride parade is getting under way. Both are used to navigating world cultures and regions. She has spent her adult life in the United States as a student, teacher, bi activist, sex educator, body worker, and healer. He has left Mozambique in his youth to access higher education through the Catholic ministry, with the ambition of becoming a spiritual leader. A high charge of erotic energy traverses the space between them as they discover their affinities. This energy turns sacred as she teaches him the art of loving and he becomes her eager student. The narrative is part of the author's memoir, forthcoming from Haworth Press. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' lack of sex education training has been widely regarded as a barrier to delivery, but very few in-service programmes have been evaluated. This paper evaluates the teacher training component of a theoretically-based behavioural sex education programme for 13-15-year-olds called SHARE. It combines data from participant observation, in-depth interviews, questionnaires and lesson observations. The teachers found the training very valuable, particularly in relation to collegiate support, familiarisation with the SHARE pack and reducing discomfort. The two main objectives of the training programme that were congruent with teachers' perceived needs were fulfilled: to make teachers more comfortable and confident to deliver sex education and to prepare them to deliver the SHARE pack. However, the introduction of social-psychologically informed skills based exercises, radically different to those normally followed, was the least successful aspect of the training, as one might predict from previous research on in-service training. This might suggest that theoretically based, behavioural health education programmes might be best delivered by specialist staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the relationship between sexual biography and pedagogic practice. It is based on life history interviews with sex education practitioners (teachers and a school nurse) that aimed to explore elements of these individuals' sexual biographies, their experiences of learning about sex and their pedagogic practice. The article considers why the sexuality of sex educators may be important, how this manifests itself in school and, finally, some of the implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reprints the Chapter 11 of the book 'Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex,' by Judith Levine, which deals with sex education for minors.

Discusses sexological training in Rome, Italy and the model being used in the Clinical Sexology Institute of Rome. Importance of the study of sexology; Use of behavioral and strategic techniques; Curriculum in the institute; History of sexology in Italy; Updating of themes and their study.