State Policy on School-based Sex Education: A Content Analysis Focused on Sexual Behaviors, Relationships, and Identities

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 506-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Hall ◽  
Benjamin L.H. Jones ◽  
Kristen D. Witkemper ◽  
Tora L. Collins ◽  
Grayson K. Rodgers
Author(s):  
Kacie Kidd

Since its initial discovery in the early 1980s, through the development of treatment and prophylaxis medications as well as continued attempts at vaccination development, HIV/AIDS has changed the narrative about infectious diseases around the world. It has led to recognition of the complexities of the intersections of sexuality, gender, race, age, culture, and socioeconomic status while simultaneously highlighting gender inequities in all aspects of the disease. These inequities present in clinical trials that include only subsets of the population, prevention strategies that are offered based on oversimplified assumptions about sexual behaviors, and limited education about risk for everyone from schoolchildren through medical professionals. Activists and public health advocates push for inclusion and transparency in research and treatment for HIV/AIDS, but education at all levels has lagged. The United Nations and the International Conference on Population Development have declared school-based sex education a goal for all countries in order to reduce the health burden of HIV/AIDS. Sex education in schools varies between and within countries, with no standardization of how to best educate youth about sex, reproductive health, or disease prevention. Despite continued challenges with curriculum incorporation and content, research suggests that key qualities of an effective educational program include the creation of a safe space for student questions, inclusion of diverse voices, and clear guidance for preventing sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS. In order to mitigate continued inequity over the next several decades and beyond, comprehensive HIV/AIDS education must emphasize the intersectionality of gender, sexuality, race, age, culture, and socioeconomic status at all levels from elementary introductions through training for medical and mental health researchers and providers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asha S. George ◽  
Tanya Jacobs ◽  
Mary V. Kinney ◽  
Annie Haakenstad ◽  
Neha S. Singh ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Global Financing Facility (GFF) offers an opportunity to close the financing gap that holds back gains in women, children’s and adolescent health. However, very little work exists examining GFF practice, particularly for adolescent health. As momentum builds for the GFF, we examine initial GFF planning documents to inform future national and multi-lateral efforts to advance adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Methods We undertook a content analysis of the first 11 GFF Investment Cases and Project Appraisal Documents available on the GFF website. The countries involved include Bangladesh, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. Results While several country documents signal understanding and investment in adolescents as a strategic area, this is not consistent across all countries, nor between Investment Cases and Project Appraisal Documents. In both types of documents commitments weaken as one moves from programming content to indicators to investment. Important contributions include how teenage pregnancy is a universal concern, how adolescent and youth friendly health services and school-based programs are supported in several country documents, how gender is noted as a key social determinant critical for mainstreaming across the health system, alongside the importance of multi-sectoral collaboration, and the acknowledgement of adolescent rights. Weaknesses include the lack of comprehensive analysis of adolescent health needs, inconsistent investments in adolescent friendly health services and school based programs, missed opportunities in not supporting multi-component and multi-level initiatives to change gender norms involving adolescent boys in addition to adolescent girls, and neglect of governance approaches to broker effective multi-sectoral collaboration, community engagement and adolescent involvement. Conclusion There are important examples of how the GFF supports adolescents and their sexual and reproductive health. However, more can be done. While building on service delivery approaches more consistently, it must also fund initiatives that address the main social and systems drivers of adolescent health. This requires capacity building for the technical aspects of adolescent health, but also engaging politically to ensure that the right actors are convened to prioritize adolescent health in country plans and to ensure accountability in the GFF process itself.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Ponsford ◽  
Rebecca Meiksin ◽  
Joanna Crichton ◽  
Sara Bragg ◽  
Lucy Emmerson ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The benefits of involving intended recipients, implementers and other stakeholders in the co-production of public health interventions are widely promoted. Practical accounts reflecting on the process and value of co-production in intervention design, however, remain scarce. We outline our approach to the co-production of two multi-component, school-based relationships and sex education interventions. We reflect on the utility of involving school staff, students, and other youth, professional and policy stakeholders in intervention design and on some of the challenges we encountered during the process. Methods: Seven consultations were conducted in southeast and southwest England involving 75 students aged 13–15 and 22 school staff. A group of young people trained to advise on public health research were consulted on three occasions. Twenty-three sexual health and sex education practitioners and policy makers shared their views at a stakeholder event. Written summaries of activities were prepared by researchers and shared with the specialist provider agencies for each intervention. Negotiated consensus between researchers and providers was reached about how participant views should inform intervention content, format and delivery models. Results: Consultations confirmed acceptability of intervention aims, components and delivery models, including curriculum delivery by teachers. They sensitised us to the need to ensure content reflected the reality of young people’s experiences; include flexibility for the timetabling of lessons; and to develop prescriptive teaching materials and robust school engagement strategies to reflect shrinking capacity for schools to implement public-health interventions. Accessing and prioritising stakeholder feedback was not always straightforward, however, where specific expertise or capacity for participation was limited or when participant views contradicted best practice, budget or the randomised controlled trial design. Conclusions: Involving potential recipients, implementers and wider stakeholders as co-producers in intervention design can bring valuable insights that can help reduce research waste. Successful co-production can be complex and challenging and requires careful consideration of the topics participants can most usefully speak to; the representativeness of those involved; the capacity available for participation; and how participants will be compensated. Findings also alert us to the importance of having well-defined, transparent procedures for deciding how stakeholder input will be incorporated.


Author(s):  
M. V. Oleynik

In this article, an attempt is made to analyze the existing legal mechanisms for the formation of the state system for the prevention and elimination of forest fires, to outline ways to improve state policy in this area. The author presents the results of the analysis of the content of text arrays of normative legal acts regulating the prevention and elimination of forest fires. disaster Medicine of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The genesis of legislative acts reflecting the functions of the state to protect the population and territories from emergency situations is carried out. With the help of content analysis, the characteristics of various governing documents in the field under consideration are given. The main key points contained in the analyzed documents are shown. The positive and negative sides, as well as contradictions affecting the functioning of the RSChS and the functional subsystem of the Federal Forestry Agency for the protection of forests from fires and their protection from pests and forest diseases are revealed. The qualitative approach of content analysis allowed us to determine the content of problematic issues that are poorly reflected in regulatory legal documents, or have a logical contradiction when compared with each other. The proposals for improving the state policy in the field of prevention and elimination of forest fires in Russia are substantiated.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anneliese C. Bolland ◽  
Elizabeth Schlichting ◽  
Qshequilla Mitchell ◽  
Jasmine Ward ◽  
John M. Bolland
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483992110315
Author(s):  
Leah R. Fowler ◽  
Lauren Schoen ◽  
Hadley Stevens Smith ◽  
Stephanie R. Morain

Leading medical and public health societies endorse comprehensive sex education, but only 20 states and Washington, D.C., currently require information about contraception when sex education is taught, and even fewer require the inclusion of topics such as gender diversity or consent. At the same time, social media use, especially the video-sharing app TikTok, is increasing among teens. TikTok, therefore, offers a novel opportunity to make up for shortcomings in sex education and convey sexual health information to adolescents. To describe the availability and content of sexual education on TikTok, we conducted a content analysis of themes for 100 sex education–focused videos. We found that female anatomy was the most frequently addressed topic. Sexual pleasure was the second most common theme, within which discussions of the female orgasm and arousal constituted the most common subtheme. Other common themes include contraception and sexual health. These sought-after topics may be incongruent with those presented in standard school- or home-based sex education or interactions with health care providers, and this disconnect suggests opportunities for health care providers and educators to initiate conversations or offer resources on these themes as part of routine interaction. We conclude with recommendations for future research to consider the factual accuracy of sex education on TikTok and determine how exposure to this content affects adolescents’ understanding of the risks and benefits of intercourse, sexual practices, age- and gender-based sexual norms, and other health behaviors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (13) ◽  
pp. 1779-1797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M. Currin ◽  
Randolph D. Hubach ◽  
Julie M. Croff

Author(s):  
Collin A. Webster ◽  
Genee Glascoe ◽  
Chanta Moore ◽  
Brian Dauenhauer ◽  
Cate A. Egan ◽  
...  

School administrator involvement is recognized as a key factor in the extent to which school health promotion programs and initiatives are successfully implemented. The aims of this scoping review are to: (a) Identify existing documents that contain recommendations regarding the involvement of school administrators in school-based health promotion; (b) distill and summarize the recommendations; (c) examine differences in the recommendations by targeted professional level, professional group, health promotion content focus, and by whether the recommendations are evidence-based or opinion-based; and (d) evaluate the research informing the recommendations. We drew upon the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines to conduct the review. Our team conducted a comprehensive literature search with no date or geographic restrictions from January 2018 through April 2018 using four electronic databases: Academic Search Complete, Google Scholar, Physical Education Index, and PubMed. Eligibility criteria included any online documents, in English, that contained recommendations targeting school administrators’ (e.g., principals, assistant principals, superintendents) involvement (e.g., support, endorsement, advocacy) in school health programming (e.g., physical activity, nutrition, wellness). The search yielded a total of 1225 records, which we screened by title, then by abstract, and finally by full text, resulting in 61 records that met inclusion criteria. Data (e.g., recommendations, targeted contexts, targeted administrators) from these records were extracted for a content analysis. Included records contained 80 distinct recommendations, which we summarized into three themes (Collaboration, Advocacy, and Support) using a content analysis. Separate content analyses revealed no qualitative differences in the recommendations by professional level, professional group, or content focus, or by whether the recommendations were evidence-based or opinion-based. Twenty-one of the included records were peer-reviewed research articles. Using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), we appraised qualitative research articles the highest and mixed methods research articles the lowest. This review provides a basis for future research and professional practice aiming to increase school administrators’ involvement in school-based health promotion.


Author(s):  
Maggie Scott ◽  
Carolyn S. Marsh ◽  
Jessica Fields

The terms sex education, sexuality education, and sexual health education—mentioned throughout this article—all reflect the diverse scholarship that considers how sex and sexuality are taught and learned in different contexts across the lifespan. While people learn about sex and sexuality throughout their lives, most discussion of sexuality education focuses on the lessons learned by children, adolescents, and youth. And, though young people learn about sex and sexuality from various sources, US debates about sexuality education focus on school-based learning. This article considers the social construction of childhood and debates around school-based sex education as well as scholarship that examines other sites of sex and sexuality education. Families, religious and secular communities, media, and the Internet all play significant roles in dispersing information and values surrounding sex and sexuality. These and other sites of sexuality education reflect and contribute to societal and cultural ideologies around sex and sexuality. Research on sexuality education has also considered the ways sex education has the potential to reproduce, as well as contest, societal inequalities. This article focuses on sexuality education in the United States, and while the majority of the scholarship reflects this focus, included are some texts written within other national contexts that have influenced scholarship or thinking about sexuality education research and practice within the United States. While this article does not contain a section explicitly engaging with citizenship, the ways sexuality education has been involved in constructing and policing US national identity comes up in several sections. (The authors thank Jen Gilbert and anonymous reviewers for feedback on earlier versions of this article.)


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