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Sex ed needs spicing up

By Aaron Palazzo

The current sex education system is failing to provide young women with adequate and helpful information on sex and relationships, according to a national survey.
The survey by the Equality Rights Alliance’s Young Women’s Advisory Group and had more than 1,000 responses from women aged 16 to 21.
According to the survey, 76% of women said that sex education classes had not helped them deal with sex and relationships.
The survey also reported that only 37% of respondents had been taught about consent.
Emily Rowbotham from the Australian National University’s Women’s Department says the importance of female students being taught about consent cannot be stressed enough.
“I think it needs to be taught in a relatable way that promotes respect, empowerment and strength within girls,” Ms Rowbotham  said.
One organisation in Canberra that attends each public college every two years to discuss sexual health, relationships and sexuality is the Sexual Health, Lifestyle and Relationships Program (SHLiRP).
Executive Director of SHLiRP, Tim Bevinton, says the quality of sex education in Australian schools varies significantly.
“At the moment what we see in schools is everything from nothing, right through to some absolutely amazing learning work,” he said.
Mr Bevinton says a key factor behind student’s not learning relevant information in their sex education classes came down to how comfortable their teacher’s felt discussing the content.
“Some teachers are still very uncomfortable, embarrassed and therefore struggle to teach the information in a way that’s actually helpful and relevant to young people.”
Mr Bevinton thinks a way of improving the sex education system is by getting young people’s opinions on what should be included in the learning agenda.
“We’re used to as a school system doing things to young people, rather than inviting them to say what would be meaningful and helpful to them,” Mr Bevinton said.

Aaron Palazzo investigates how sex ed is taught in the ACT.

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