Abstract
This article is based upon two large studies (De Bourdeaudhuij et al., 1992; Geeraert, 1993). A comparison is made between the adults’ (school principals, teachers, and external experts) and the students’ perspectives on relevant themes, together with the preferred timing of school-based sex education in Flanders. Teachers and school principals were reached by drawing a representative sample of 400 schools. Data on almost 3200 students aged 15-21 years old were collected using the evaluation study of the recently implemented video program. A major conclusion from our results is the need for an earlier discussion of most sex education topics in secondary school. The main reasons for dealing with these topics even before students express an explicit need for this, are the adolescents’ short-range perspective, their underestimation of own risk, their gaps and misconceptions in knowledge, and the fact that their first sexual intercourse is often perceived as overwhelming and unexpected.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Allgeier, E.R. (1992), School-based sex education. Unpublished paper commissioned by the Global Programme on AIDS, Geneva: World Health Organisation.
Blum, R. (1987), Youth’s views on health and services. American Academy of Pediatrics, 8, pp. 19–23.
Braeken, D., J. De Bree and D. Veer (1984), Ze weten alles al. Amsterdam: SUA uitgeverij.
Buysse, A. (1994), Effectevaluatie van het AIDSpreventieprogramma van de CGSO. In: A. Buysse and P. Van Oost (Eds). Je zou er AIDS van krijgen (pp. 16–30). Gent: CGSO publicatie. ISBN 90-74832-03-2.
Calamidas, E.G. (1990), AIDS and STD education: What’s really happening in our schools? Journal of Sex Education and Therapy, 16(1), pp. 54–63.
Campbell, T. and D. Campbell (1990), Considering the adolescent’s point of view: a marketing model for sex education. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy, 16(3), pp. 185–193.
Csincsak, M., I. De Bourdeaudhuij and P. Van Oost (1993), Sex education in Flemish secondary schools. The role of external experts. FCFO initiative of the Minister of Education, unpublished manuscript in Dutch
David, K. and T. Williams (1987), Health education in schools. London: Harper and Row.
De Bourdeaudhuij, I., M. Csincsak and P. Van Oost (1992), The practice of sex education in Flemish secondary schools: a study of principals and teachers. FCFO initiative of the Minister of Education, unpublished manuscript in Dutch.
De Haes, W.F.M. (1985), Voorlichting en onderzoek. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Psychologie, 40, pp. 77–86.
DeMuth Allensworth, D.and C. Wolford Symons (1989), A theoretical approach to school-based HIV prevention. Journal of School Health, 59(2), pp. 59–65.
De Muth, Allensworth D. (1993), Health education: state of the art. Journal of School Health, 63(1), pp. 14–20.
Deven, F. (1989), Avoiding the unavoidable: the dynamics of school family life/sex education in Flanders. In: P. Meredith (red.). The other curriculum: European Strategies for school sex education. London: International Planned Parenthood Federation.
De Weerdt, I. and A. Visser (1987), GVO en gezondheidskunde in het voortgezet onderwijs. Een verkenning van de Amsterdamse situatie. GVO/preventie, 8(2), pp. 78–89.
Farrell, C. (1978), My mother said... The way young people learned about sex and birth control. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Finkel, M.L. and S. Finkel (1985), Sex education in high school. Society, 1985(6), pp. 48–52.
Ford, N. and C. Bowie (1989), Urban-rural variation in the level of heterosexual activity of young people. Area, 21, pp. 237–248.
Ford, N. and K. Morgan (1989), Heterosexual lifestyles of young people in an English city. Journal of Population and Social Studies, 1, pp. 167–185.
Geeraert, A. (1983), Relatievorming bij adolescenten in Viaanderen. Brussel: CBGS-rapport nr. 61.
Geeraert, A. (1987), Veranderde seksuele norm-en gedragspatronen bij adolescenten. Een representatieve survey bij 15-tot 19-jarigen in Viaanderen. Brussel: CBGS-Monografie 1987(1).
Geeraert, A. (1991a), Later begint nu. Leerlingenbrochure. Brussel: BRTN.
Geeraert, A. (1991b), Later begint nu. Leerkrachtenmap. Brussel: BRTN.
Geeraert, A. (1993a), 3200 leerlingen beoordelen het videoprogramma ‘Later begint nu’. Resultaten van een representatief evaluatie-onderzoek in 71 secundaire scholen. Brussel: Departement Onderwijs.
Geeraert, A. (1993b), De ervaring van leerkrachten met het videoprogramma ‘Later begint nu’. Evaluatie-onderzoek, Brussel: Departement Onderwijs.
Geeraert, A. (1994), Relationele en Sexuele vorming in het Secundair Onderwijs: een standpunt van de leerlingen. In preparation.
Gordon, S. (1986), What kids need to know. Psychology Today, 1986 /Oct, pp. 22–26.
Gordon, S. (1990). Sexuality education in the 1990’s. Health Education, 21(1), pp. 4–5.
Grossman, L. (1982), ’Just ask us’ what we want to know about health (children 8-15 years), Ontario: Ministry of Health.
Hill, F. (1993), Looking for good practice—case-studies of approaches to HIV and AIDS education for 16-19-year-olds in further education. Health Education Journal, 52(1), pp. 28–33.
Howard, M. and J. McCabe (1990), Helping teenagers postpone sexual involvement. Family Planning Perspectives, 22(1), pp. 21–26.
Jones, E.F., J.D. Forrest, N. Goldman, S. Henshaw, R. Lincoln, J.I. Rossoff, C.F. Westoff and D. Wulf (1986), Teenage Pregnancy in Industrialized Countries. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Jones, E.F., J.D. Forrest, J. Silverman and A. Torres (1988), Unintended pregnancy, contraceptive practice and family planning services in developed countries. Family Planning Perspectives, 20, pp. 53–67.
Lewis, R.A. (1972), A developmental framework for the analysis of premarital dyadic information. Family Process, 11, pp. 17–48.
Lewis, R.A. (1973), A longitudinal test of a developmental framework for premarital dyadic formation. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 35, pp. 16–25.
Massey, D. (1990), School sex education: knitting without a pattern? Health Education Journal, 49(3), pp. 134–142.
Meeuws, G. (1992), Opvoeding tot relatiebekwaamheid in de eerste jaren secundair onderwijs. Caleidoscoop, 4(1), pp. 24–27.
Mellink, E. (1989), Seksuele vorming en AIDS-voorlichting. Een inventariserend onderzoek naar de stand van zaken met betrekking tot seksuele vorming en AIDS-voorlichting in het voortgezet onderwijs. Amsterdam: Stichting Centrum voor Onderwijsonderzoek van de Universiteit van Amsterdam.
Murstein, B.I. (1976), Who will marry whom ? New York: Springer.
Murstein, B.I. (1987), A clarification and extension of the SVR theory of dyadic pairing. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, pp. 929–947.
Paulussen, T. and F. Bartels (1989), Samenvatting onderzoeksrapport ‘AIDSvoorlichting en het gebruik van lespakketten in het voortgezet onderwijs. Utrecht: Landelijk Centram GVO.
Rademakers, J. and C. Straver (1990), Van fascinatie naar relatie. Het leren omgaan met relaties en sexualiteit in de jeugdperiode; een ontwikkelingsdynamische Studie. Zeist: Nederlands Instituut voor Sociaal Sexuologisch Onderzoek.
Rice, W. (1987), Why informal methods? In: K. David and T. Williams. Health education in schools. London: Harper&Row. pp. 176–192.
Reiss, I.L. (1980), Family systems in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart&Winston.
Scott, L. and R. Thomson, R. (1992), School sex education: more a patchwork than a pattern. Health Education Journal, 51, pp. 132–134.
Thompson, B., C. Fraser and D. Anderson (1993), Some aspects of first sexual relationships in females with special reference to those aged under 16. Health Education Journal, 52(2), pp. 63–68.
Van Hove, E., N. Knops, S. Nieuwinckel and E. Poppe (1989), Jongeren en AIDS. Antwerpen: Departement Politieke en Sociale Wetenschappen, Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen.
Van Oost, P., M. Csincsak and I. De Bourdeaudhuij (1994), Principals’ and teachers’ views of sexuality education in Flanders. Journal of School Health, 64(3), pp. 105–109.
Visser, A.Ph., A. Geeraert and P. Lehert (1991), Seksualiteit en Relatievorming-Anticonceptie in België. Leuven: Acco.
Weinstein, N.D. (1989), Perceptions of personal susceptibility to harm. In: V. Mays, G. Albee and S. Schneider (Eds). Primary Prevention of AIDS. London: Sage Publications.
Weissberg, R., M. Caplan and L. Bennetto (1988), The Yale-New Haven social problem-solving program for young adolescents. New Haven: Yale University.
Weissberg, R., M. Zelek Caplan and P. Sivo (1989). A new conceptual framework for establishing school-based social competence promotion programs. In: L. Bond& E. Compas (Eds). Primary prevention and promotion in the schools. Sage Publications, London.
Woodcock, A., K. Stenner and R. Ingham (1992), ”All these contraceptives, videos and that...”: young people talking about school sex education. Health Education Research, 7(4), pp. 517–531.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
De Bourdeaudhuij, I., Geeraerts, A., Van Oost, P. (1995). Sex Education in Flanders: Data on the perspective of students, teachers, and experts. In: van den Brekel, H., Deven, F. (eds) Population and Family in the Low Countries 1994. European Studies of Population, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0269-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0269-8_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4119-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-0269-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive