History Of Sex Education Children And Young People Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

Sex Education became known in the 1890s.The social reformers who studied the degeneration of the traditional family and the increase of people suffering from sexually transmitted diseases, believed that sex education is the best way to decrease these problems (Elia,2009; Goldfard, 2009; Irvine, 2002; Luker, 2006). The American Social Hygiene Association (ASHA) is believed to be the first group which supported sex education (Luker, 2006; Elia, 2009). According to ASHA, sex education promoted health in different ways, for examples, social, mental, spiritual and physical.

Due to the social changes which were taking place during the 1960s and 1970s, Sex Education became more and more popular. During these years, subjects like Biology started to impart certain topics such as the reproductive system of human beings and methods of contraception to students. By the year 1980s, changes were brought as far as sex education was concerned. Parenting and communication in relation to sex were emphasized but sex education was not efficient. However, in the mid 1980, there was a change in the viewing of sex education. Before mid 1980, sex education was not very important but later on, when it was found that there was a new Sexually Transmitted infection, AIDS; sex education gained an important place. AIDS was spreading all around the world at an alarming speed (Reiss, 2005).Professor Michael Reiss5 (Guest6, External Institutions7, University of London8, Institute of Education, University of London9) Professor Michael Reiss5 (Guest6, External Institutions7, University of London8, Institute of Education, University of London9) Professor Michael Reiss5 (Guest6, External Institutions7, University of London8, Institute of Education, University of London9) Professor Michael Reiss5 (Guest6, External Institutions7, University of London8, Institute of Education, University of London9)

Defining sex education

According to the President of SIECUS (Sex Information and Educational Council of the US), 1993, sex education is all about obtaining information about identity, relationships as well as knowing about intimacy. Sex education consists of sexual development, reproductive system, affection, body image and gender roles.

Sexual health education is a set of skills training which result in specific behavioural outcomes (Mueller, Gavin and Kulkami, 2008). Through sex education, students are expected to have healthy sex education and healthy sexual behaviours (Fisher and Fisher, 2002). It is also believed that an effective sex education respects the beliefs of all people irrespective of their religion, race, age and gender (Ministry of Health, 2003).

Sex education in Mauritius

In Mauritius, sex education is imparted to students as from primary level itself. At primary level, students learn about sex under the subject known as "Health Education." This subject covers the physical and psychological changes and also encourages students to act in a responsible manner as far as making the right choices is concerned. At this stage, students learn about minor things such as the differences between boys and girls and about the importance of their body. They are told not to allow other to touch them and to report if ever any such thing has happened to them.

At the secondary level, sex education forms part of the curriculum, in subjects like Health & Physical Education, Integrated Science and Biology. These subjects focus on our body and its changes at puberty and about the reproductive system. (Ministry of EDUCATION, Mauritius, 2010). However, it can be seen that although sex education is found in the curriculum, yet several topics are not covered such as the protective measures and STDs.

On the 15th of March, 2013, there was an article in the newspaper Le Mauricien which focussed on the importance of sex education in Mauritius. More and more teenagers are becoming sexually active but they do not have an understanding about sex and even their own sexuality. Due to these, there is an alarming increase in teenage pregnancy in Mauritius. This affects the life of many teenage girls. For examples, they are stressed and even come up with financial and even emotional challenges. Many teenagers have to leave school once they are pregnant. It is believed that sex education in schools is the best way to solve this problem. In this way, adolescents in Mauritius, will have the correct information about their bodies, sexual development and the protective measures. If sex and sexuality are still considered as a taboo, then the society will face more and more problems (MIVANAH Irlen, 2013).

Similarly, Monique Dinan (Founder and Member of Movement D'aide a La Maternite (MAM)2012, is on the view that teenage pregnancies have increased to a large extent. She believes that this problem should be solved at an early age and this is the reason why she feels that it is important to educate the youths about sex so that they know about sexual responsibility.

Importance of sex education

Due to the absence of sex education, the society faces several problems such as students drop out from school ( Hofferth and Reid, 2002), the economy of the country is affected (Maynard, 1997) and there is also an increase risk of serious problems for the child such as drug abuse and crime (Jaffee, 2002). It is also important to incorporate sex education at school due in order to prevent students from having Sexually Transmitted Diseases. STDs result in simple and serious problems such as chronic pelvic pain, infertility, cancer and death (Sulack, 2003).

SIECUS (1999) believes that there are four goals while implementing sex education for adolescents. The goals are to allow the young people to have accurate information about sexuality, to allow the adolescents to understand and develop their attitudes and values, to enable them to develop relationships and finally, to help them to become responsible as far as sexual relationships are concerned. Walker, Green and Tilford (2003) are on the view that today sex education is given lots of importance. They even believe that sex education is important to handle public health problems such as teenage pregnancies and several sexually transmitted diseases. Welllings (2001) considers the schools to be a major source of sex education for young ones especially those between the ages of 16-19.

There are several challenges faced by policy makers and educators today in order to make sure that the youth of today will be productive, will assume their responsibility, will be not only caring but will be healthy people. This means that formal and informal educational institutions now do not only focus on nurturing the intellect of the youth but they consider the essential needs of education. Sex education is one of the most important needs. In order to have a productive youth, researchers and policy makers are focusing on sex education for the adolescents ( Zain Al- Dien 2010). Zain Al- Dien (2010) puts forward that sex education will help students in placing the sexual aspects of life in their honest perspective and it will also provide the students with valid and true information about sex which is going to reduce several misconceptions.

A study carried out by Kehily and Nayak, it was found that students are ashamed to talk about sex to their parents and they are even afraid as they believe that if they talk about sex to their parents, their parents will think that they are sexually active (Kehily and Nayak, 1996).

Several studies on sex education have been carried out by researchers. SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Henry J.Kaiser Family Foundation and government agencies (example U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) are on the view that sex education will decrease teenage pregnancy. They have found that there is a relationship between the absence of sex education and the increase in teenage pregnancy. Thus, according to them, sex education is the primary cause of teenage pregnancy (Ruddick 1993; Kirby 2002; Moore et al.1995).

Today, AIDS (immunodeficiency syndrome) is becoming one main causes of death across the world. There are the needs to encourage AIDS prevention, education as well as counseling for adolescents (Dehne and Riedner, 2005). UNICEF (2000), points out that to know whether HIV/AIDS is being combated, it is important to look at its impact on young people. It is vital to know whether they are receiving the right education about HIV/AIDS, how to protect themselves against it.

Teenage pregnancy is now known as an epidemic as there are too many cases. There are three main reasons why teenage pregnancy is regarded as a problematic issue. The first one is that children had to look after children which means that both the mother and child are children. The second one is that unmarried mother affect the life of their children as there are several problems which are associated with unmarried mothers. The third one is because teenage pregnancy leads to abortion which in turn affects the health of the teenagers (Luker, 1996). Sex education is considered to be the weapon which can fight teenage pregnancy (Ruddick 1993; Kirby 2002; Moore et al. 1995).

Teenage pregnancies can be linked to several social, health and economic problems. Several teenage parents are faced with poverty, they are not well educated and as such do not have an employment. It has also been deduced from research that the babies of teenage mothers are average weight. The babies of teenage mother are 60 % more likely to die than babies of older mothers. Only 44% of young mothers who are below 20 years old breastfeed their babies, 64% of mothers who are between 20 to 24 years old do so and 80 % of older mothers breastfeed their baby. It was also found that baby girls, whose mothers were teenagers, were most likely to become young mothers themselves. Most of the children born from teenage mothers, belonged to one parent family and as such, they did not have an appropriate house and food (Cohen, 2006).

Government of England believes that all schools should focus on the physical, moral and emotional aspects of sex, sexuality and their sexual health in their teachings. According to England and Wales, this should make sure that young people should:

"(learn) about physical, moral and emotional development. It is about the understanding of the importance of marriage for family life, stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care. It is also about the teaching of sex, sexuality and sexual health (DfEE, 2000).

The above quotation shows to which extent sex education is important in the lives of teenagers as through sex education, these young people are going to have a brighter future.

It is important to note that that at the launch of a booklet on the rights of the child on the 09th of June, 2012, at Bell Village SSS, the Ministry of Education declared that sex education will form part of the curriculum as from the year 2013. According to him, the reasons behind implementing sex education in schools are because the students are coming up with strange ideas and there are several under 15 years old mothers in Mauritius. According to the Ministry of Education, sometimes during activity period, sex education is taught to students but this is not sufficient. He also believes that sex education will be imparted in different ways that is according to students' age groups. The Ministry of Education also came upon the view that it is important to make students and parents understand the importance of sex education at schools before its implementation.

Sex education will help the young generation to succeed in life by having a bright future. It is also believed that whatever young people do when they are adolescents; those actions have great impacts in their whole lives (Perlman 2009).Thus, it is important for them to have an effective sex education.

According to The Department for Education and Skills, United Kingdom (2003), sex is used as a means of not only selling food but cars also. Due to these reasons, it becomes important to teach students about sexual relationships so that they do not receive wrong information about the subject.

It has also been argued that those who are handicapped and suffer from any illness should also be imparted with sex education. The sex education should cater for their needs and this should be taken into consideration when developing the curriculum (Ministry of Health, 2003).

Establishing sex education in schools

The formal school system is the most important venue where sex education can be imparted to students. The project of implementing sex education in school is still a controversial idea. There are different schools such as schools in the North America who have already included sex education in their curriculum as they believe that sex education will protect the students from unplanned pregnancies and even sexually transmitted infections. Boyce, Warre and King (2000) believe through sex education, all negative outcomes related to sex such as STDs and unwanted pregnancies should decrease. However, in some countries sex education remains a taboo as the people are on the views that if children learn about sex education they will be involved in sexual relationships and they even believe that sex education will corrupt the morals of students and will provide them with sexual ideas and as a result, they will be eager to experiment sex (Zain Al-Dien 2010). School-based sex education has been considered as the main source of information about sex; others included parents, peers and media (Juping Yu 2010).

Teen pregnancies are unexpected (Henshaw, 1998) which means that teen's pregnancies are not deliberate acts and they took place as teen have a lack a knowledge about their reproductive system. Mkumbo and Ingham (2010) are on the view that sex education in schools, protect youngsters against HIV/AIDS and undesired pregnancy and will also prevent them to get involved into risky sexual behaviours.

It is fundamental to inculcate sex education in the school curriculum. It is believed that a curriculum- based sex education programs generally contribute towards positive effects on sexual behaviours in the sense that students delay in being sexually active or they take their precautions (Kirby, Laris, Rolleri, 2007).

Thomson (1994) further stresses upon the fact that:

"The sex education that girls and boys receive within the home is significantly different. Girls tend to be educated within a protective discourse emphasizing the dangers of boys, pregnancy and being 'caught out' while boys are more likely to be teased and encouraged in the development of their sexuality."

The above quotation shows that girls learn about sex at home but it constructs female sexuality as passive. They do not learn about several important topics apart from being pregnant. When boys talk about sex at home, they are teased and are encouraged to develop their sexuality. This shows that the information that students are having about sex at home, is not enough. Sex education at school, will allow students to know more and to clear the doubts that they have about sex.

Researchers have also come up with the view that students look for information on sex from their friend, especially best friend, films, magazines and books (Griffin, 1984, Hey, 1997; McRobbie, 1978). However, sex education in schools is important in order to have discussions on the different issues read or seen by students about sex (McRobbie, 1978). Likewise, Bhattacharya (2000) and Wlash-Childers (1997) have researched upon the fact that adolescents learn about sex through mass media. But Bhattacharya (2000) even advocated that the sex education that adolescents have through mass media, is not useful and effective.

The Curriculum for Sex Education differs from school to school which means that schools found in different regions and states will have different curriculum for Sex Education. However, students' health, preventive measures and Sexually Transmitted Diseases form part of almost all the Sex Education Curriculum. There should be curriculum-based sex education at it positively influences the lives of teenagers. For examples, teenagers have sexual intercourse at a later stage, they use condoms and have knowledge about contraceptives (Kirby; Laris; Rolleri, 2007).

Establishing Sex Education for Students of Secondary levels

When children are growing into adults, they go through one of the most disturbing and change-laden phases in the life cycle which is known as adolescence. This phase is believed to be from the age of 10 to 22 years old which is divided into three periods: early adolescence which is from 10 to 14 years old, middle adolescence which is from 15 to 17 years old and late adolescence which is from 18 to 22 years old (Balk, 1995). During this period, adolescents undergo cognitive, social, biological and intrapsychic changes (Hill, 1980; Balk, 1995). It is at this stage itself that sexual development takes place (Herold and Marshall 1996). Adolescents experience hormonal changes, there are changes in the reproductive organs and in the feelings of adolescents. They think a lot about sexuality (Miller and Dyk, 1993). Brooks-Gunn and Paikoff (1997) are on the views that the sexual health of adolescents depend on these characteristics: know about the changes in their bodies and accept these changes positively, they are comfortable with sexual arousal, they are responsible for their sexual behavior (such as masturbation and sexual intercourse) and they are aware about protected sex.

Several measures have been taken and are still being taken to reduce and to even eliminate adolescent sexual activity. However, due to the increase in adolescents' sexual activity, it has been found that it is normal to be sexually active during adolescence. It is believed that adolescents who are indulge in sexual activities at the age of 14 or younger, become victims of several health problems (Lammers, Ireland, Resnick, & Blum, 2000; Zabin, 1990; Leitenberg & Saltzman, 2000). It has even been argued that for a youth to have a bright future and to contribute towards the society, he must have knowledge about healthy sex education at the secondary level. Hueber and Gilman (2006) agree that it is only through school satisfaction that a student is satisfied with his life. Byers (2003), outlines the relationship between student satisfaction and a sexual health education.

Love and romance occupy important places in the lives of teenagers. As such, sex education should be implemented within relationship that is it should help teenagers to have a better understanding of their sexual life. At this phase of life, approaches which discourage sexual relationship should not be used (Reddy 2003; Shefer and Foster 2001).

It is believed that if students complete their secondary schools having knowledge of sex education they have a healthy sex life in the future (Meaney, 2009).

Teachers and sex education

Teachers play important roles in any educational system. However, in order to have a successful sex education in schools, it is important to have well-trained teachers (Kirby, Laris and Loreri (2006). Teachers who lack training and are not confident as far as sex education is concerned, will fail to deliver the lesson effectively (McCall and McKay, 2004).

Due to a lack of training and confidence, teachers are even ashamed to carry out the class on sex education. Thus, teachers deal with the basics and they even ignore certain topics. It is believed that the reason why sex education is embarrassing is because students use sexuality as a vehicle for humour. Thus, classrooms are disrupted by students and this embarrasses the teachers (Kehily and Nayak, 1996). Similarly, Daria and Campbell, (2004) are on the views that an exciting sex education depends on trained teachers so that students and teachers are not embarrassed.

Administrators, school superintendents and educators should work together and assume their responsibilities in order to make Sexuality education in school successful and efficient (Harrris, 2011).

Teachers' knowledge of the subject matter, perception of the curriculum and the willingness to teach are important before implementing a curriculum (Scribber, 2000). It is important for teachers to feel confident as far as the subject matter is concerned in order to go towards an efficient and innovative approach of teaching sex education. Researchers also found that teachers who are interested with adolescents are more likely to impart sex education successfully (Harris,

2011).

Wight and Buston (2003), have identified four reasons why teachers are reluctant to teach sex education. Firstly, according to the norms set in the society, sex should not be discussed openly as having conversation on sexuality issues in society are considered to be embarrassing. Secondly, some teachers are on the views that they face problem to understand youths' lifestyles as well as the recent development in sex education. As such, they will not be able to teach sex education effectively. Thirdly, being parents themselves, they object to teach sex education due to its content. Finally, teachers do not have enough time to teach sex education due to their work load.

Pattman and Chege (2003) believe that although sex education is imparted to students, yet teachers do not encourage students to participate. This is not going to make sex education successful as students need to be active and need to ask questions in order to clear their doubts. Some teachers even believe that sex education should not be imparted to students as they are still innocent (Bhana, 2008).

In different societies and countries, sex remains a taboo. As people are silent as far as matters on sex are concerned, these silences enable poor delivery of the lesson. Teachers still consider sex to be a taboo. As such, teachers are faced with a lack of vocabulary while delivery the lesson (Campbell; Foulis; Mainmane and Sibiya 2005).

Gender and Sex Education

It is important to note that both boys and girls should be imparted with sex education. At several instances, boys are excluded from topics such as sex education (Wood 1998). Wood believes that the notion of masculinity and being male is rarely discussed. Fishers (1994) believes that it is important to impart sex education to boys also. Thomson and Scott (1991) are on the views that sex education has a positive impact on the lives of young women.

UNAIDS Action Framework reports that gender inequality and unequal power relationships are the main reasons behind the increase in Aids. Both males and females should learn about sex. UNICEF (2002) focuses on both sexes while talking about STDs. This association asks whether the young people are receiving the right sex education or not.

According to HIV and Healthy Communities: strategy 2010-2012, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, both males and females should know about Sexually Transmitted Diseases. They should know about how to protect themselves as both genders are at risks. They should have the same education, so that they are not abused. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance also believes in gender equality so that both males and females are equally protected and it also believes that school can brings this change that is promoting gender equality. This is important that males and females will know about the importance of each other and thus, will respect each other.

Hurdles in the implementation of sex education at school

Some people including parents, teachers and other stakeholders believe that sex education is important in the lives of students while others believe that sex education should not be implemented due to several reasons. This debate had been existed since the past and it is still present today. Some believe that sex education will allow one to interfere in the life of another person and this is not allowed (Elia,2009; Irvine, 2002; Luker, 2006). Some people have doubts about whether sex education will improve the life of an individual or not. Some people are on the view that sex education will not tackle problems related to sex but will arouse sexual curiosity (Elia, 2009). Some stakeholders are on the opinion that students will not concentrate on academic topics if sex education is implemented in school (Elia, 2009; Goldfarb, 2009).

Parents can go against the introduction of sex education in schools as many of them consider sex to be a taboo and this matter is rarely or never discussed by parents. Boyd and McKay(1996) point out that in order to make the implementation of sex education at schools, parents need to cooperate and similarly Schaalma (2004) says that the attitudes and views of parents need to be taken into consideration while implementing sex education at schools.

At different instances, sex education is taught by staffs who lack training and are not confident about the subject matter (Scott and Thomson, 1992; Byers et al., 2003; Lester and Allan, 2006).

Content of Sex Education

After carrying a research in the USA, it was seen that there were several problematic issues related to the health of adolescents. It was decided that sex education should be imparted to the adolescents and as such its content was decided. The researchers decided that the lessons should cover protective measures such as using condom, it should be a two way system where students are participating and the class should be interactive. They even believe that the lesson should provide important information such how family planning services can be contacted. It should also teach students how to remain firm when their peer pressure is forcing them to have sex till the students are not ready for it. It should also cater for Sexually Transmitted Diseases, how they are transmitted and how to protect oneself against STDs. The lesson should include role playing and those who are teaching should be prepared (Wight, 1993). Similarly Wood (1998) focuses on the content of Sex Education. According to him, male and female reproductive systems, the contraceptive methods and family planning should form part of the content. Similarly Pearson (1999) emphasizes on the content of sex education. He believes that topics such as abortion, homosexuality, STDs, morality, sexual abuse, training and confidentiality should be part of the contents. He also focuses on the importance of resource persons who can help to make the topic more efficient.

Delivering Sex Education

To make sex education successful, efficient teaching strategies should be implemented. Wood (1998) has identified the different teaching strategies. According to him, the teachers should move around the class. The teacher should make use of simple language so that students understand. Questions should be asked at regular basis. If students do not answer the questions, the teacher should use prompt or use simplify his language. If students cannot understand the questions, teachers should change the teaching strategies. Continuous assessment should be carried out. He even believes that it is important to repeat the key words. Every lesson should be evaluated through specific questions.

Wight (1999) had identified some of the teaching strategies which will make sex education interesting for all students. He believes that simple questions should be asked time and again. Teaching strategies should differentiate that is there should be differences in the way that upper and lower secondary students are being taught as well as low and high ability students are being taught. He even believes that short exercises can help in the successful implementation of sex education. For him, the lesson should be student centered where students are participating actively.

Sampling methods:

This chapter analyses the methods which have been used in order to collect data for the analysis. Qualitative research has been opted and as such, interviews and questionnaires have been selected. As far as Qualitative research is concerned, the findings have not been acquired through statistics or other ways of quantification (Strauss and Corbin, 1999). But contrasted to qualitative research, quantitative research as the word itself suggests, is based on quantity that is statistics.

There are two main types of sampling methods; probability sampling ad non-probability sampling. Probability sampling also referred as random sampling is one in which getting any scenario or results can be accommodated or calculated scientifically. For example, research on the usage of two particular mobile phone operators; that is the number or users from each operator can be calculated.

On the other hand, non-probability sampling is a method used based on the prior knowledge of the subject being researched and on targeted samples who already have an expertise on the matter being interviewed for. Non-probability sampling is often used for social and psychological researches so as to get a broad idea about a massive population just by interviewing a random sample about that particular population. For example, interviewing doctors about a particular drug that is being implemented in the health sector.

Purposive Sampling

In this sampling method, we sample with an objective or purpose in our mind. We usually would have one or several specific focus groups we are searching. Purposive sampling is very useful for situations where we need to acquire focus sample in a small time lapse and where sampling for symmetry is not the main concern. With a purposive sampling, we are likely to get the views of our target population, but we are also likely to overweight subgroups in our population that are more readily reachable. Judgmental sampling also referred as Purposive sampling is as non-probability sampling method of sampling that is based on the idea that the interviewer or researcher already knows what are the required qualities from the interviewees thus making them the proper ones for the study.

Advantages of Judgmental sampling over other sampling methods.

This type of approach is better understood and straight forward compared to other sampling methods as the interviewer is already an expert in the field and the persons sampled are also well convenient in the topic. Also, judgmental sampling will be a better solution for this research as it is less time consuming as a large number of interviewers are not needed. Judgmental sampling will also be an advantage as no statistical knowledge is required. Also judgmental sampling method does not require vaste knowledge about mathematics and again as having never done advance Mathematics at secondary level this will be the best choice to carry out this research on teachers' views on the topic.

Composition of the chosen focus group of teachers.

Like mentioned above all the subjects to be interviewed were from the secondary education sector from different institutions so as to get a broader idea about the subject. The group which was chosen consisted of 25 teachers, including 10 male and 15 female teachers from different institutions. Also, among the chosen teachers there was an equal ratio of age group, marital status, and level of education. Higher School Certificate, Diploma, BSc and Masters Degree, and lastly their level of experience. The sample chosen, though small in size will definitely give a broad view about how and why sex education can be introduced at secondary level.

Focus groups.

For the interview about whether sex education should be implemented at school, interview was chosen for some teachers as a qualitative means of research.

The focus group was chosen six to eight weeks back and some staffs from several institutions were chosen. They were asked if they could be interviewed and also in coordination with them chose the proper place and time for the interviews. Several factors like age, marital status, gender, level of education and also experience of the interviewees were considered so as to get the maximum information from all aspects.

Also factors mentioned above were chosen as they can play an important factor in introducing and teaching sexual education at school.

As mentioned these factors are and their usefulness are as follows:

Age: this factor will bring to light about the maturity of the interviewees also the co-relation about age and sex education and also whether the age factor will contribute in teaching sex education at school.

Marital status: this factor will also co relate teaching of sex education and marital status. We will be able to get an idea how being single, married or divorced can contribute in implementing sex education and teaching sex education by teachers.

Gender: This will be the most important factor as this will enable us to know which gender is more prone for implementing sex education and teaching it at school.

Level of education: this factor will determine how people with different education levels will tackle sex education at school and if further training must be given to them before the topic will be implemented at school.

Experience: Level of experience will give an idea how implementation of sex education at school will be tackled by different people, again considering the "why" and "how" factor.

Defining the different criteria while choosing the teachers to be interviewed.

Out of a population of approximately 500 teachers, it was a quite difficult task to choose only 25 of them. Again for this choice the preset criteria; that is; age, gender, marital status, level of education and experience.

As far as age factor was concerned it was an easy task as the interviewees were sampled by age groups of 25-35 years, 35-45 years, finally 45 and above. Concerning marital the sample consisted of married, single and divorced members of both sex. As for level of education, the sampling criteria were based on four different education levels; that is Higher School Certificate, Diploma, BSc and Masters Degree. Teachers' level of education was also considered as criteria and this criterion was categorized as follows: less than 1 year, 2-5 years and finally 5 and upwards.

Designing the interview for teachers.

As far as the teachers were concerned, like mentioned above 25 teachers consisting of males and females were selected. Before going through the interviews emphasis on what makes a good interview and how to perform good interview were put.

According to (Creswell, 2007), "As common with quantitative analyses, there are various forms of interview design that can be developed to obtain thick, rich data utilizing a qualitative investigational perspective."

http://www.engin.umich.edu/teaching/crltengin/engineering-education-research-resources/turner-qualitative-interview-design.pdf

What makes a good interview?

After some researches, it was deducted that the following practices lead to a good interview:

Making the interviewee feel at ease by choosing the right atmosphere.

Guiding the interviewee through the questions.

Face to face works better than questionnaires.

Avoid boredness through respecting the time limit.

Using the proper language or using the language in which the interviewee is more comfortable.

Never interrupt the interviewee while he/she is talking.

Good preparation work on the topic before the interview.

Clarify the purpose of the interview.

Clarify answers from interviewee when in doubt.

Using the right voice tone and speaking with a clear pace.

Give confidentiality assurance to the interviewee.

The interview process and questions asked.

For interviewing the teachers, a face to face approach was chosen in order to know about the opinions of teachers as a whole. Questions were asked one by one and answers were noted and in case of simple answers, other sub questions were asked so as to encourage them to elaborate on their answers. Also their body language were observed and signs like if the interviewee is sweating, this might be a sign of not feeling at ease with the questions asked.

Before the interview started, the participants were given the choice about choosing the spot and once there, they were greeted and presentations were made so as to make the participants feel at ease. The chosen teachers for the interview were given a briefing about the topic on which they are going to be interviewed so as for them to get a broad idea what was expected from them. This will enable for a better qualitative interview sample as the chosen focus group is already aware of the topic. Also the teachers were briefed to answer what they think thus, not to be biased. After the briefing questions were asked in the proper language or dialect that suited the interviewee and their answers were noted along with body language. Sub questions were asked in case of simple answers so as to elaborate and get exact what the participant think.

After the interview the participant were thanked for their participation and some refreshment were served, which was arranged before starting the interview. The questions which were asked were about their views on the benefits, contents and obstacles in the implementation of sex education.

Composition of student focus group.

The total population of targeted students was 5000 coming from around 5 schools throughout the country. Also students from different institutions were chosen so as to get a wider overview of answers. Institutions from different parts of the island were chosen so as to get a better demographic view of the topic and o get information about different social backgrounds.

Students were chosen on a random sampling method; that is, they were chosen randomly from classes ranging from form 1 to HSC from different colleges and of both sexes. The total number of questionnaires distributed was 120 to the selected sample of students.

Form 1 to HSC and both sexes were chosen as all classes and gender in secondary level are concerned about sex education.

Sampling method used: Random Sampling method.

Random sampling method is perhaps the best way to acquire unbiased information from a large population for study. As the name itself suggests, random sampling is choosing a study group randomly from a large population through unpredictable means. For example, choosing 5 women from a group of 500 without taking into consideration, age and religious belonging.

The main advantage of using random sampling for surveys is that, since small groups are chosen randomly from a larger population, results obtained are unbiased. Moreover, random sampling always gives outputs that are convincing thus alleviating the work of researchers while studying large populations.

Questionnaires for students.

The questionnaires distributed o the selected students consisted of 15 closed ended questions that were designed in such a way so as to match the level of understanding of students. Complex questions and language was avoided so as not to confuse the participants.

Questions set in the questionnaire were mainly about the gender of the students, their education level, access to internet, their knowledge about sex, age and their social backgrounds.

Also it was clearly told to students that they have to answer all questions and this was done so as to get completed results and uncompleted questionnaires were discarded.

Here also the questionnaires were distributed 6-8 weeks ago during school days. I personally went to most schools and for the remain some of my teacher colleagues gave me a helping hand in distributing the questionnaires, briefing the students ad collecting the questionnaires.

Analysis.

Issues arising in Mauritius without the implementation of sex education in the school program.

Resulting of the recent cases of rape, childhood pregnancies, child abuse and other similar cases like STDs, most teachers interviewed believe that these are the results of improper sex education. In Mauritius teachers have noticed that children tend to learn from the street, peers, internet and other sources rather than from their teachers or professionals. They think that these issues can be avoided by proper channeling of these teenagers about sex education in schools or at home. Many teachers during the interviewed also pointed out that many teenagers think that sex is a rather a taboo subject and they prefer to learn from their inexperienced friends about it, and these results in misinterpretation of the subject thus, misleading them. Many also have noticed that teenagers in their classes do not have a sound knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases, its ways of transmission and protections that must be used so as to avoid catching these sexually transmitted diseases.

Another issue that teachers pointed out was teenage or childhood pregnancy, which is becoming quite common in Mauritius and according to them this also, is due to lack of sexual education at school. Many teenagers do not have a sound knowledge about safe sex or contraceptive measures that can be used. Many are not even aware about the legal age for having sexual intercourse. Child abuse also is becoming another social issue in Mauritius. According to teachers, we must learn from past cases and take these cases as an alarm. There is the need to teach our children how to avoid unknown individuals and also the dangers that an unknown individual might represent. Teachers have also pointed out another very important issue; the connection of sex related problems and sites like Facebook, Skype and twitter. They have recalled how these social networks can prove to be a danger to teenagers through their miss use. There have been several cases like phone or webcam recorded movies of teenagers engaging in sexual activities like for example the "stuti" case in 2005. With proper sex education and teaching the dangers about the miss use of these sites can reverse the situation. Also as a female teacher quoted from MATHA CORNOG "Will sex education reduce or end AIDS, adolescent pregnancy, prostitution, and sexual exploitation? Frankly, we do not know. But silence on sexual matters does not appear to be an option either ideologically or practically. Ideologically, ignorance is no advantage when others have knowledge, especially knowledge misused, and people who know nothing of sex can take risks unknowingly and be taken advantage of." http://www.notable-quotes.com/s/sex_education_quotes.html

The importance of implementing sex education in the curriculum.

As stated by the teachers interviewed, sex education is partly covered by subjects like Home Economics, Biology and Social Studies, but it is insufficient as these subjects only talk about the basics. They think that talking only about puberty, the science behind it and its changes will not solve social issues concerning sex. They think that sex education should be taught separately as a subject so as to cover the whole topic and also not only talk about the science of sex but also give the teenagers a sense of social approach towards sex. Teaching this topic will make teenagers more responsible about their body, their social image and the consequences of unprotected sex. Teaching sex education, according to teachers interviewed, will not only teach teenagers about the science behind pregnancy but will also make them aware about ways to avoid it, family planning techniques and also the consequences that will arise after the act is done; that is about the upbringing of the baby, the financial cost behind a child and sacrifices needed to cater for a child like for example stopping studies to look after one's baby.

Implementing sex education will also sensitive our youth about the dark side of social networking sites and teach them the proper way to use these sites so as not to be victims of rapes, abuses or confidentiality associated cases like for example using a teenagers intimate and private photos and posting them on the internet. Implementing sex education will also make our teenagers more responsible as the teachers will act as a gardener who will prune the shrubs for them to become better trees. According to some teachers sex education will also make teenager become more attentive to other subjects taught as sex education will make these children more mature (by considering the psychological aspect of sex education) and also as most teenagers are fond of sex concerned matters, teachers can use it as a mean to explain different topic at school. According to a lady teacher, sex education at school will also alleviate the task of some parents who think that sex is taboo as these parents will not have to instruct their children and on the other way the teacher will teach the child and the child will teach his or her parents. Also as another teacher quoted from Benjamin Spock "Does sex education encourage sex? Many parents are afraid that talking about sex with their teenagers will be taken as permission for the teen to have sex. Nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, the more children learn about sexuality from talking with their parents and teachers and reading accurate books, the less they feel compelled to find out for themselves."

Obstacles for implementing sex education at school.

Some teachers clearly stated that sex education will encounter many obstacles during or for its implementation at school. Some of these obstacles will be training, the tabbooness of sex and also the mindset of some teachers. The most difficult aspect in implementing sex education at school, from the teachers' point of view will be training. The main concern was to what extent teachers are qualified to teach sex education at school. Their concern was, whether the ministry will provide training to them before implementing sex education at school. Also are all teachers ready or do they accept to teach this topic at school? Some teachers were a bit reluctant about teaching this subject at school as they themselves are not aware about its necessity. As one teacher quoted "How can a blind teach colors to a normal person", he meant that training will be a must for teachers before implementing such a taboo subject at school. Another obstacle would be the fact that sex is taboo. Many female teachers were reluctant about teaching such a taboo subject as they think that this might tarnish their image in society. Also many teachers think that concerning such subject, students might use foul language or misbehave in class. Some also think that teaching sex education will create problems in their personal lives, for example a husband will not appreciate that his wife is teaching sex education to young boys at school.

Some teachers are reluctant about this idea as they thing that parents will become an automatic obstruction in the implementation of such a topic. Some orthodox parents will never agree that such a subject is being taught to their children and also they might think that teaching such a subject will encourage their children into sexual intercourses. Another obstacle that teachers have brought to light is the religious part in sexual education. For many religions talking about sex to teenagers is taboo and that these persons will learn about sex when the moment comes, that is, after marriage. Some teachers also pointed that implementing sex education will be difficult as they themselves are not prepared for it. They are too young and have just finished their studies and engaged in teaching, thus they think they lack experience about tackling difficult maters. Another teacher pointed out that he will not be able to teach such a subject as he has children who are of the same age group of his students and this might interfere with the approach he has will his children. This might give rise to problems like his children's classmates taunting them about the fact that their father is a sexual education teacher. Also another young lady teacher pointed out that choosing which teacher will teach this topic at school will be a problem also will they teach this subject solely or will it be a part time. Finance will be another issue as the government will have to pay these additional teachers or increase the pay of existing teachers for them to teach an additional subject. An experienced teacher quoted in humor from BRUNO BETTELHEIM "You cannot have sex education without saying that sex is natural and that most people find it pleasurable."

Another teacher even put forward that sex education is imperative for students. However, she said that there can be a lack of time to teach sex education at school. She believes that there are too many subjects to be taught at school and on top of those, if sex education is implemented, teachers will not have enough time to cover its content in depth. Similarly, after carrying out a research, Wight (1999) points out that teachers will not have enough time to carry out sex education as planned.

Content of the curriculum of sex education at school.

All teachers interviewed also gave their opinions about the content of the curriculum if sex education is implemented at school. They talked about contents like associating biology, social studies, home economics and also information technology with sex education. Associating biology with the subject of sex education, according to them will deal about the science side of it. It will explain the functioning of the human body, the changes during puberty, steps in pregnancy and also the biology behind sex like the hormonal effects on the brain. According to the teachers, this science side will make the students more aware about their bodies and understand the changes they are going through. Also merging the social studies part with sex education will teach children about what is acceptable in society and what is not. This will enable children to learn how to behave in society and also how to tackle sex related issues with their parents or society.

Sociology in sex education will also teach youngsters about sexually transmitted diseases, their consequences and also ways of avoiding these diseases. Social sciences will also prepare these youngsters and coach them about their future sex lives so as to get a cleaner view about sex. Including social sciences in sex education will also help teenagers to chose the right time to enter into sexual relations and also making sex a less taboo subject thus enabling them to talk about this subject with their parents or friends in a more educated and civilized manner. Also another teacher suggested that implementing social science with sex education will also make students aware that love and sex is not the same thing. It's not necessary that to be in love, they need to be having sexual intercourses. Also associating part of home economics class with sex education, according to teachers will be a great idea as home economic will deal about the hygiene part. Hygiene is a very important factor in sex. This will enable students to understand the importance of hygiene and also make them more aware about medical issues arising from bad sexual hygiene.

Also the home economics factor will prepare the teenagers to become future parents and train them about how to care for their bodies and how to care for a baby. A teacher also noted that sex education is not solely about sex but also about being future parents, thus the necessity to implement part of home economics in the subject of sex education. Another suggestion by teachers was implementing information technology in sex education. This will be a great teaching aid as teachers can use the internet, and movies to teach this topic at school. Information technology can help as a facilitator between teacher and students as most students have access to information technology. Also by implementing it in sexual education teachers will be able to teach and warn pupils about the dangers of information technology concerning sex. Teachers can also make student more responsible towards social networking sites, thus making them less accessible prey for cybercrimes. Also some teachers suggested about teaching the religious part also in sexual education by including topics like moral values as these topics will make these teenagers be more concerned about morality and will think twice before committing the act.

Delivering the lesson in teaching sex education at school.

The teachers proposed different ways about delivering the topic of sex education in class. Firstly they suggested about considering the different age groups to be taught. This can be achieved by teaching the subject class wise; that is, according to teachers lessons should be delivered to individual classes. Also, they suggested that the first lesson should be about the awareness and importance of sex education at school and why is it being taught. Also the interviewed teachers accepted that teaching of sex education must be done in a two way method; that is, class participation and audience participation must be managed. The topic must be taught in such a way that all students will participate in class so that the class does not become boring. Teachers also think that lessons will have to be delivered in a proactive manner; which is indirectly make the students participate in class and making it an interesting subject.

Also, teachers think that they must go in depth of the subject so as to explain all the aspects of sex education at school, failing to do so will make student create a bad idea about the subject. This subject being taboo, teachers think that this taboo can be broken up by making the class more interesting by implementing practices like role play, carrying group work, class presentations and debates. These will make the students more active in class and will not be bored in class. Another suggestion was that associations concerning sex related problems like The Ministry of Health, PILLS, and Youth groups can be invited at school to deliver talks and sensitization campaigns at school. This will help students by acquiring information from other sources rather than their teachers and also these organizations will give them the practical side of sex education instead of pen and paper lectures. Similarly, Sex Education Forum (United Kingdom, 1995) is on the view that teachers should opt for drama, quiz and role plays in order to ensure the participation of students.

Information technology, according to teachers can also be a good mean for delivering lessons about the topic in class. As most of today's teenagers are conversant with internet, a website can be creating for each school about sex education and notes and lectures can be posted for student to read thus orienting towards e-learning concept. Granger, Morbey, Lotherington, Owston, & Wideman, 2002; Hulshof & de Jong, 2006; Kester, Kirschner, van Merrienboer, & Baumer, 200, are all on the views that technology can easily be used in the implementation of sex education.

The use of media support like documentaries and film projection about the topic will benefit both teachers and students as student can learn directly from these supports and also teacher can make the class more interesting by the use of media. Some teachers also proposed that the subject of sex education can be assessed by giving the students small class tests, research works and projects. They suggested that even though these assessments will not count for their academic performance, but it is going to be a benchmark about how much the students have assimilated in class and also these will be a check mark for teachers and will reflect if the level of teaching should be improved or not.

Problems that teacher face due to the absence of sex education at school

Several teachers revealed that they had face problems in class due to the absence of sex education in schools. A teacher said that one day a boy of form one was masturbating in class and surprisingly, he did so when the class was being carried out. He did no care for his classmates and not even for his teacher. The teacher then talked to him privately and asked him what he was doing. The student answered that he did not know what he was doing, how the act was called and did not even know where he was supposed to do that. Then the teacher explained to the students about masturbation in private. But the teacher said that he had been able to teach that particular student but the other remained ignorant. He even said that he might encounter such a problem in the future. Some teachers even highlighted upon the fact that there are several students who cajole the body of their friends. This means that the boys and the girls in the class touch each other. The teachers say that these encourage students to experience sex as they are innocent.

One teacher said that she even came across a student who was watching pornographic films during break time and he even called his friends to do the same. However, some students were affected and they reported the matter. One teacher said that in the class where she is the form mistress, there is a girl who s an easy prey. She is around 14 years old but she does not know anything about her body or about the precautions. The boys come near to her, speak to her, touch her and offer her sweets and they propose to her. The innocent girl accepts without knowing what she is doing. The teacher has to talk to her everyday and how to protect herself. But the teacher even said that the lesson should not be delivered only to her but to her class mates also so that all the students can prosper in life.

Overall information the students had about sex.

In general most students had knowledge about sex. But the information they had been vague and most of them had inappropriate information about sex. They had ideas like sex is always associated with pleasure and love. Most of the things they know about sex education were seldom hoaxes and urban myths like having sex to show one's love toward each other. They also had poor knowledge about issues concerning sex like sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy. Many of them did not even know what are sexually transmitted diseases, how they are transmitted or ways to avoid these diseases. Many also were not even aware that having sex without protection may lead to pregnancy and what is the science behind pregnancy. Some didn't even know what puberty is and why their bodies were transforming. Some students even believed in everyday myths like children are the acts of god. Most students got what they know about sex from pornographic material and which is the worst example of sex as these only deals with the physical art, not the emotional and mental part of it. Many students also learnt from their friends and community about sex and what they learnt also was bad as they only learnt about experiences and practices which were often were wrong perceptions about sex.

Students' sources of information about sex.

Most students learnt about sex from the internet, through pornographic websites and forums. These students quenched their curiosity about the subject from these sites as they had no other alternatives as they found it taboo about talking about sex with their parents. Another source of information according to what students answered were from pornographic materials rented from video clubs or DVDs bought on the streets. Words of mouth among friends and sharing one's experience about sex were also another means for students to get knowledge about sex. This phenomenon was mostly noticed among girls who were actively engaged in eavesdropping and tale-bearing. Many extrapolated the short sex oriented scenes from films to complete experience about sex. Some students even learnt above sex by exploring their own bodies and self pleasure. This was noticed from both genders as both of them were interested in the changes that their bodies were undergoing. Some learnt from their own curiosity and from their first sexual experience.

Correlations between knowledge about sex and gender.

By compiling data from questionnaires distributed, it was noted that male students had a broader knowledge about sex than female students. This fact was may be due to factors like boys tend to be more curious than girls as they think more with their instincts. Another factor of this finding might be the fact that for the same age group girls tend to allocate more time to their studies rather than other things. Also the fact that for boys knowing about sex can be an in factor, leads them to investigate about sex at an early age and thus believing that this will attract more girls.

However, sex education at school was found important for both males and females. Both boys and girls did not have the right information about sex related issues. Sex education provides better opportunities for both males and females (Hea/Mori, 1990; Thomson and Scott, 1992; Mellandy, 1995).

Correlation between knowledge about sex and age.

As far as the age factor was considered, it was noted that male students aged between 13-15 were more curious about sex compared to female students aged between 11-16. This early curiosity in girls can be justified by the fact that girls enter puberty earlier than boy thus becoming more aware about sex. Also on an average students aged between 11-15 were more curious about the topic but showed less knowledge compared to older students. On the other hand this could be justified by the fact that students aged between 11-15 years are still adventuring on the topic whereas older student have already got a broader image of sex or have even already experienced it.

Correlation between knowledge about sex and social status.

It was observed trough the questionnaires that there was a slight advantage in the knowledge of the topic from student of higher social classes. This might be due to the fact that these students had better access to internet and media compared to other students. Also they might be living in a more open or less orthodox society where sex is not taboo. Another factor for this finding might be the level of education of these students' parents as the higher the level of education the more open these parents will be towards their children.

Correlation between knowledge about sex and demographic belonging.

Students from urban regions had a slighter more knowledge about the topic than those from rural areas. This can be justified by the fact that students living in urban areas had access to better facilities like better internet connections, social clubs, municipal libraries and video shops. These students therefore had a step ahead o those living in rural areas. Another criteria again could be the level of education of the students' surroundings; that is, students in urban areas were surrounded by people with higher education levels whereas those from rural areas were surrounded by people of lower education levels like farmers or field workers.

Knowledge about Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Sexually transmitted diseases, also known as STDs are like the name indicates, diseases that are transmitted from one individual to another through sexual relations or unsafe sex. According to the response obtained after the questionnaires distributed to students were analyzed, it was noticed that, the majority of students did not have a sound knowledge about STDs. Their brief knowledge came from what they have heard of captured from television, friends and society. The only sexually transmitted diseases they seemed to know were AIDS. They only knew its name but not how it affects the human body, its origins and its ways of transmission. Many were not aware of other STDs like genital herpes, genital warts, hepatitis B, syphilis, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. They also did not have a sound kno