Sex Education Vol. 5, No. 4, November 2005, pp.

389404

Say everything: exploring young peoples suggestions for improving sexuality education
Louisa Allen*
University of Auckland, New Zealand

How do young people conceptualise effective sexuality education? This paper explores 16-yearold to 19-year-old New Zealanders vision of effective sexuality education as it emerges in answers to a survey question about improving programmes at secondary school. Young peoples responses suggest that their view of what makes sexuality education effective may diverge from those who perceive a reduction in sexually transmissible infections and unplanned pregnancy as ultimate markers of effectiveness. Participants in this study referred to other criteria around aspects of classroom structure, curriculum content and teacher competency as rendering programmes effective. Through their comments young people are positioned more positively and legitimately as sexual subjects than they are typically constituted in programmes that emphasise reducing negative outcomes of sexual activity. It is proposed that giving more weight to young peoples view of effective sexuality education, and the constitution of student sexuality this implies, could be beneficial to their sexual health and well-being.

Introduction This paper engages with the idea that sexuality educations effectiveness is largely adult conceived. Conventional evidence of programme success has tended to be decreases in sexually transmissible infections, unplanned pregnancies and other consequences of sexual behaviour constructed as negative/unwanted. While many young people would agree these are important programme aims, this paper questions whether young people prioritise them in their conceptualisation of what makes sexuality education effective. Although some sexuality programmes have collected young peoples views of programme effectiveness, what this constitutes is often already presumed and not informed by young peoples own perspectives (Mellanby et al., 2001; DiCenso et al., 2002). How and whether young peoples suggestions for making sexuality education more effective are incorporated into
*Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Level 8, 111 Short Street, Auckland, New Zealand. Email: le.allen@auckland.ac.nz ISSN 1468-1811 (print)/ISSN 1472-0825 (online)/05/040389-16 # 2005 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/14681810500278493

390 L. Allen programme design also remains an adult prerogative. Based on research with young New Zealanders, this paper argues that participants conceptualised effective sexuality education in ways that sometimes diverged from adults who design and deliver such programmes. In thinking about how we might judge future programmes as effective, the paper proposes there maybe benefits in placing greater priority on young peoples own conceptualisations of what this means. Data were collected as part of a research project to design a sexuality education resource for senior school students aged 1619 years. A picture of what young people constitute as effective sexuality education emerged from an open-ended question asking how the sexuality education received so far at school could be improved. These recommendations could be grouped into three elements of pedagogy, which the paper discusses in turn. The first focuses on how classroom activity was structured, with participants expressing the need for an environment in which students were active participants and had some control over issues discussed. The second involves the nature of curriculum content, with proposals that sexuality education contain more detailed information about the logistics of sexual activity as well as sexual desire and pleasure. A final area identified was teachers comfort and competency in dealing with curriculum content and homophobic/disruptive students. Participants suggestions for improving sexuality education challenge schools to revisit their constitution of student sexuality. Typically, schools have viewed student sexuality as an impediment to the academic purpose of schooling and have either tried to deny or regulate its expression through sexuality education (Thorogood, 2000; Nash, 2002; Paechter, 2004). Those programmes that have emphasised the negative consequences of sexual activity can render student sexuality a problem to be managed rather than a positive part of youthful identity (Aggleton et al., 2000). Through their recommendations, participants in this study asked to be treated as sexual subjects whose sexuality is not automatically constituted as a problem necessitating management. This request was evident in their suggestions for more explicit and real life sexual knowledge (about, for example, the logistics of sexual activity), indicating their desire to be recognised as sexual and to experience their sexuality positively. Such recommendations position participants as legitimate sexual beings who already have significant sexual knowledge and subsequently require more specific information. The perspective of effective sexuality education contained in such comments is one that invites schools to recognise young people as legitimate sexual agents (i.e. conceding their ability to make their own sexual decisions) and as having a right to knowledge that supports positive sexual experiences. The proposal that greater priority is given to young peoples own conceptualisations of effective sexuality education is based on several premises. If we are to empower young people to act in ways that support their sexual health and wellbeing, then measures of programme success must be designed to acknowledge young peoples sexual agency. As researchers such as Holland et al. (1998) have argued, it is only with a sense of sexual agency that young people can actively make decisions that are likely to support their sexual health and well-being. Adopting young peoples

Young peoples suggestions for improving sexuality education 391 views of effective education grants them some agency by communicating a legitimatisation of their knowledge and positioning them as sexual agents. It also offers greater congruency between sexuality educations directives for young people to act in sexually empowered ways and the existence of programmes that actually constitute them as sexual agents. Methods In order to facilitate young peoples input in the curriculum design process, a questionnaire was developed in several phases. A first draft was shaped by findings from empirical research (see Allen, 2001) exploring young peoples sexual knowledge, subjectivities and practices. This version was piloted with 50 volunteers aged 1619 years recruited from three schools with differing socio-economic status as defined by the Ministry of Educations decile ratings.1 Schools were chosen on the basis of their diverse student populations and their similarity in character to those included in the final sample. After completing the questionnaire, participants took part in a focus group where they were consulted about topic coverage, question wording and graphical content. The purpose of this discussion was to gain young peoples direct input into the questionnaire design so that its content and format better represented their interests. The final version of the questionnaire was distributed to 1180 senior school students who were volunteers, in 15 schools throughout New Zealand. Schools were spread equally across low, medium and high decile ratings, with a majority located in the North Island. Two schools were comprised of private fee-paying students, three were single sex (two girls schools and one boys school) while two had a religious affiliation. After obtaining ethics committee approval from the University of Auckland Human Ethics Committee, health teachers were approached to invite their schools participation. Once written consent to conduct the research had been obtained from the schools principal, the anonymous questionnaire was distributed by either the author or by arrangement with the health teacher. In both cases participants were notified that their answers would only be read by the author and not the teacher who may have distributed the survey. The majority of participants identified as (hetero)sexual (91%) and the remainder homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, not sure or other. The not sure and other categories were included in recognition of the fluidity of sexual identities and some young peoples resistance to being captured by definitive labels (Savin-Williams, 2001). The sample was slightly weighted towards young women (56%). While onehalf of the sample described themselves as Pakeha2/European, 19% were Pasifika.3 The next largest group (12%) identified as either Maori or Maori/European, followed by 9% Asian including Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Philipino. The questionnaire was structured so as to elicit biographical details, participants sexuality education history and a wish list for future sexuality programmes. During the piloting stage, young people expressed support for the surveys unconventional character and the inclusion of topics such as sexual desire/pleasure as well as sexual

392 L. Allen and gender diversity. Participants made their own additions to this content, reconfiguring some questions to better reflect aspects of contemporary youth culture. The question about how the sexuality education received so far at school could be improved was located in the section on participants sexuality education history.4 This question (unlike most of the others) was open-ended and is focused on because of the high response rate it received, and the richness and diversity of data it produced. Responses were analysed by grouping similar answers together and then placing them under appropriate headings such as recommendations for more sexuality education, interest in knowing more about other peoples experiences and requests for condoms, pamphlets, etc. These headings were then categorised into elements of classroom pedagogy such as teachers or curriculum content. When answers were ambiguous, indecipherable or seemed anomalous, a participants entire questionnaire was reviewed to determine a remarks context. One of the disadvantages of participant anonymity was that more in-depth exploration of answers could not be undertaken. However, answers from other sections of the questionnaire shed additional light on some responses and, where appropriate, previously conducted research is used to examine responses. A note about sexuality education in New Zealand In New Zealand, sexuality education as a school subject is taught within the Health and Physical Education Curriculum and is compulsory until the end of Year 10 (approximately age 14).5 After this time, schools discretionally offer senior health programmes in which students can select this subject as one of their options. The use of the terminology sexuality education represents a recent shift in official policy around the naming of this subject. In 1999, a new curriculum introduced a distinction between sex education and sexuality education, whereby the latter:
includes relevant aspects of the concept of hauora,6 the process of health promotion and the socio-ecological perspective. The term sex education generally refers only to the physical dimension of sexuality education. (Ministry of Education, 1999, p. 38)

Despite this policy-level change, it can be argued that the marker of effectiveness for both types of programmes still hinges on the reduction of negative sexual consequences such as sexually transmissible diseases and unplanned pregnancies. This construction of programme effectiveness is derived from an underlying philosophy of sexuality education as a prophylactic for the unwelcome consequences of freewheeling sexual behaviour (Sears, 1992, p. 17). That this philosophy provides a predominant motivating factor in government policy is evident in the space dedicated to sexually transmissible infections and unintended pregnancies in the governments latest Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy (Ministry of Health, 2001). The challenge for determining effectiveness on the basis of other elements of sexual well-being, such as sexual agency, is that these are often intangible outcomes and are not conducive to easy measurement in schooling contexts. Assessing

Young peoples suggestions for improving sexuality education 393 students knowledge of sexually transmissible infections and documenting the number of unplanned pregnancies remain much easier projects. While many young people would support these as part of sexuality educations objectives, the study reported here reveals that participants also viewed effective programmes as characterised by other criteria. Findings How classroom activity is structured The most frequently proffered comment about how sexuality education could be improved was that schools should spend more time on it. As the following responses indicate, spending more time meant dedicating more hours to the subject and sustained exposure to programmes throughout secondary education.
More hours, school to spend more time teaching sexuality education. (Flax College,7 female, 18 years old) It being taught for more years. (Rimu College, male, 16 years old) It could be aimed at an older population instead of stopping after year 9 or 10. Continuous awareness. (Rimu College, male, 16 years old) If health went through senior years at high school as well, the older teenagers need to know about this more, as they are in the stage for sexual intercourse. (Rata College, female, 16 years old) If it had been running longer than one week. (Hebe College, female, 17 years old) By being taught every year and at a time where the class will be present. e.g. not at end of terms. (Pohutakawa College, female, 16 years old) It could be done at every level. (Nikau College, male, 17 years old)

As one participant noted, discretionary programming meant that health education is not always offered at the time of first sexual intercourse, which in New Zealand is on average 17 years (Dickson et al., 1998). Although this provision presupposes students will have been exposed to programmes before they become sexually active, a significant proportion may have missed out. One example is provided by overseas fee-paying students who often enter schools at senior levels without previously having received sexuality education in their home countries. This groups potential for loneliness, fewer social support networks and the challenges of grappling with a new culture and (often) a new language mean they may significantly benefit from sexuality education (Ho et al., 2003). A paucity of senior sexual health programmes is also attributable to a perception that health education is not an academic subject and is therefore unlikely to attract students wishing to pursue professional careers.8 The low priority given to health education by senior management in some schools is evidenced in the earlier comment that sexuality education needs to occur in every year and not be squeezed in at the end of terms as an afterthought. The marginalised status of health education in some schools has historically plagued this curriculum area and

394 L. Allen represents an obstacle to successful programme implementation (Buston et al., 2002). Some participants also signalled their dissatisfaction with the irregularity of sexuality education delivery and wanted schools to offer health as a senior subject. In response to another closed-ended question, 67% of participants indicated that year 12 and year 13 students (the final two years of secondary school) should continue to receive sexuality education. These responses suggest a majority of young people valued sexuality education, felt it had continued importance at senior levels, and wanted more volume and sustained exposure to it. Young people also proposed that sexuality education could be improved by having more interactive activities (Kowhai College, female, 16 years old). This preference has been identified in students assessment of sexual health programmes in overseas research (Lupton & Tulloch, 1996; Strange et al., 2003). In Strange et al.s study, participants described a preference for active teaching methods such as group discussion, rather than passive activities, like writing or completing worksheets (2003, p. 208). Requests in the current study were epitomised by this students call for More discussion in class rather than showing a video and doing worksheets, a more personal basis (Nikau College, male, 16 years old). Young peoples concept of interactive encompassed a notion of student inclusivity and physical engagement in activities. The following extracts demonstrate how studentinclusive meant inviting young peoples contributions in discussion, enabling them to choose which issues were covered and offering opportunities to pose questions.
Could be more involving with students. (Matai College, male, 17 years old) Let us choose the topics on which we want to be talked about. (Silverbeech College, male, 16 years old) By getting students to participate in discussion groups. (Hebe College, female, 18 years old) More time spent on our questions, and the things we arent too sure on. (Kauri College, female, 18 years old)

An interactive classroom was also envisaged as facilitating learning through physical engagement in games, role play, drama and demonstrations. Young people said they wanted more practical work because, as one young man put it, sexuality education needs to be More hands on, considering its a hands on subject (Silver Fern College, male, 17 years old). In the same vein, another young woman expressed a requirement for Demos on how to put a condom on! We know to use them, just not how! We get told how to, but we need practice (Pohutakawa College, female, 17 years old). Interactivity was viewed as engendering familiarity with the topics discussed by permitting students to view and handle birth control pills, condoms, lube, and so onBy showing us the real projects: e.g. the pill (Silverbeech College, male, 17 years old). Introducing this kind of practicality brings issues of sex and sexuality to a level of everyday relevance and reality for young people. These findings support previous research demonstrating young peoples prioritisation of sexual knowledge acquired through personal practice over that which is gained from secondary sources

Young peoples suggestions for improving sexuality education 395 (Allen, 2001). If practical experience is young peoples preference for learning, then sexuality education that accommodates this need is likely to engage them with its messages. What was interesting about recommendations for more practical work (Silverbeech College, male, 17 years old) was that more young men made them, and some requests exuded a tongue-in-cheek tone. For instance, one young man proposed that programmes could be improved by Giving out samples of what to use and by acting and doing movies (Silverbeech College, male, 18 years old). Others commented on the benefits of pornos, porn videos, looking at the real thing, not just looking at cartoons having sex (how boring) (Silverbeech College, male, 17 years old), while another participant suggested students (at his all-boys school) go on more class trips out of school (Silverbeech College, male, 16 years old). While outings to a Family Planning Clinic would be an innovative educational strategy, discussion among participants indicated they were insinuating visits to local sex workers. Sexuality is a central site through which masculine identity is constructed and these answers are symbolic of a culturally upheld performance of masculinity that demonstrates sexual prowess and virility (Holland et al., 1994). Through these comments, young men can consolidate a masculine identity as sexual actors with sexual desires that need quenching (Holland et al., 1993). In proposing something that they know has shock value and that the school would not condone, these young men also balk against institutional authority (Allen, forthcoming). Schools typically deny or endeavour to contain young peoples sexual subjectivities, and these comments address those practices that dismiss young people as legitimate sexual subjects with needs for specific sexual information (Allen, 2005). Another reading can, however, be made of these statements. Several studies have found that young men use pornographic material as an important source of sexual knowledge, citing its value in providing detailed and explicit information about sex and (for heterosexual young men) the female body (Holland et al., 1993; Allen, 2004; Measor, 2004). The social constitution of sexual behaviour as private and taboo means that these details are generally missing from sexuality education. Wilson (2003) suggests it is curious that while we provide practical education to young people in almost every facet of their livesfrom toilet training to building friendshipsthe privacy surrounding sexuality renders hands-on experience in this area absent. Toilet training may be as equally private, yet children are not left to acquire the basics in physical management of this process from personal experience! In failing to offer young people the kinds of specifics about sexual behaviour young men are gaining from pornography, we offer them no equivalent discourse to counter these sources (see Allen, 2004). Participants calls for more real-life information and a practically-based curriculum imply that including these details may mean young people would perceive programmes as having greater relevance to their lives. Such information can potentially engender more confident sexual subjects and, when coupled with safer-sex information, also support young peoples sexual health.

396 L. Allen A proposal associated with structuring classroom activity in more interactive ways was that lessons include more experiential knowledge by inviting, People that can talk to us about their experiences or their story. Someone that has had it happen to them (Nikau College, female, 17 years old). This form of learning is potentially more interactive than paper and pencil methods because of the opportunities it provides for engagement with the speaker. Young people indicated they wanted Examples of people who had been through the rough times of sexuality (baby, Dads, etc.) (Silverbeech College, male, 17 years old), People that have had life changes from sexually transmitted diseases (Karaka College, female,16 years old) and People of different sexualities(Flax College, female, 17 years old). Other peoples stories are powerful, they suggest reality not fiction, and offer young people tangible and personal proof of what things are really like. Real-life stories add meaning to what can be abstract concepts such as HIV/AIDS or unplanned pregnancy, and this meaning can capture young peoples imaginations as a first step in the enactment of safer sexual knowledge. Class composition was another area named for improvement by a small number of participants. There was little consensus in how classes might best be structured, with five participants expressing a preference for mixed-gender classes and seven suggesting single-sex groupings were more comfortable. Another closed-ended survey question addressed the issue of the gendered composition of classes, with 65% of participants in favour of mixed-gender classes, 27% preferring single gender and 8% a combination of the two. These results diverge from recent UK-based research where a majority of girls and one-third of boys wanted some of their sex education delivered in single-sex groups (Strange et al., 2003). Among the (hetero)sexual portion of the sample, access to the opposite genders perspectives and feelings appeared to be the justification for this resultNot segregated classes in terms of Gender. Its important for males and females to understand each other (Rimu College, female, 17 years old). Other participants suggested that smaller class sizes (Kauri College, male, 17 years old) would be beneficial because they afforded greater privacy, enabling young people to ask questions they may feel embarrassed about in a larger groupNo one wants to ask questions in front of all the class (Rata College, female, 17 years old). There may also be greater likelihood of having sexuality education meet personal interests in a smaller group where opportunities to speak and ask questions are increased. The advantages of learning about sexuality in privacy were also implicit in recommendations for more things to read at homepamphlets etc. (Matai College, female, 16 years old). One young woman wrote that sexuality education could be improved by Provide[ing the] teacher with more useful leaflets for teenagers because some students are embarrassed to ask some questions (Rata College, female, 16 years old). Pamphlets and booklets provide students with an opportunity to consolidate information learned at school and act as a future reference point for questions. Another take-home resource identified as useful were condoms, with comments like Schools should give out free condoms to 5, 6 and 7 form students9 (Hebe College,

Young peoples suggestions for improving sexuality education 397 male, 16 years old) and Teachers handing out contraception at school (Kowhai College, female, 16 years old). Young people recognised an incongruity between sexuality educations insistence on safer sex and some schools reluctance to distribute condoms to students or allow on-site vending machines. This inconsistency can undermine the potency of safer-sex messages by communicating the schools underlying preference that they do not engage in sexual activity at all. This perspective denies young people a subjectivity as legitimately sexual and instigates a form of regulation that many will resent and feel unrealistic. As expressed in the words of one young man, Free contraception instead of the word selabsy [sic] constantly being mensioned [sic] (Rimu College, male, 17 years old). Effective sexuality education, according to these participants, is that which is consistent in message and deed and that recognises young peoples legal right (at 16 years) to be sexually active. The nature of subject matter A persistent comment about programme content was that it was often irrelevant to young peoples lives, boring and/or repetitive. A young woman (16 years old) from Matai College explained that, the stuff we are taught in class most people already know, so it gets kind of boring. New interesting info would be better. What was perceived to make sexuality education boring was its scientific approachit should be Less scientific and more reality based (Pohutakawa College, female, 17 years old)and the fact that information was repeated each year without being extended to meet young peoples evolving needs: Giving new information not the same stuff over and over again (Silverbeech College, male, 17 years old). Young people attributed the repetition of content to the fact that schools take a na ve approach to students sexual experience (Totara College, female, 17 years old) and were thought to underestimate what they already know about sexuality. Many participants thought sexuality education would be improved if teachers didnt go on about things we already know (Puriri College, female, 16 years old) and believed that sex should be talked about earlier because most teens are past the stages the teachers talk about (Flax College, male, 18 years old). These comments constitute young people as sexually knowing subjects and reveal their frustration at a sexuality education that fails to acknowledge them as such. In repeating information without expanding upon it each year, sexuality education depreciates young peoples own knowledge and experiences positioning them as child-like rather than as young adults. This is not an empowering sexual subjectivity that credits young people with the agency to act in sexually responsible ways. Instead, this positioning is likely to disengage them from programme content. The need for sexuality education to contain more detail was a recurring theme. Young people felt that some information was too basic and that while areas such as sexually transmissible infections had been covered extensively, other issues such as actual sexual intercourse were avoided.
It could have gone into more detail in some of the areas. (Rimu College, male, 17 years old)

398 L. Allen
By spending more time on it and not just learning the basics of it. (Silverbeech College, male, 17 years old) More information. It should have delved deeper into certain topics, that will help us when we are older e.g. sexual intercourse. (Puriri College, male, 16 years old) Talk more about young couples who decided to have intercourse, go through contraception thoroughly. (Hebe College, female, 16 years old) More info on other things other than STDs. (Puriri College, female, 16 years old) Well, I believe that they should cover all aspects of sexuality, not parts of it, and maybe get into depth of info to make it more understanding for those who are ashamed or shy to ask questions. (Silverbeech College, male, 17 years old)

Comments such as cover all aspects of sexuality, not parts of it and another young mans plea that sexuality education should say everything (Nikau College, male, 17 years old) expressed participants sense that certain information was not passed on. These types of details pertained to what can be conceptualised as a discourse of erotics (Allen, 2004) and includes information about desire, pleasure and sexual embodiment, which Fine (1988) has identified as missing elements of sexuality education. Young women and men asked for more [details] about actual sex, intercourse (Matai College, male, 16 years old), information about what could make a sexual experience safe and fun (Rata College, male, 18 years old) as well as More sex tips! (Kowhai College, female, 17 years old) and Detailed pictures of sexual positions (Rimu College, female, 16 years old). The justification for such details was that as senior school students they knew the basics and often had experience of relationships involving sexual activity. Participants in Measor et al.s study also complained that sex education did not deal directly with sex and with the experience of sexuality [and] it failed to give them explicit information about a number of topics (2000, p. 122). I have described elsewhere the benefits of including a discourse of erotics in sexuality education for meeting young peoples needs and interests in relation to sex and sexuality (Allen, 2004). As well as potentially being a more effective vehicle of communication for programme messages, this discourse involves viewing young people positively as legitimate sexual subjects who may experience sexual desire and pleasure (Allen, 2004, 2005). The findings here offer further support for the inclusion of such a discourse in order to increase the effectiveness of sexuality education for young people. It was not only details that participants felt were often absent in sexuality education, but also a breadth of topics. As one young woman explained, sexuality education needed to Have a wider range of information, not just the standard stuff (Karaka College, female, 16 years old). References to being given more than just the standard stuff constitute young people as already sexually knowing and in need of more advanced information than the biological processes of reproduction and sexually transmissible infections. In the following responses, participants identified same-sex attraction, homophobia, transgender issues, teenage parenthood, pregnancy as well as emotions in relationships as absent in the curricula.
Spend a bit more time covering this topic (i.e. about how gay people feel when people put them down). (Kowahi College, male, 16 years old)

Young peoples suggestions for improving sexuality education 399

I would have hoped the curriculum touched on homosexual/lesbian subjects. Pregnancy. (Matai College, female, 17 years old) They could have talked more about options for a pregnant teen. (Puriri College, male, 17 years old) They could have advised us more of the emotional implications of being sexually active or your sexual preferences. (Rimu College, female, 16 years old) By talking about sexuality more than sex. (Silverbeech College, male, 17 years old) It could teach students how to get into/out of relationships and about feelings. (Puriri College, female, 16 years old) Approaching bigger subjects earlier i.e. transgender, homosexuality. (Totara College, female, 18 years old)

The popular recommendation of more discussion about same-sex attraction suggests a counter-discourse to many schools disavowal of sexual diversity. Schools have been described as heteronormative spaces in which the only form of sexuality allowed is the straightest of straight versions (Epstein et al., 2003, p. 3). Including sexual diversity in ways that do not further other marginalised sexualities is not only important in terms of inclusivity, but can be a means of combating discriminatory practices. Including transgender issues could have similar anti-discriminatory benefits and would offer an opportunity for education about the conflation of gender and sexuality in popular (mis)understandings of this group. Information about pregnancy, child-rearing and, as the earlier participant proposes, options for the pregnant teen acknowledges the reality of teenage pregnancy. Teenage parenthood also rated highly on another closed-ended survey question, with just over 50% of participants indicating they wanted to know more about this issue. As young people are likely to be initiating relationships at this age, their desire to know more about their emotional involvement is unsurprising. Lack of consideration of emotions was also named as an oversight in sex and relationships programmes in Measor et al.s (2000) study. In the current research, another closed-ended question revealed that 53% of participants wanted to know more about dealing with breakups, suggesting this is an emotional issue of interest. Participants were cognisant that the study in which they were participating was collecting their ideas about the design and content of a sexuality education resource. This awareness may have contributed to their requests for more and better quality sexuality education resources. Many remarked that resources were out of date and old fashioned, so that Most of the videos watched are at least 5 or more years-old (Kowhai College, female, 16 years old) with 80s style bad hairdos and out of date language etc. (Karaka College, female, 16 years old). The educational potential of resources that do not reflect contemporary youth culture can be undermined because student attention is directed towards the humour generated by defunct language and styles. The need for home-grown resources reflecting local cultural conditions is also important so young people can recognise and identify with

400 L. Allen scenarios and characters. This point was illustrated by one young mans suggestion that resources without Australians (in them) would be an improvement (Matai College, male, 16 years old). The need for more contemporary and better quality videos and DVDs was a popular suggestion, and was possibly favoured because watching television can feel less like doing proper work. Along with a modernisation of content, young people suggested that the resource format also needed to keep pace with new technological advances. In accordance with requests for more interactive classroom strategies, participants indicated that web sites, so we can do our homework (Silverbeech College, male, 16 years old) and more interactive computer things (Rimu College, male, 16 years old) would be useful. As young people are on the cutting edge of technology, the Internet and its graphical sophistication has the potential to cater to young peoples appetite for increasingly professional media. Research suggests the Internet can be especially beneficial for lesbian, gay and bisexual youth who are searching for a safe space to gain support and information about their sexuality (Hillier et al., 2001). Evidence also indicates that web-based sexuality resources may be particularly successful with young men, who access the net for sex-related material in greater numbers than young women (Allen, 2001). This finding is also supported in the current research where most requests for website material emanated from young men. Teachers comfort and competency Teachers pedagogic strategies were an area that received much attention in young peoples recommendations for how sexuality education could be improved. Many of these comments were related to the teachers demeanour, with participants criticising this as often being too closed (teachers were quite closed so would be better with somebody outside of school [Matai College, male, 17 years old]), too prudish (Teachers not being such prudes [Flax College, female, 17 years old]) or teachers discomfort with subject material as a barrier to learning (Teacher that is comfortable teaching about it and will answer any questions [Rata College, female, 17 years old]). Other participants, like the following young woman, said that, My teacher was vague and reluctant to talk specifics would have preferred someone more straight up (Hibiscus College, female, 17 years old). This latter comment reinforces the earlier point that young people felt sexuality education is not detailed or explicit enough. When teachers are uncomfortable talking about specifics, they can contribute to young peoples resentment at being denied the complete picture about sexual issues. According to year 12 English boys in Hiltons study, participants identified a teachers ability to talk about anything without being shocked as important to sexuality educations success (2003, p. 40). Effective sexuality education is conceptualised by many in the current study as taking place when sexuality educators can be open, candid and comfortable talking about sexual issues. Another recommendation for making sexuality education more conducive to learning was that teachers become more competent in controlling the class. One

Young peoples suggestions for improving sexuality education 401 young man explained that he wanted More discipline executed by teachers in charge to control bigoted students (Matai College, male, 16 years old). This request makes reference to the homophobic comments and abuse that can proliferate in schooling contexts. More general remarks about classroom order suggested that it would be better if the class didnt take the piss outta the teacher (Flax College, female, 16 years old) and that other students were more mature and serious about the subject (Flax College, male, 16 years old). These sorts of criticisms have been made by young people in other studies where students participation in classroom activities hinges on feeling confident that inappropriate remarks and disruptive behaviour from classmates will be challenged (Buston et al., 2002). Due to perceived teacher inadequacies, many participants expressed a preference for educators from outside the school, with comments like Having more people from outside the school come and talk to us (Silverbeech College, male, 16 years old). Organisations such as the Family Planning Association, district health nurses and other specialist sexuality organisations10 were referred to as experts and professionals whose sole occupation was education in this area. Subsequently, they were often perceived as more authoritative, experienced and comfortable speaking about sex and sexuality than my teacher [who] rushed through the curriculum (Silverbeech College, male, 16 years old). Participants comments highlight that some teachers are not well trained or prepared as sexuality educators and that young people are adept at sensing their apprehension, which in turn is inhibitive to learning. Given that the teacher pupil relationship provides the context for the practice of sexuality education and can influence the success of initiatives in this field (Kehily, 2002, p. 230), it is important that the nature of these relationships is considered in light of young peoples perceptions. Sexuality education demands a relatively informal teaching style, where the normal hierarchy between student and teacher is relaxed so that young people can talk more openly about this private subject. Cultivating this type of environment and developing the raft of skills that enable the management of a classroom in which young people also exercise considerable agency requires extensive professional training. Young peoples preference for external sexuality educators because they are experts points to the need for specialist health teachers who can successfully perform the sophisticated set of skills necessary for this task. Implications for determining effective programmes These calls for programme improvements, and the vision of effective sexuality education they imply, have implications for how we might gauge future programme success. This research suggests that if instead of concentrating on markers of effectiveness like a reduction in negative sexual consequences, the focus was placed on what participants deem effective, we might meet both adult and young peoples conceptualisations of success. Meeting young peoples criteria for effective sexuality education and using this to determine its success may better serve them to look after their sexual health and well-being. Concentrating on young peoples criteria for

402 L. Allen effectiveness positions young people as positively and legitimately sexual, an identity more likely to engender responsible sexual behaviour than a subject positioning that is negatively construed. Evaluations that constitute young people as legitimate and positive sexual subjects open up spaces for the sort of young person that is equipped to successfully manage their own sexual well-being. To be effective, sexuality education must meet the needs and interests of young people as conceptualised by them (Aggleton & Campbell, 2000). Participants in this study conceptualised effective sexuality education as involving a shift away from overly clinical, impersonal and narrowly defined content about the prevention of negative sexual consequences. Evaluations that focus on indices that young people do not feel have immediate relevance to their lived realities will not engage their interest. Gaining attention is the first step in empowering young people to make decisions that support sexual well-being. Without being engaged by the content, structure and delivery of sexuality education programmes the potential for programme effectiveness, however this is conceived, is limited. Perhaps a way forward in reconceptualising programme effectiveness is to enable young people to establish and implement the evaluation process. Supporting young people to take the lead in designing sexuality programmes and assessing their value, rather than simply telling them what effective programmes mean and include, is one idea. This practice would offer young people the kind of control over programme design and delivery that participants in this research indicate seeking. The need for such agency is apparent in their calls for content that addresses the issues they name, and classroom activities that enable their active participation and direction. In this way, adult others would be conceding young people real agency to positively determine their sexual well-being instead of only offering them messages about how they should be sexually empowered (to say no, to use a condom, etc.). Programme practice may then be more congruous with the messages it communicates, a strategy that is essential for the attainment of any educational goal. Notes
1. Decile ratings are given to schools by the Ministry of Education to denote the extent to which a school draws its students from poor socio-economic communities. Decile 1 schools have the highest proportion of students from poor socio-economic communities, and decile 10 has the lowest proportion of these students. However, ratings do not reflect overall socio-economic diversity of the school (Ministry of Education, 2003). Maori word for a non-Maori person of European descent. Pacific Island peoples. Responses to other questions are currently being written up in a series of papers in progress. Special legislative provisions under section 105D of the Education Act 1964 mean, however, that parents and caregivers [can] apply to the principal in writing, to have their child excluded from every class in which any element that is sex education is being taught (Ministry of Education, 1999, p. 39). Similarly, school communities have some control through the governing bodies of schools (Boards of Trustees) to direct what is covered in this curriculum area. Hauora is a Maori philosophy of health comprising physical (taha tinana), mental and emotional (taha hinengaro), social (taha whanau) and spiritual (taha wairua) well-being.

2. 3. 4. 5.

6.

Young peoples suggestions for improving sexuality education 403

7. School pseudonyms refer to New Zealand native plants. Original spelling in participants responses has been maintained to preserve how they expressed their ideas. 8. Since the release of the new Physical Health and Education Curriculum, sexuality education programmes for senior students have been written to raise the academic status of this subject. Social and Ethical Issues in Sexuality Education (Tasker, 2002) is a programme resource for health education teachers that is intellectually challenging and designed to provide a foundation for students who may choose to pursue a health-related career. 9. Form 5, form 6 and form 7 are the final three years of secondary school. 10. Named organisations were Rainbow Youth and Family Life Education Pasifika.

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