Sex education a little-known and poorly enforced law
The last law on sex education in schools dates from 2001. If theoretically, three annual sessions must be dispensed from kindergarten to high school, this is rarely the case. The High Council for Equality between Men and Women (HCE) has been asked by the Ministries of National Education and Women's Rights to assess the situation and propose solutions. Their work should be completed before the end of the school year.
Puberty, fertilization, genitals... In addition to the program that provides courses on reproduction in CM2, 4th, 3rd and second in SVT courses, three annual sessions are mandatory, from kindergarten to terminate, to overcome the pure biological question. They are led by the school nurse - if she is trained - or by associations (Family Planning, Crips in particular).
In primary school, we talk about equality between girls and boys, "how we make babies", the state of love, but also about the prevention of violence. In secondary school, almost everything is reviewed: risk prevention (STI-AIDS), contraception, sexism and homophobia, sexual violence, knowledge of the body...
"These sessions allow us to set benchmarks, to identify with them the people and places where they can address themselves in the event of a question or problem, to respond to certain anxieties of the entry into sexuality and especially to deconstruct let's work a lot around the question of consent, of respect for others. We are trying to reassure them about the images conveyed by pornography. They generate anxiety on the boys' side about performance and fear on the girls' side, compared to a certain violence. Hence the interest of mixed groups, which make it possible to hear the anxieties of the other sex," says Caroline Rebhi, head of the sex education commission of Planned Parenthood.
Problem: these three annual sessions are rarely respected, especially in primary education, where, according to the assessment of the High Council for Equality, 25 percent of schools do not take any steps. Indeed, it is the head of the school who decides on external interventions according to his priorities. "However, sessions on addictions, road safety, radicalization, citizenship, food, child protection, media literacy... And at some point, teachers also have a program to do. We can understand them," explains the Ministry of National Education, which is also fully aware that the objective of three sessions per year has only been partially achieved.
This is why, since September 2013, a steering committee has been created, at the national level, to relaunch sexuality education in schools. " The rectors have appointed academic steering teams in charge of promoting projects, establishing an inventory of the actions carried out, and identifying training needs. A special effort has been made on this last point so that teachers, and not only those of SVT, take up the subject," it adds to the Ministry, which, in addition, has referred the matter to the High Council for Equality for an evaluation.
A report will be submitted to the Department in late spring. "We surveyed 3000 establishments," explains Danielle Bosquet, president of the HCE. "The observation is that in primary school, the staff is not trained on this issue. Very often, they do not even know that it is on the program. As for secondary school, when the sessions occur, it is in4th-3rd and second in addition to the SVT course. But not in other years, and it is often one session instead of three," she adds with regret, especially for primary school: "It is from an early age that stereotypes and very gendered representations of sexuality are formed. This is where we have to intervene!
In the Netherlands, they start at an early age, and their abortion rate is at an all-time low," she says. It would also be necessary, according to her, to reorient the discourse "We have difficulty in admitting in France, the sexuality of young people. It is addressed through the question of risks and dangers. We should consider a more positive approach and educate them more about gender-based violence," adds Danielle Bousquet, who will ask, in her report, for an inter-ministerial plan with objectives and funding.
On the Crips side, we are already trying new formulas to dust off all this: in particular, prevention by peers. Young people talk to young people, in short. Six mile-de-France institutions are participating in this pilot project. "Above all, we urgently need to invest in the fields that are theirs, namely the Internet and social networks. In Quebec, there are small playful self-training videos, in the Netherlands, serious games (small games to learn things), we should be inspired by all this," says Jean Spirit.
I work in collaboration with crips. I solicit them, and they intervene once a year, in all second classes for 2 hours of animation debate. I attend every speech. I intervene from time to time to clarify things. My presence gives them confidence. It is very interesting for me to hear what is being said because it allows us to talk about more personal subjects in my office. I will follow a three-day training to lead these sessions myself, probably in pairs with another school nurse. I do not note any radical changes in sexual practices. But in their representations, their social codes, many are still in a rather sexist pattern. Many clichés persist. »
"The transmission of life in humans is on the agenda. We talk about eggs, testicle, penis, reproduction... My goal is to teach them the right words to describe things. With the right vocabulary, you can ask any questions you want. The classroom is often the only place where they can do it. In families, it is often taboo. For cultural reasons, religious reasons, or just because parents are not equipped to respond. They think they know a lot but soon realize that this is not the case. Their only source of information is the Internet and they do not sort it out. In addition to my classes, a school nurse comes to do interventions. I am not attending this sitting. She talks to them about condoms, feelings, contraception. The questions of individuals are more and more early but it does not necessarily translate into reality... »
Puberty, fertilization, genitals... In addition to the program that provides courses on reproduction in CM2, 4th, 3rd and second in SVT courses, three annual sessions are mandatory, from kindergarten to terminate, to overcome the pure biological question. They are led by the school nurse - if she is trained - or by associations (Family Planning, Crips in particular).
In primary school, we talk about equality between girls and boys, "how we make babies", the state of love, but also about the prevention of violence. In secondary school, almost everything is reviewed: risk prevention (STI-AIDS), contraception, sexism and homophobia, sexual violence, knowledge of the body...
"These sessions allow us to set benchmarks, to identify with them the people and places where they can address themselves in the event of a question or problem, to respond to certain anxieties of the entry into sexuality and especially to deconstruct let's work a lot around the question of consent, of respect for others. We are trying to reassure them about the images conveyed by pornography. They generate anxiety on the boys' side about performance and fear on the girls' side, compared to a certain violence. Hence the interest of mixed groups, which make it possible to hear the anxieties of the other sex," says Caroline Rebhi, head of the sex education commission of Planned Parenthood.
Problem: these three annual sessions are rarely respected, especially in primary education, where, according to the assessment of the High Council for Equality, 25 percent of schools do not take any steps. Indeed, it is the head of the school who decides on external interventions according to his priorities. "However, sessions on addictions, road safety, radicalization, citizenship, food, child protection, media literacy... And at some point, teachers also have a program to do. We can understand them," explains the Ministry of National Education, which is also fully aware that the objective of three sessions per year has only been partially achieved.
This is why, since September 2013, a steering committee has been created, at the national level, to relaunch sexuality education in schools. " The rectors have appointed academic steering teams in charge of promoting projects, establishing an inventory of the actions carried out, and identifying training needs. A special effort has been made on this last point so that teachers, and not only those of SVT, take up the subject," it adds to the Ministry, which, in addition, has referred the matter to the High Council for Equality for an evaluation.
A report will be submitted to the Department in late spring. "We surveyed 3000 establishments," explains Danielle Bosquet, president of the HCE. "The observation is that in primary school, the staff is not trained on this issue. Very often, they do not even know that it is on the program. As for secondary school, when the sessions occur, it is in4th-3rd and second in addition to the SVT course. But not in other years, and it is often one session instead of three," she adds with regret, especially for primary school: "It is from an early age that stereotypes and very gendered representations of sexuality are formed. This is where we have to intervene!
Sex education a little-known and poorly enforced law
In the Netherlands, they start at an early age, and their abortion rate is at an all-time low," she says. It would also be necessary, according to her, to reorient the discourse "We have difficulty in admitting in France, the sexuality of young people. It is addressed through the question of risks and dangers. We should consider a more positive approach and educate them more about gender-based violence," adds Danielle Bousquet, who will ask, in her report, for an inter-ministerial plan with objectives and funding.
On the Crips side, we are already trying new formulas to dust off all this: in particular, prevention by peers. Young people talk to young people, in short. Six mile-de-France institutions are participating in this pilot project. "Above all, we urgently need to invest in the fields that are theirs, namely the Internet and social networks. In Quebec, there are small playful self-training videos, in the Netherlands, serious games (small games to learn things), we should be inspired by all this," says Jean Spirit.
- * Regional AIDS Information and Prevention Centre.
- " Les clichés persist": Nathalie, school nurse, Sarcelles
I work in collaboration with crips. I solicit them, and they intervene once a year, in all second classes for 2 hours of animation debate. I attend every speech. I intervene from time to time to clarify things. My presence gives them confidence. It is very interesting for me to hear what is being said because it allows us to talk about more personal subjects in my office. I will follow a three-day training to lead these sessions myself, probably in pairs with another school nurse. I do not note any radical changes in sexual practices. But in their representations, their social codes, many are still in a rather sexist pattern. Many clichés persist. »
- " Teaching them the right words": Bérangère, SVT teacher at the college, in Drancy.
"The transmission of life in humans is on the agenda. We talk about eggs, testicle, penis, reproduction... My goal is to teach them the right words to describe things. With the right vocabulary, you can ask any questions you want. The classroom is often the only place where they can do it. In families, it is often taboo. For cultural reasons, religious reasons, or just because parents are not equipped to respond. They think they know a lot but soon realize that this is not the case. Their only source of information is the Internet and they do not sort it out. In addition to my classes, a school nurse comes to do interventions. I am not attending this sitting. She talks to them about condoms, feelings, contraception. The questions of individuals are more and more early but it does not necessarily translate into reality... »
Comments
Post a Comment