There has been a lot of talk recently about relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in schools, due to the new draft guidance being released.
As part of this review, the Department for Education wanted a report that captured the voices of young people to help underpin the new guidance (although children’s and young people’s voices are notably absent from the new draft).
To assemble the report, young people’s voices were collected with the support of Brook, Sexpression:UK, SafeLives and Girlguiding. I then collated these and produced a report on young people’s voices on RSHE.
Here’s what the young people said:
RSHE is boring
Young people reported often feeling they are treated as passive in RSHE, rather than active participants in the learning process. They also said it felt like RSHE is often one-sided, telling them what they can and can’t do.
Acknowledging and respecting the experiences and knowledge that young people bring to RSHE sessions can be very powerful. This can be done by involving young people in the planning of RSHE from the outset, through focus groups and anonymous surveys.
Sessions can also be geared around discussions and joint learning between educators and young people. They are the experts in the world they live in.
RSHE needs the right person
Young people consistently told us that the educator is key to effective RSHE. They need to be comfortable with the process.
One of the best ways to address this is to allow educators to say when they are uncomfortable with a topic, and for them to be met with a proactive and non-judgemental approach from leadership.
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Ideally, when this happens, someone more confident could step in, while the training needs of those who are less confident are addressed. Sometimes individuals will never be comfortable teaching RSHE, and this is also fine.
RSHE should be shame-free
Young people reported that RSHE can reinforce and amplify shame, embarrassment and awkwardness around sex, with very little education taking place around aspects of pleasure.
Shame shuts down dialogue and inhibits valuable conversations, but taking shame out of RSHE can be tricky as sex is steeped in shame in our society.
It is important to talk about risk, of course. But when this is implied and linked to sex from the outset, it hampers learning, as young people may feel ashamed of themselves for how they have been feeling.
RSHE must be inclusive
Young people also told us that RSHE is heteronormative and severely lacking in LGBTQ+ and gender education, with these areas being covered as a “bolt-on”.
LGBTQ+ and gender identity are a part of the lives of young people in the UK, and to omit or minimise them is doing young people a huge disservice.
This is often a fraught area for educators, but a robust school policy on RSHE that has invited parent/carer input is beneficial - as are meetings with parents to demonstrate that the education being provided is focused on the wellbeing of young people to support them to thrive.
RSHE can be sexist
Young people also emphasised that they felt RSHE could sometimes be sexist, with examples of only male masturbation being taught. They also mentioned boys being framed as perpetrators and girls as victims, without further explorations of the nuances of the issue of violence against women and children.
Additionally, the split of genders in some sessions, such as period education, was seen as counterproductive.
There may be times where educators feel they want to split genders, however, this needs serious consideration in relation to the benefits, negatives and motives for this. It is important for educators to recognise that education that is sexist in any way, whether intentional or not, can reinforce misogynistic and patriarchal thinking.
A good way to tackle this issue is to have a steering group of young people contributing to the planning of RSHE sessions, and to ensure that sessions are planned with inclusivity and equity at the forefront.
RSHE needs to be timely
The young people in the report assert strongly that the current RSHE is often too little, too late and they are being told things they already know.
They want more RSHE, incrementally, from a younger age. Examples included period education often taking place after young people had started their periods, or sessions on sex when young people had already been exposed to pornography.
RSHE needs to be more collaborative
Young people also stated that there is a lack of young people’s input into RSHE and that many are never asked about what they would like to and need to learn about, despite their eagerness to contribute.
Educators can employ a range of methods to tackle this, such as anonymous surveys, working groups and co-design and co-teaching with young people.
These approaches also encompass transferable skills that the students can learn - as they did in a participatory and co-design project I ran with young people, where they developed free tips for schools called A students’ guide to what you don’t know.
Dr. Sophie King-Hill is an associate professor at the Health Services Management Centre at the University of Birmingham
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