Sexuality education

Parents worry about sexuality education

by Iva and Julie

Please see the Plain English version below

Parents of children with an intellectual disability are concerned about the quality of sexuality education in schools, according to our recent study.

Recently we conducted a study on sexuality education for high-school students with an intellectual disability in New South Wales. Here is what the nine parents we worked with closely told us.

cover of book on sexuality from SECCA in Western Australia
There are many good resources for sexuality education including these books from SECCA in Western Australia.

Most of the parents said they would like to see their daughter get married and have children in the future.

When reflecting on their child’s sexuality education, they expressed many concerns:

  • Sexuality education does not involve other than heterosexual identities;
  • Poor quality of sexuality education;
  • The lack of training that teachers receive in how to support a student who was abused;
  • Schools being short of counsellors;
  • Not being included in a discussion about the sexuality education of their child;
  • Having to fight the school to talk about same-sex relationships.

The parents were also worried about their children’s vulnerability when it comes to sexual abuse.

Parents’ awareness about sexuality education was also rather minimal:

  • The majority of the parents admitted they have not attended any training about how to teach their children about sexuality and relationships;
  • Only three parents were aware of the resources and training for parents (such as those developed by the Family Planning NSW).

Some recommendations:

Here are some resources that could be useful to know about for parents of students with an intellectual disability:

  • A/Professor Patsie Frawley from Deakin University and her team developed Sexual Lives and Respectful Relationships website: https://www.slrr.com.au

It is also critical that teachers talk to students with an intellectual disability and their parents about what they teach in sexuality education classes.

The NSW Department of Education supports what is called “collaborative curriculum planning process”. This is a team approach involving parents/carers, teachers, other important individuals in the student’s life, and most importantly the student with an intellectual disability themselves.

For more information, please see: https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/Diversity-in-learning/stage-6-special-education/collaborative-curriculum-planning

Iva Strnadová and Julie Loblinkz are research partners and friends. They host the blog Disability and Me. Both are strong advocates for people with intellectual disability.

PLAIN LANGUAGE VERSION

  • We did a study on sexuality education for high school students with an intellectual disability.
  • The schools we engaged were in New South Wales.
  • Parents of children with an intellectual disability were worried about sexuality education in schools.

This is what the nine parents told us.

  1. Most of the nine parents would like to see their daughter:
  2. Get married, and
  3. Have children in the future.

There were a number of concerns that the parents talked about:

  • Poor quality of sexuality education;
  • Lack of training for teachers about how to support a student who has been abused;
  • Schools being short of counsellors;
  • Parents not having a say in sexuality education of their child;
  • Parents fighting with schools to talk about same-sex relationships;
  • Most parents have not attended any training sessions about how to support their child in sexuality and/ or relationships;
  • Three parents were aware of resources or training information from Family Planning NSW.

See below for some resources:

  • A/Professor Patsie Frawley from Deakin University and her team developed Sexual Lives and Respectful Relationships website: https://www.slrr.com.au

Iva Strnadová and Julie Loblinkz are research partners and friends. They host the blog Disability and Me. Both are strong advocates for people with intellectual disability.