KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

Abstract

Analysis on the Characteristics of the Youth's Digital Sexual Culture and Tasks of Sexuality Education

Jeonghye Kim

Hae Joung Lee

Hee Young Moon

Namhee Hong

Hyokyung Kim

 

 

Ⅰ. Introduction

 

1. Background and objectives

○Digital space is a part of our lives where we express ourselves, try to get recognition and connect with and relate to others. Teens tend to show violent behaviors or be involved in violence online that they, otherwise, would not dare to in offline lives since they don't have to confront the others physically. Their everyday use of digital media may also expose them to violence. And, there is a stark gender difference when it comes to experience in digital media use. Dispersal of digital media experience into everyday social lives can readily undermine one's relationship with others and sometimes, have significantly negative impacts. But, the youth can't foresee and consider this consequence.

○In the context that experience in the use of digital media is ubiquitous among teens, it is not in touch with reality to only highlight adverse effects of online and digital media and to limit digital media use. If we do, we would end up overlooking complex nature of digital space. In digital space, power is wielded. Digital space is where the youth learn gender norms and experience discrimination and hatred. At the same time, it is a place that has a potential for teens to promote feminist solidarity and liberation as well as enhance their capabilities. Above all, online interactions that the youth experience have changed the way they communicate or build relationships, which leads them to gain sexual experiences and information, and establish a new type of relationships in a place where discrimination, hatred and commitment to equality exist together.

○It became so common for the teens to have experiences in the use of digital media that the experience has an impact on the socio-cultural environment, resulting in an increasing need to change how we provide them with sexuality education and enhance its effectiveness. So, this study aims to explore dimensions of youth digital sexual cultures and, based on the exploration, weigh in on how to implement comprehensive sexuality education since teens' right to be educated on it is part of their human rights.

 

2. Discourses

○This paper addresses dimensions of youth digital media use and experience as well as what shapes their sexual culture and limitations of sexuality education. It also investigates and analyzes youth sexuality education guidelines and cases in Korea and other countries.

○With an aim of providing comprehensive sexuality education incorporating digital sexual cultures, this study sets out to present ideas and tasks of sexuality education including what to teach, how to teach and what to do to support comprehensive sexuality education.

 

3. Methods

○Literature review

-Previous researches in Korea and other countries were reviewed to understand youth digital sexual cultures and limitations of sexuality education and programs. Cases of sexuality education in Korea and other countries were also collected and analyzed.

○Interview

-With an aim to identify what defines youth digital sexual culture and come up with ideas and tasks of sexuality education, one-on- one in-depth interviews and focus group interviews were conducted separately. 23 teens and 5 people involved in youth sexuality education and working at institutions were interviewed.

-For interview with the youth, high school students and out of school youth who are the same age group as those in high school took part in the interview. 6 focus groups were formed and each group consists of three to five students. One teenager from the groups had an one-on-on in-depth interview.

-With regard to people involved in youth sexuality education at institutions, professional sex educators, a teacher involved in sexuality education in schools, an activist at youth sex culture center and a sex eduction program coordinator at an office of education had a focus group interview.

○Online participant observation

-To understand sexual cultures the youth experience online, we went online, used Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter as observers and observed their digital grammar and the way they behaved online.

-From August 15 to October 10, 2022, we explored accounts by using searched words related to the youth, words they searched most frequently or hashtags. As it turned out it was Instagram and YouTube that flourished the most among young people and lead us to understand youth digital sexual cultures the best, we took screenshots from the two social media platforms, stored what we observed int the form of image and classified them for analysis.

○Experts’ advice

-To develop a study plan and methods, determine interview methods and put forward ideas of what to teach in sexuality education and how to teach considering youth sexual cultures in a digital environment, this study sought for advice from experts with experiences in youth sexuality education and research and their input was valued.

 

Ⅱ. Features of youth digital sexual cultures and limitations of sexuality education

 

1. Digital sexual cultures and the youth's cultural position: focusing on online participant observation

A. Features of digital space and youth sex

□Since it is basically assumed that internet access for everyone is the norm, it is difficult to limit the access to information online by "age".

○In the name of regulation, you are required to verify your age to access particular content. But, there is so much information online that some information can't be regulated appropriately enough and can be open to anyone.

○Identity as an adolescent doesn't restrict teens when it comes to access to digital space through social media. So, the youth are using hashtags as a means to gain information on sex.

 

□Platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are designing sophisticated digital technologies to provide their users with "tailored information" more accurately to maintain and expand their influence in the market.

○"Tailored information" is "selected information" derived, using algorithm, based on what users showed interests to in the past and personal preferences. Within the selected information, users make "limited choices" repeatedly.

○Suggestions made on digital medial don't take into account users' "real" age and are made by algorithm, which makes it impossible to observe everyday life of adolescents and makes it difficult to find out how they acquire information on sex online based on what suggestions.

 

B. The youth who express themselves strongly as sexual subjects

□Adolescents are becoming active users of social medial. They tend to have and use a main account and a second account of social media to express different personality.

○The value of getting more "like" and "followers" is inseparably linked to "self-branding" among the teens, which involves social media companies' corporate interest and marketing strategies.

○This commercial purpose is a driving force behind young people's desire to reveal much of themselves and portray themselves in a specific way.

 

□To enhance their reputation, the youth display images of their faces and bodies as well as even sexual behaviors supposed to be shown only in intimate relationships. Exhibition of this type of behaviors has become a norm.

○Compared to their male peers, adolescent females tend to be more active in showing their bodies because their faces and bodies are resources for them to articulate themselves and improve their reputation.

 

C. The youth sexualized online

□Nature of social media as a form of medium is intertwined with challenges in reality, in other words, male-dominated sexual cultures and hierarchical gender order, resulting in new types of "victimhood" which are gendered. In this process, adolescent females and adolescent males are positioned differently.

○It is easy to see sexualized representation of adolescent females on social media. Of greater concern is that the process adolescent females are treated as objects of consumption creates a narrative that presents the objectification leads to "successful" reputation building.

○"Daelgu" is a practice that an adult is paid to purchase an alcoholic beverage or cigarets for a minor. This practice has become a kind of a play among the teens where they brag about the way they get alcohol or cigarets. In this practice, adolescent females are called and treated as not only underaged girls not allowed to buy alcohol or cigarets but as someone who can sell "sex" in return for buying alcohol and cigarets for them.

 

D. Implications

□In this study, we explored how the principle of freedom that shapes the features of the online environment positions the youth online, based on which we learned the resonance of young people who are active sexual subjects and objects of sexualization at the same time.

○Though regulations have been implemented at the level of the media industry or at a national level to "protect" the youth, teens acquire information online that can disable the regulations and restrictions. As a result, they end up having as much information on sex as adults. The problem is whether the youth are capable enough to navigate through, come to understand and apply appropriate information out of the huge pool of data on sex.

○The youth are in an environment that misleads them into believing that choices made in the scope and structure the digital environment allows are choices they have the freedom to make. So, it is vital to observe what algorithm teens are exposed to when they make "choices" online, and to coordinate a logical response.

○It is important to note how easy it is for female youth's representation of their body image as active sex subjects to be translated into the process of sex objectification with digital technologies in the online environment. The context also spurs a conversation about what strategy should be developed to help the youth with their sexual activities that straddle between "play" and "exploitation".

 

2. Youth digital sexual cultures and experience of sexuality education: focusing on in-depth interviews and a focus group interview

 

A. Youth and digital media environment

○For adolescents, the digital media environment is where they create and display "themselves", and communicate with others. Internet is a place they go to search for their inquiries and learn. Our analysis suggests their level of media literacy is not high enough for them to understand critically a wide array of information online.

 

B. Learning sexual knowledge and enjoying sexually explicit materials in digital space

○Examination of the way the teems learn sexual knowledge and enjoy sexually explicit materials showed that they were curious about what they don't learn from sexuality education in schools that only imparts superficial knowledge. But, they found it difficult to ask their parents or teachers questions about sex. so, they ended up gaining sexual knowledge by privately and briefly searching it on the internet.

○Our research showed gender differences in sexual knowledge they wanted to learn from the internet. The adolescent females were more likely to search specific and comprehensive knowledge of what would happen to their body during pregnancy, on birth control and during menstruation whereas the adolescent males sought knowledge of skills and techniques needed for sex in a heterosexual love relationship.

○It was also suggested that teens stumble on sexually explicit content online and continue to enjoy it. The teens had access to adult content and sexually explicit materials ranging from content containing romantic narratives to sex videos through their mobile devices or from their friends or older friends even without having to verify their age to show they are legally adults.

○Gender disparities were also found in attitudes toward sexually explicit materials online. Adolescent females kept critical distance from these materials since they were illegally produced and distributed as well as the content portrayed violent and coercive sexual relations against women. On the other hand, the adolescent males assumed that they have the freedom and the right to watch such materials, which begins from a cultural premise that takes it for granted they can enjoy sexually explicit materials to satisfy their sexual desires.

 

C. Youth sexual activities and experience that transverse digital space

○The teens had a positive perception that it is natural for people in a romantic relationship to have sexual activities. But, the adolescent females expressed fear and anxiety for sexual activities due to the possibility of pregnancy and sexual violence.

○Especially, when it comes to difficulties and concerns about sexuality the teens experience in digital space, their dominant narratives were about theirs experiences with victimization by digital sexual violence and sales of sex occurring online. Our research revelaed the adolescent males are more likely to be indifferent to digital sexual violence.

 

D. Youth experience with sexuality education in schools and their suggestions

○Methods and cultures of sexuality education in schools are characterized by sexual taboos and major changes of sexuality education. The teens pointed out that sexuality education in schools is superficial, its focus is on prevention and it doesn't keep up with social changes.

○They suggested that from sexuality education in schools, they should acquire knowledge necessary for actual sexual activities and knowledge of structural issues with society and of media literacy. It was indicated that great examples of sexuality education include a program that delves into a particular subject and sexuality education designed with a comprehensive plan and provided by offices of education.

 

E. Implications

○Sexuality education in schools needs to be restructured with youth digial sexual cultures in mind. For teens, the relationship and interaction with self online is not reflection of their offline life or a secondary sphere but their life in and of itself. Consequently, youth sexual activities and perception of sexual practices are integral to the discourse of sexuality education.

○We need to discuss how benefits and risks of digital space should be incorporated when sexuality education is taught in schools. The adolescents took a positive approach to digital space perceiving it as a place where they can engage in sexual activities naturally with sexual subjectivities despite social taboos on sex. But, it was found that the adolescent females see digital space as an unsafe place because of their everyday experience with digital sexual violence and online solicitation of selling and buying sex. This makes it necessary for sexuality education to address what capabilities adolescents need in order to enjoy their sexual right in safety and thrive in their digitally networked lives as well as what is needed for changes to achieve gender equality in digital space.

○Discourse on how sexuality education in schools should be provided to whom needs to be organized in light of gender issues of youth digital sexual cultures. The adolescent males who participated in this study expressed it is natural for them to satisfy their sexual desires through digital space while they showed indifference to adolescent females' risk of being targets of violence and crimes falling victim to predatory masculine sex drive. On the other hand, the adolescent females perceived digital place as a place often posing a danger to them. This shows digital space offers both adolescent males and females not only similar experiences but experiences with totally different worlds.

 

Ⅲ. Analysis of sexuality education cases in Korea and other countries

 

1. Guidance on comprehensive sexuality education and analysis of sexuality education in other countries

○At the international level, discussion on youth sexuality education aims to facilitate Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and is increasingly revolving around consideration of youth experience with sexuality in a digital environment.

○International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education published in 2009 by UNESCO and revised in 2018 based on a wide range of evidence provides a guidance on comprehensive sexuality education.

-It appears that revision of the UNESCO's sexuality education lesson plan is primarily influenced by changes in human rights sensitivity and changes in the context of digital technology cultures. Especially, as digital technologies become so interwoven with youth everyday life that experiences of sexuality and relationships, pursuit of knowledge, opportunities and risks increase, there is a growing need for sexuality education to understand such a technological environment.

○In that perspective, the UNESCO suggested comprehensive sexuality education. Comprehensive sexuality education acknowledges that human sexuality is under the influence of power dynamics, placing grater focus on different social "relationships", one's right to their body and relevance of human rights, not just emphasizing biological issues or disease-related problems such as sexual and reproductive health and sexually transmitted infections. It also includes objectives of building equal relationships, improving gender sensitivity and enhancing sensitivity to gender norms and discriminations.

○Comprehensive sexuality education is referred to in many countries when they develop a curriculum of sexuality education according to the guideline of the UNESCO. In particular, Australia and the U.K. advocate a "whole-school approach" for sex education.

-This means sexuality education should encompass all age groups and a broad range of curricular in school education, and engage schools, students, teachers, parents and communities in. Sexuality education also needs to reach out to out of school teens and sexual minority groups that are not covered by mainstream curricula. Furthermore, it is essential to create a perception that there should be laws, regulations and policies to support this approach. In fact, sexuality education is becoming mandatory in schools and whether a school provides sexuality education is increasingly considered when the school is evaluated.

-Cases and guidances of sex education in Australia and the U.K. suggest that the countries provide "comprehensive" content in sexuality education at every level based on the whole-school approach discussed in comprehensive sexuality education. Curricula in these countries describe that sex is directly related to health issues including sexual and reproductive health and sexually transmitted infections and sex is a matter of anti-discrimination, equality and human rights in that it represents power dynamics and is a civil right. They also include new issues caused by development of digital technology and focus on improving daily life skills used to respond to risks and in relationships.

○These cases, first of all, indicate that mandatory sexuality education provided by schools needs to be inclusive to embrace different youth identities and take an approach with an eye toward principles of gender equality and anti-discrimination as well as human rights. They also imply that sexual minority youth need to be incorporated into sexuality education in schools and anti-discrimination and human rights should be highlighted. Second, they show that digital technologies can come in handy to reduce the difficulties in searching information on sexuality that salience of adolescence and socio-cultural pressure cause.

○Despite negative impacts made by linkage to sexually explicit materials online or limitations of digital sexuality education content, these cases indicate that sexuality education using digital technologies can be meaningful in that it can be beneficial in helping comprehensive sexuality education provided by schools deliver enough content and help address the adverse effects. Especially, adolescents need to be guided through how to search information on quality sexuality education that they need in a digital environment such as being introduced to quality sexuality education websites or being taught on where to seek help for a specific challenge they face. It is also suggested that importantly, it is critical to recruit and grow qualified teachers who have the capacity to provide this guidance and education.

○As illustrated thus far, in the digital age, youth sexuality education intends to do more than delivering discourses only adhering to biological attributes of sex, focusing on abstinence, or stressing risks or negative aspects of sex. Positive perception of sex and different relational skills should be integrated into youth sexuality education with an aim to stand up for human rights and equality. Youth sexuality education also seeks to meet the needs of different minority youth such as teens outside school or sexual minority youth. It was also found digital technologies can be used in youth sexuality education to transfer information and cases difficult to be delivered within schools and to open up an anonymous channel for counseling.

 

2. Cases of sexuality education in Korea in consideration of ever-changing sexual cultures

○In this study, we analyzed cases of comprehensive sexuality education in Korea that tried to consider changing youth sexual cultures. First, we mostly looked at experience-based and participatory sexuality education and education programs for caregivers provided by youth sexual culture centers as well as youth sexuality education materials. We investigated cases that tried to provide comprehensive sexuality education for teens assuming that they have sexual and reproductive rights based on values of equality rather than assuming that teens would have a family with a child in a heterosexual marriage, so sexuality education they are provided with should be able to prepare them for such future.

○In the future, youth sexuality education needs to be improved by referring to cases that are based on equality and respect instead of emphasizing differences between men and women and to start from positive attitudes toward sex rather than think adolescent sex is a topic that feels taboo. It should also refer to cases that support teens' sexual decision-making and communication embracing their sexual subjectivities, not teaching them to just refuse, that recognize diversity instead of forcing uniform standards- and subsequently and essentially promotes equality- and that empower teens to better understand sexual and reproductive health.

 

Ⅳ. Direction and tasks of youth sexuality education

 

1. Considering a digital environment in youth sexuality education

A. Limitations and potentials of sexuality education using digital media

○It is easy for risks created in digital space to result in imposing limitations on teens' use of digital media. But, in the current digital media environment, it is also difficult to prevent the risks only by banning digital media for teens and putting it in control. Policies designed to consider youth sex as a taboo and limit their access to sexual content may be combined with gender norms easily and result in discriminatory practices online.

○Recognizing the reality that digital media is often an integral and common part of teens' lives and considering dimensions of youth sexual cultures as well as increasing their access to sexuality education, information and resources, our focus should be on discussing how to increase adolescents' capacity.

Without running the risk of being exposed to hatred or stigmas online, teens can access quality information and support safely and build solidarity. As schools are having limitations to providing comprehensive sexuality education, digital space may present an opportunity for comprehensive sexuality education.

All this noted, it should be explored how we can unlock potentials of digital media for sexuality education. We may be able to capitalize on the digital space for sexuality education to help address limited sexuality education in schools and reach out to groups left out of school education. By using digital media as a method of having sexuality education taught, sexuality education in schools can be equipped with rich and adequate resources.

 

B. Increasing the capability to understand the media from a critical perspective

○Use of digital media has proliferated so much in our society that it is needed to restructure sexuality education in a way that media literacy education is offered to teach not just how to analyze particular content but how to acquire information they can count on and what to check to critically read the media.

 

C. Providing evidence-based sexual and reproductive health content

○Our research in this study calls for a portal for information about sexual and reproductive health that contains evidence-based accurate information on sex and reproductive health and rights and that is also free from discriminatory biases as well as counseling service. By designing user-oriented content and UI and using videos and responsive 3D image, dissemination of knowledge can be improved. Sexuality education using digital media needs to give a thought to a method to include any minority groups left outside sexuality education in schools. It should be designed in a way that it includes content of comprehensive sexuality education such as respect for sexual diversity and positive attitudes toward sex, and with access by types of disabilities in mind. The information should be updated and managed regularly.

○Evidence-based digital content at the national level can be trusted information and serve as an educational tool used both in and out of sexuality education in schools. It can also be provided as resources learners can turn to from which they can obtain additional information after class and help educators respond to conservative opposition to comprehensive sexuality education.

 

D. Increasing access to information by guaranteeing anonymity

○In a culture that is sexually conservative, online content provided by mechanism that guarantees anonymity and doesn't share one's record of access with others can contribute to increasing access to information about sex. As introduction of AI-based chatbots can provide counseling service with enhanced anonymity, digital technologies can be used as a tool to improve access. Chatbots programmed to support human rights and equality and not to judge unless it's necessary can provide non-judgmental information immediately 24/7. With anonymity maintained, users can ask questions about social and cultural taboos and consequently have easy access to information they need without being at the risk of suffering discrimination or stigmas.

 

2. Increasing youth engagement in all segments of sexuality education

 

A. Developing a method to engage teens in planning and having sexuality education taught

○There should be a method to engage adolescents in the whole process from planning and evaluating sexuality education, not just treating them as people that sexuality education is taught. We should encourage and facilitate youth engagement not only in a portal for sexual and reproductive health information but in planning, promoting and evaluating sexuality education programs and policies at every level. Teens' engagement can help enhance the effectiveness of sexuality education by allowing them to learn information and build capabilities they need in a way they are familiar with, creating a safe learning environment and making it possible to teach them while meeting their cultural needs.

 

B. Promoting participatory sexuality education

○Comprehensive sexuality education makes a case for empowering teens with sexual knowledge as well as skills, attitudes and values. Participatory sexuality education can help adolescents reflect on values about themselves, cultivate appropriate attitudes and skills, foster the ability to communicate and judge critically, and build confidence.

 

3. Inclusion of comprehensive sexuality education

 

A. Youth digital environment and the need for comprehensive sexuality education

As a digital environment is so multifaceted by posing potentials and risks relevant to sex and is a part of teens' everyday life that their knowledge on sex, problem-solving skills and critical understanding skills are of greater importance. There is a growing need for comprehensive sexuality education to equip the youth with capabilities to respect and interact with others, build equal relationships and make decisions for themselves in a digital environment facing them.

 

B. Youth sexuality education viewing teens as sexual being and sexual subjects

○We need sexuality education that positions teens as a sexual being as well as an individual with sexual subjectivities. Attitudes of not recognizing teens as sexual beings would derail sexuality education from delivering even sufficient biological knowledge while failing teens by not empowering them with capabilities to cope with sexual risks online and offline. Comprehensive sexuality education begins from acknowledgment that every human being is a sexual being from the moment they are born.

 

C. Positive sexuality approach

○Everyone's sexual rights including the youth's should be recognized and sexuality education should be taught as part of an effort to guarantee the right to enjoying sexual pleasure. Adults taught sexuality education based on negative attitudes toward sex are not likely to believe naturally they have the right to experience sexual pleasure. Negative attitudes toward sex interfere active sexual communication in a heterosexual relationship, weakening women's subjecthood. Such attitudes also end up denying women sexual rights and increasing their risk of being victims of sexual harm. Education about respectful relationships and communication will not be possible until teens' sexual rights are acknowledged and they can access sex with positive attitudes.

 

D. Sexuality education based on equality and diversity

○For sexuality education to empower teens to recognize and protect their health, well-being, dignity and rights, to consider that their choices can have an impact on their and others' well-being and to build respectful relationships, equality and diversity should be incorporated into its practices. Teaching the youth about respectful relationships needs to include education about understanding power dynamics and gender norms in everyday life. It should articulate that it aims to teach respect and equality by integrating sexual diversity, body diversity, diversity of family structure and lifestyles into what is taught. To ensure diversity education just doesn't shift from explicit discrimination to benevolent discrimination, both educators and learners need to appreciate and advance diversity through their experiences as well as experiences of people around them.

 

E. Sexuality education to empower the youth to solve problems for themselves

○For sexuality education to effectively empower teens to solve problems for themselves, it should be taught to the point where teens have knowledge and skills they can use to respond in the face of challenges. The youth can be empowered effectively when they know and have skills to know what they should do, who they can talk to, where they can seek help and where they can find trusted information in a wide array of situations or conditions.

 

4. Support for implementation of comprehensive sexuality education

 

A. Support to education administrative organizations and schools

○There are sexually discriminatory and conservative groups that are against comprehensive sexuality education. Acknowledging that the opposition has a substantial impact on the youth, there should be a policy against these opponents developed from the fact international human rights organizations and intranational norms of human rights verify teens have the right to comprehensive sexuality education and it is a national government's obligation to provide it. To implement comprehensive sexuality education in schools, the ministry of education and offices of education need to create an independent department responsible for sexuality education, advancing gender equality. We also should identify how to enhance understanding of comprehensive sexuality education and need to develop a new guideline that integrates international standards of comprehensive sexuality education. Quality content for sexuality education developed by private organizations or individuals should be selected and used when lessons of sexuality education are provided. Correct information about comprehensive sexuality education needs to be disseminated even to places that are not teaching environments. It is critical to develop and distribute a customer service manual that contains all evidences for necessity of comprehensive sexuality education.

 

B. Support for school teachers to implement comprehensive sexuality education

○To make sexuality education in schools work more effectively and efficiently, trainee teachers need to learn what to teach and how to teach in sexuality education. Mandatory training sessions for teachers should also increase training sessions for sexuality education. Sexuality education curriculum should be broadened to include comprehensive sexuality education considering youth digital media environment, provide media literacy education and be taught with pedagogy that can take many forms. There is also a need to review the current teacher training materials and what the teachers are learning in training.

 

C. Support for professional sex educators and creation of a sexuality education network

○It is necessary to introduce a legal framework to grow qualified professional sex educators and provide them with in-service education, and to state clearly principles of comprehensive sexuality education when they are grown. It is also essential to allocate a budget so that comprehensive sexuality education can be delivered with financial security and with perspectives of equality and human rights in mind.

○It is key to build a network that encourages cooperation between youth sexual culture centers and local community's resources such as youth organizations and sexual violence centers. Quality of sexuality education needs to be improved by increasing close cooperation between youth sexual culture centers and schools in planning, implementing and evaluating sexuality education in schools including providing teachers with sexuality education training, offering sex eduction to students and educating caregivers of teens.

 

D. Support to empower caregivers with sexuality education

○Caregivers are people who primarily implement sexuality education for teens outside school. This requires schools and educational administrative organizations to include caregivers in their sexuality education and develop a plan to empower them with sexuality education. Offices of education should design a reliable educational program for caregivers and increase their access or make it easy for them to be engaged in the programs in terms of time, place and methods of education. It is important to create and send home an information sheet for caregivers about the school's implementation of comprehensive sexuality education and information the caregivers need to know about sexuality education. There should be a guideline for schools on how to provide caregivers with training on sexuality education, so schools can be supportive of caregivers and increase their involvement in school sexuality education. Schools also need to offer caregivers information about sexuality education for students and support them to become an essential component when they work together as partners to deliver sexuality education.

○Education for caregivers should focus on acquiring knowledge on changes teens go through physically and mentally as well as on their own perception of and attitudes toward sexuality education. It is key to help caregivers accept gender equality and diversity as prerequisites for sexuality education and understand teens' subjectivity and their need for a positive access to sex. Education for caregivers should also include a program that encourages them to reflect on their own sexual knowledge levels and attitudes toward sex.

 

E. Redesigning curriculum to make sexuality education work more effectively and efficiently

○Incorporating models such as intensive course completion system for sexuality education provided for particular grades at the local level into national curricular can contribute to making sexuality education work consistently and more effectively. To ensure sexuality education maintaining a perspective of gender equality is clearly implemented, reformed curricular should describe principles of comprehensive sexuality education, and criteria for academic achievement need to include gender equality, anti-discrimination, standing up for human rights of sexual minorities and respecting sexual diversity.

 

Research areas: Education, Gender-equal culture·awareness

Keywords: sexuality education, comprehensive sexuality education, youth sexual cultures, digital sexual cultures, sexual rights