Expert points to dichotomy between educators' support for sex education and their willingness to teach it.
By JONATHAN BECK, MATT ZALENsex ed 88(photo credit: )
Research conducted at the Kibbutz Seminar College and published Monday revealed that 86 percent of Israeli students did not receive extensive sex-education as children, and that their knowledge of the subject was lacking even as adults.
According to Dr. Ilana Brosh, a lecturer who headed the research, the purpose of the survey was to clarify the level of sex education and family-related subjects among teachers in training. Therefore, Brosh said, she chose to conduct the research on education students at the college."
Healthy, responsible sexual behavior is a central subject in the life of every young or adult person in modern society," she said. "The teacher of the future should be available to students and be able to give them answers without fear."
Brosh tried to explain her findings by pointing to the dichotomy within the Israeli school system between the educators' expressed support for sex education, and their actual willingness to teach the subject.
According to Brosh, teachers often do not teach sex education, and when they do, their decision is frequently met with resistance either by the students, their parents, or both.
Not surprisingly, the results of the research also revealed a correlation between one's exposure to sex education and one's religious affiliation, with religious students demonstrating relatively meager knowledge of the subject.
The students with the most extensive knowledge of sexual matters were those with a background in natural sciences, and those preparing to be physical education teachers, the study found.
Most of the participants in the study reaffirmed the importance of sex education in school, and one third said that it should start as early as the beginning of elementary school.
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