نقش والدین در شکل دادن و بهبود بهداشت جنسی کودکان – سیاست توسعه برنامه های آموزشی جنسیتی والدین The Role of Parents in Shaping and Improving the Sexual Health of Children – Lines of Developing Parental Sexuality Education Programmes

Sex Education, Sexuality Education, Sexual Education or Sexual and Reproductive Health Education are only a few of the contemporary terms describing education with the primary goal that „children and young people become equipped with the knowledge, skills and values to make responsible choices about their sexual and social relationships in a world affected by HIV” (UNESCO, 2009) or „one of the most effective ways to improve sexual health in the long term” (WHO, 2010) for adolescents and young people. By sexual health World Health Organization understands “…a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. For sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected and fulfilled.” (WHO, 2006) Over the last century and across the world, elements of what we are presently generally calling Sexuality Education (SE) were delivered to children and adolescents (and also adults) under various names (e.g. Mother-craft, Baby Nursing, Moral Education, Marriage and Motherhood, Human Development, Social Hygiene, Family Hygiene, Family Life Education, Population Education, Life Skills, Adolescence Education, AIDS Education), usually reflecting more historical/cultural and moral/ideological and less scientific perspectives on sexuality as well as education (Zimmerman, 2015). The debate concerning sexuality education continues to this day in terms of: what, how, when, to whom and who better to provide it. World Health Organization’s recommendations try to set a reliable framework for these considerations to be integrated in ”Knowledge and information, provided through sexual health education, are essential if people are to be sexually healthy. (…) Anyone involved in providing sex and relationship education (…) should receive training and continuing education to ensure that the information and counselling they give are accurate, evidence-based, appropriate and free from discrimination, gender bias and stigma.” (WHO, 2010) This debate mostly takes place outside of the health and education sciences arena and is very vivid in the public sphere, between various different groups and cultures in terms of values and ideologies. These groups are sometimes politically affiliated and with considerable influence on administrative institutions and public policies and, as a consequence, affecting the regulation and provision of sexuality education programmes in communities and most of all schools (Zimmerman, 2015). Thus, sexual and reproductive health education is sometimes absent from the local or national curriculum in certain countries, including European ones, or it is offered with the help of programmes based on perspectives not scientifically validated, often containing erroneous information and with inadequate ecological implementation. At the core of this debate lies the topic of human sexuality and the social and cultural normativity associated with it, but also with the roles that family and state are legally and morally entitled to play in it. State and family are almost unanimously seen as the two poles of responsibility in educating children (Hornby, 2011). Concerning SE, there are other factors with considerable influence on the education outcomes, such as media and peer culture, but it is often argued that their influence is rather a negative one. Regarding scientific arguments and evidence, the problem of whose prerogative should (sexuality) education be was already addressed by development and education experts who are currently trying to answer the question of how to maximize the beneficial effect of both state/school and family/community on the development of children and their future well-being (Hornby, 2011). The present study tries to shed more light on how the contribution of parents and families could be optimised by taking into account previous scientific approaches and results.