Sex Education Gains Strength in Mexican Public Schools

Abstract

In Mexico two new sex education courses Planning Your Life and Adolescence and Development have earned praise from parents and students despite fears from researchers that sex education would be rejected by Roman Catholics. The new courses combine factual and psychosocial elements and involve extensive role playing. In an evaluation of Planning Your Life performed in 1988-89 at 2 Mexican schools it was found that exposure to this course led a significantly larger portion of the students who were having sex to use contraceptives. Evaluation of Adolescence and Development was undertaken to determine the attitudes of teachers school authorities parents and students toward sex education. The teachers reported attitudes of other teachers parents and students as being either very positive (51-63%) or positive (33-45%). Attitude and knowledge scores of the students were improved by the course and most students liked the course a lot. 87% of parents were in favor of continuing the course and 68% felt it should be required. By the time that newspaper advertisements appeared demanding that the course be stopped it had gained sufficient support that its creator the Instituto Mexicano de Investigacion de Familia y Poblacion (IMIFAP) was asked to develop more educational programs. By July 1993 the Mexican Congress passed a General Education Law which encourages sex and family education. While Mexico still has no uniform sex education course many courses incorporate elements of those developed by IMIFAP. Mexican policy makers attribute their success in instituting sex education to a refusal to be drawn into public debate over the issue.