So Many Bricks in the Wall: Young women in Nova Scotia speak about barriers to school-based sexual health education

Abstract

Adolescents are sexual beings, and many are sexually active. They are very often able to develop the knowledge and skills required to protect their sexual health, and to take the action required for doing so. Unfortunately, many experience barriers to accessing information through school-based sexual health education. The research outlined here represents an effort to better understand the origins of barriers which prevent young women from receiving maximally effective sexual health education in their schools in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada. Building upon research which the authors carried out in the context of a community development project aimed at enhancing the sexual health of young people in Amherst, the article presents the lived experiences of young women in that community as they have attempted to acquire knowledge related to this very important aspect of their lives. The research examines barriers to learning about sexual health at the levels of the curriculum, teachers, and students themselves, leading to a better understanding of the potential for positive change in these domains.