Young people’s attitudes toward sex education as their human right in Slovakia

Abstract

ABSTRACTThere exists no legal or academic consensus as to whether children’s access to sex education should be considered a human right. This study aimed to ascertain (1) how young people in Slovakia perceive sex education in terms of their human right to information, and (2) which areas sex education should covered to fulfil their right to information. To address these two research questions, we conducted a quantitative study whose design was informed by the Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe. A representative sample of 1,015 secondary school students in Slovakia completed a questionnaire between September and October 2017. The results showed that young people generally held positive attitudes towards sex education. Nonetheless, respondents who had experienced sexual intercourse, those who had attended sex education classes, and those who had attended Ethics rather than Religious Education classes had significantly more positive attitudes towards sex education than others. Young people were most interested in the bodily, psychological and relational aspects of sexuality, while they were least interested in the social and cultural dimensions. These findings have important implications for educational policy and practice with respect to the provision of school-based sex education in Slovakia.