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Sex Education and Ethnic Minority Parents
Report of Consultation with Asian Women Parents in
some Edinburgh Secondary Schools & Agencies, Spring 2001[Background] [Involvement of Schools& Agencies] [Meeting Parents] [Outcomes] [Conclusions] [Implications]
As part of the work of the DO EAL in Edinburgh Secondary Schools, on 'raising attainment in minority ethnic & bilingual learners', a number of initiatives have been developed for greater contact between schools & parents of minority ethnic pupils. A key aim is that this contact is truly two-way, and that school policy & practice can be informed through listening to the parents' views & feelings about a whole range of schooling issues.
In the context of such work, guidance staff at Leith Academy expressed concern, in the autumn of session 2000-01, that some minority ethnic girls appeared to be trying to opt out of sex education classes. Staff at Drummond Community High School had noted a slightly different issue, which was that a small number of Minority ethnic girls were withdrawn from sex education classes by parental preference.
Also, in evaluating the delivery of a unit on sexual health in the S3/4 Core Health Course, Leith Academy staff had identified a lack of appropriate provision. Further discussion with small groups of pupils & external agencies identified the need to raise cultural & religious awareness, & develop greater understanding & sensitivity when delivering sexual health education, so as to enable all young people to make informed decisions & choices.
The Scottish Executive/ Learning & Teaching Scotland, 'Guide for Parents & Carers - Sex Education in Scottish Schools (2001) outlines:
- 'the home-school partnership and shared responsibilities on which effective sex education is based'
- and clearly states that schools are expected to have 'strategies to consult parents', including:
- 'surveys to find out parents' views on the sex education programme.'
2. Involvement of schools & agencies
Accordingly, Leith Academy & Drummond Community High School agreed to commit staff resources to a limited consultation programme with parents of S1 pupils, utilising positive contacts made through the 'Raising Attainment ' initiatives. The object of the consultation was four-fold:
- to inform parents about the ethos & content of a typical S1-2 sex education programme;
- to elicit parents' views & reactions to these;
- to encourage parents to feel confident in encouraging their children to participate;
- to consider adaptations, within the broad ethos of the programme which would make it more acceptable to such parents.
Tynecastle High School had also been actively working with the DO EAL on Raising Attainment, had recently held an 'Ethos evening' for parents on sex education, and had noted an absence of parents from minority ethnic communities. A group of local women from these communities, who had been actively involved in working with the DO & the School on raising attainment issues, were keen to participate in such a consultation, and Tynecastle High School was happy to facilitate this.
Leith Sikh Sanjog & DOSTI, two support facilities for Sikh & Muslim women respectively, provided another source of expertise and access to the minority communities, and offered to consult with their group members.
Consultation sessions
As a result, a number of consultations took place in the Easter term of that session. These were
- a consultation session with Sikh women members of Sikh Sanjog
- a consultation session with Muslim women members of DOSTI
- a consultation with Muslim & Sikh mothers of S1 & 2 pupils at Drummond Community High School & Leith Academy
- two consultations with mainly Muslim women of the Dalry/Tynecastle Women's Group
It should be noted that in all cases the members of consultation groups were women. This arose in the case of DOSTI, Sikh Sanjog & Tynecastle, out of the nature of the group consulted. In the case of Leith Academy & Drummond CHS, telephone invitations were issued & in discussion with parents, it was clear that a single sex meeting was preferable, and mothers were seen as the most appropriate parent to be involved. However it is important to note that most of the women were clear that they were speaking on behalf of their family.Some mothers who could not or did not want to attend meetings (feeling that it would be embarrassing & inappropriate for them to do so), expressed views over the phone, and these have been included. These calls were made by an EAL teacher who is herself a member of an ethnic minority. This clearly made it easier for many parents to talk, and avoided some embarrassment. A small number expressed anxiety about airing views openly in front of others from within their community.
Staffing
The consultations at DOSTI & Sikh Sanjog were conducted by their workers; the Drummond/Leith consultation was conducted by Guidance & Health Education staff from those schools, along with the EAL teacher and DO EAL. Those at Tynecastle High School were conducted by an AHT, along with the EAL teacher & the DO EAL. Interpreters were present at all school-based meetings.
Content
A model for the consultation, used initially by the worker at Sikh Sanjog, was agreed as a general model, to ensure consistency of approach. This focussed initially on the ethos underpinning sex education programmes, followed by a look at some materials & methodology. The materials generally related to typical S1-2 sex education, although some consultations also included typical S3-4 materials, for example, from the Medical Research Council's SHARE programme.
All the meetings were open and good natured in tone, although there was some shyness & embarrassment. It was significant that the most effective discussions took place where there was a clearly established relationship, and confidence between the parents and those leading the discussion.
Through there was a fair range of opinion, a number of views seemed common to the majority in all groups. These included:
Sex is not discussed in the home. If sex related matters appear on television, it is switched over/off. Some Muslims expressed the view that their tradition was for the father to teach the sons and the mother to teach the daughters. In some cases the task was given to older brothers/sisters. However the large majority felt that it would not normally be discussed.
The word sex itself is offensive to some. Terms such as love, family relationships, healthy relationships etc would be more acceptable.
A large majority felt that sex education should be taught in schools; some stressed particularly the need for physical factual information such as menstruation. Some felt it was taught too early in primary school. Others felt that the use of videos was unacceptable as it seemed they were frequently too explicit. The same large majority found the materials shown, quite acceptable.
A small number felt that this was a school & government matter, & should be left to them.
A small number felt that giving information would encourage young people to try it out.
Those who agreed that sex education should be taught, were unanimous in requesting single sex groups.
Where sex education had been taught, particularly in primary schools, without prior notification of parents, this had caused some upset & offence.
It was therefore considered important that a letter in dual language be sent out in advance, by post (since such letters are sometimes not taken into the home) with the opportunity to respond in a box, so parents can withdraw children if they want.
Again, since letters don't always reach parents, it was felt that the issue should be raised at an early parents' evening, to allow information giving & an exchange of views.
Muslim women at one meeting expressed the following views, which received strong agreement there and in the subsequent meeting.
They felt that sex was too explicit & high profile in our society. For this reason alone, they felt, sex education should be taught in schools, so that young people can learn about it properly, and not only through the many media outlets through which society is bombarded with sexual images & language, which are frequently offensive to Muslims.
However, given a choice, within their own culture, there would be no open discussion of sex matters.
The cultural /religious significance of virginity, for both boys and girls, prior to marriage, in Islam, should be clearly understood. For a Muslim it is very clear that premarital sexual activity is totally forbidden and would affect a young person's whole life, and that of their family, very negatively.
This is the case also in a number of other religions, and it is vital that this point is made generally as part of the introduction to any sex education programme.It follows that the context and sequence lessons are very important.
The introduction to any series of lessons should consider the attitudes of different cultures and religious groups, pointing out that a number of these forbid sex outside marriage.
If this was made clear, as a context for any & every sex education course, it would become much more acceptable to many in the Muslim community.
A further view was accepted by many, but not all of the Muslim women. This was that while the above view, about the importance of virginity, was paramount, if young people 'made a mistake' they should not feel their world must end. No one wanted suicides to happen. It was therefore good that the S3-4 programme included information about sources of help and advice.
Some individual views & comments
There was wide variation in personal experiences of sex education, ranging from having received none at all, to involvement in certain parts of the programme by parent/school negotiation, to complete involvement in school classes.
Some felt that they did not have have enough knowledge about their own bodies & sexual health, and did not want their children - male or female - to be the same.
One young woman said that she had taken part in sex education lessons at school, but had pretended (to herself) that she was a white girl.
The issue of sex education is an embarrassing one for many Muslim & Sikh families.Despite this, the vast majority of those consulted feel that because of the prominence given to sexual matters in the majority culture, it is necessary that their young people learn about it in school in a thorough & organised way, rather than, as they said, 'in the street'.
Many sex education resources strive to address the perceived realities of young people's attitudes & behaviour within the majority culture, by being explicit & non-judgemental, but in doing so may unintentionally be exclusive of the views of minority cultures.
It is therefore important that the values & beliefs of minority religious & cultural groups are acknowledged. If sex education courses included in their introductory sessions, discussion of the values & expectations of different cultures & religions in relation to sexual behaviour, such courses would become much more acceptable to the minority groups consulted.
Single sex classes would also make these classes much more acceptable.
Prior discussion with parents, with openness about positive ethos, materials & methodology, & a preparedness to be flexible about content, terminology, materials etc within the broad guidelines, would help to make such parents more comfortable about sex education in general.
Parents who are insistent about withdrawing their children might be prepared to have them work in small groups/individually on a modified or restricted course.
Schools might consider the following:monitoring attendance & participation in sex education classes
ensuring that discussion of the relevant views of religious & cultural groups is included in the introduction to any series of lessons
creating single sex groups for at least part of their sex education programme
taking account of the range of cultural & religious beliefs within the class when planning the use of explicit materials, videos etc.
giving careful consideration to terminology used in communications with parents
including information about these in letters to parents about planned sex education programmes
having any such letters in dual language where appropriate
including the issue for discussion in an early meeting for new parents,
involving the Interpreting & Translation Service as a resource in communication & discussions with parents.
[Background] [Involvement of Schools& Agencies] [Meeting Parents] [Outcomes] [Conclusions] [Implications][Background] [Involvement of Schools& Agencies] [Meeting Parents] [Outcomes] [Conclusions] [Implications]