Sexual health education is an important aspect of education in Scottish secondary schools. It helps young people understand their bodies, their relationships, and their sexual health rights. Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) is an element of Health and Wellbeing within Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence. The Scottish Government highlights that the purpose of RSHP education is to equip learners with the knowledge and skills to help build and maintain positive and safe relationships, allowing young people to make informed decisions as they grow and develop. (Scottish Government, 2014). With the Scottish Government’s commitment to providing high quality RSHP education for all learners, local authorities, healthboards, Education Scotland and the Scottish Government have worked collaboratively to produce RSHP materials (rshp.scot) to support the implementation and delivery of comprehensive and progressive RSHP education for all learners, including those with additional support needs in Scotland from age 3 to 18. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of sexual health education and the key aspects that should be covered in Scottish secondary schools.
The Importance of RSHP?
Sexual health education is essential for children's overall health and wellbeing (Scottish Government, 2014). It is essential for young people to make informed decisions about their sexual health. It provides learners with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage their sexual relationships in a safe and healthy way - by helping them to make informed decisions about their sexual health and wellbeing, including healthy relationships, contraception, and sexual consent. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has reported that comprehensive sexual health education contributes to lower teenage pregnancy rates and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, in addition to other broad sexual and reproductive health outcomes for young people. (UNESCO, 2021).
High quality relationships and sexual health education has also been found to help protect young people from abuse and sexual violence and foster equality and respect (Commissioner for Human Rights, 2020). In addition to promoting physical health, sexual health education can also foster positive social and emotional development. It can help children develop a positive sense of self and body image, understand the importance of consent and boundaries, and build healthy relationships.
With Health Protection Scotland (2020) reporting the rise of sexually transmitted infections, only 78.8% of senior learners agree that is it easy to source information about sexual health and 59.4% of these learners find it easy to seek support on sexual health issues (Scottish Government, 2023), therefore it is important that the Scottish curriculum delivers high quality RSHP education to help improve the health and wellbeing outcomes for all young people in Scotland. It is arguably crucial, therefore, to ensure that young people receive accurate and age-appropriate sexual health education throughout their school education.
What Does RSHP Look Like in Scotland?
The Scottish Government has provided guidance on what should be taught in sexual health education in schools. The guidance suggests that sexual health education should be age-appropriate and cover a range of topics, including:
Anatomy and physiology - this includes information on reproductive systems, puberty, and sexual development.
Contraception - this includes information on different methods of contraception and how to use them effectively.
STIs - this includes information on common STIs, how they are transmitted, and how to prevent them.
Relationships - this includes information on healthy relationships, communication, consent, and respect.
Sexual orientation and gender identity - this includes information on different sexual orientations and gender identities, and how to be respectful and inclusive of all individuals.
Parenthood - this includes information on the responsibilities and challenges of parenthood, and options for parenting and adoption.
Law and ethics - this includes information on the legal and ethical aspects of sexual health, including sexual consent and the age of consent.
Safeguarding
One key aspect of RSHP in Scotland relates to equipping learners with the knowledge to help recognise positive relationships and protect themselves from harm. National guidance on child protection in Scotland highlights that practitioners working with learners have a responsibility to ensure young people have an understanding of how to protect themselves and how to seek support (Scottish Government, 2021). RSHP education has an important role to play in developing this understanding in young people through exploring relationships, consent, body autonomy and confidence with age-appropriate information relating to sexual health. Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that children should be protected from violence, abuse and neglect and the Scottish Government (2014) recognises that effective RSHP education can be proactive in safeguarding young people.
Equality and Inclusion
Guidance on RSHP education in Scotland (Scottish Government, 2014) recognises the diversity of human sexuality and this is reflected in the Curriculum for Excellence Second level benchmarks, where it states that learners should be able to, “identif[y] different kinds of friendships and relationships” and “demonstrate[s] an understanding of diversity in sexuality and gender identity”. In addition the rshp.scot, supporting resources also reflect diversity in sexual orientation and gender identity. Under the Equality Act 2010 it is unlawful to discriminate against others with identified protected characteristics and sexual orientation is one of those protected characteristics. Therefore, it is important that RSHP education does not discriminate and provides a broad and inclusive knowledge and understanding of relationships and gender identity. This inclusive approach to RSHP education can help to foster an inclusive environment for all and combat homophobia and transphobia at school and beyond (Commissioner for Human Rights, 2020).
In conclusion, sexual health education is an essential component of a comprehensive education that empowers young people with the knowledge, skills, and values to make informed decisions about their sexual health and wellbeing. The Scottish secondary Health and Wellbeing curriculum provides a platform for delivering this education to young people. Providing accurate and inclusive sexual health education, can promote physical, social, and emotional health, prevent negative outcomes, and contribute to the creation of a more equitable and just society.
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