Sex education and age of sexual enlightenment in western sociology

Abstract

The article provides an overview of major international studies on the issue of sexual education of children and adolescents. We consider sex education lesson standards in schools of Europe and America, and the subject of these lessons. The article also provides an analysis of lessons incorporating sex education into the school curriculum of a country and their implementation. Foreign researchers obtained data from sociological surveys of parents of pupils and the pupils themselves about their attitude to the introduction of a sex education course, and the quality of lessons, is presented. On the basis the analysis carried out, the main trends in the development of sex education, its inclusion in the school curriculum in foreign countries, as well as the average age of starting to receive information on sexual subject matter are identified.

Keywords

• sex education
• age
• research
• curriculum
• parents
• education