Coláiste pupils talk up sex education

A group of Ennis pupils will be giving the nation a ‘sexication’ next month as their efforts to promote sex education in schools are set to be showcased on RTÉ 2.

Coláiste Muire’s Transition Year pupils will appear on documentary The New Normal on March 4, where they will highlight the work they have been doing as part of the Young Social Innovators programme. Since September, the class have been actively trying to spread the message of the importance of proper sex education and they are thrilled to be able to give that message to a national audience.

Pupil Sarah Nolan said, “We decided to do this project titled Sexication as we felt that sex education isn’t taught widely enough in Ireland. It’s seen as a really awkward topic and we want to make it less awkward to talk about with parents and teachers.”

As part of their project, the pupils carried out extensive research among other pupils. The research took into account the pupils’ particular age groups, with younger ones being asked basic questions about the teaching of sex education and older pupils being asked more in-depth questions. Many of the responses showed that pupils believe there isn’t adequate sexual education in school.

While there is a curriculum for sexual education in place, their research showed that it is not always being followed.

“We want to make sure the curriculum that is in place is used better. We found that there are some teachers who are skirting around the important issues rather than doing the proper curriculum and sometimes it can be difficult to find a proper time slot for it,” said Sarah.

Classmate Cati Blake added, “We found that a lot of pupils aren’t comfortable with teachers teaching SPHE (Social, Personal and Health Education). So we thought of the idea that maybe we could introduce somebody from outside to speak to pupils. We also found from our surveys that many pupils feel their parents aren’t comfortable talking to them about sex and relationships. That made us realise how important SPHE is to have.”

The pupils have been using Facebook and Twitter to get their message out there, with hundreds of followers now on their Facebook page. Cati said, “The school has been very supportive of our project, they feel it’s an important matter and I think they realise pupils nowadays need more help with SPHE. We want to get rid of the awkwardness in society around sex. It’s a normal thing. We don’t want to change the curriculum, we want to improve it.”

According to the pupils, the benefits of bringing in somebody from outside the school were evident when speakers from Aids West visited Coláiste Muire.

“They educated us on sexual education and we felt that really helped us because we didn’t know half the stuff they were talking about. We felt we had to educate ourselves first before we started spreading our message,” said Sarah.

Fellow pupil Elana Bradley said, “They sat us down in a circle and it really got rid of the awkwardness in the classroom. We had to be comfortable and I think that through that it made the class closer.”

As well as speaking to the pupils, representatives from Aids West also took part in a special parents’ night at the school. According to teacher Daryl Marmion, “The evening was organised through the Parents Association and it went really well. They outlined the basic dos and donts of how to talk to kids about sexual health matters. It wasn’t to promote, it’s to educate, giving information that will be useful when they are in relationships.”

Part of the project involves the creation of a school notification board, updated monthly and highlighting the project’s progress and facts and statistics around sexual health.

“We also put up stories that are relevant to teenagers but we are trying to give a non-dramatic interpretation. This isn’t over-the-top sensationalism, it’s giving simple stories with a message.”

The pupils have already been filmed for their RTÉ appearance next month but it is hoped this won’t be the only time their project will be put on the national stage.

According to Mr Marmion, he is planning to send their project to both the HSE and the Minister for Health once it is completed.

“We’ve done all this research and it has worked well, particularly the sex education talk and the parents’ night. I think this is something that any school can benefit from. I’m really proud of these pupils as they have put so much effort into this project. It’s really good to see what can be achieved.”

YSI is Ireland’s largest social awareness and active citizenship and education programme for 15 to 18-year-old teens. Its main goal is to get young people involved in action that helps improve the lives of others in their community.