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| Swedish sex education has time for games and mature debate | Swedish sex education has time for games and mature debate |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| It’s a grey, chilly day in Gnesta, a small, unremarkable town just north of Stockholm, but things are warming up in one of the classrooms of the local school. | It’s a grey, chilly day in Gnesta, a small, unremarkable town just north of Stockholm, but things are warming up in one of the classrooms of the local school. |
| Kaspar, 14, and his classmates are immersed in their studies of sex och samlevnad. He tells me he’s been learning about sex and relationships in four hour-long classes a week for more than a month. | Kaspar, 14, and his classmates are immersed in their studies of sex och samlevnad. He tells me he’s been learning about sex and relationships in four hour-long classes a week for more than a month. |
| “It’s always fun to learn new stuff,” he says breezily, leaning on his elbow. “It’s useful. For some it’s hard to talk about sex. Sex is pretty private. If you talk about it a lot, it becomes easier.” | “It’s always fun to learn new stuff,” he says breezily, leaning on his elbow. “It’s useful. For some it’s hard to talk about sex. Sex is pretty private. If you talk about it a lot, it becomes easier.” |
| Sweden has a long and established history of sex education. It has been compulsory in schools since 1956, and pupils here at Frejaskolan – an average state school with 700 pupils and one particularly committed sex education teacher – are in the middle of an exhaustive eight-week course. | Sweden has a long and established history of sex education. It has been compulsory in schools since 1956, and pupils here at Frejaskolan – an average state school with 700 pupils and one particularly committed sex education teacher – are in the middle of an exhaustive eight-week course. |
| Sex och samlevnad extends beyond sex to include alcohol, mental health and other subjects covered in the UK by PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education). | Sex och samlevnad extends beyond sex to include alcohol, mental health and other subjects covered in the UK by PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education). |
| Not all Swedish schools will spend quite as long on the subject as they do in Gnesta – some get through it in four or five weeks – but the course is a great deal more comprehensive than what is on offer in most English schools, where sex education still not a statutory requirement and is often delivered in a single “drop-down day” at the end of term. | Not all Swedish schools will spend quite as long on the subject as they do in Gnesta – some get through it in four or five weeks – but the course is a great deal more comprehensive than what is on offer in most English schools, where sex education still not a statutory requirement and is often delivered in a single “drop-down day” at the end of term. |
| The UK birth rate among 15- to 19-year-olds is 19.7 births per 1,000 women, while in Sweden the figure is 5.2 per 1,000. | The UK birth rate among 15- to 19-year-olds is 19.7 births per 1,000 women, while in Sweden the figure is 5.2 per 1,000. |
| Kaspar and his classmates have already had age-appropriate sex education at primary school where they learned about snopp and snippa – children’s names for their body parts. Snopp and snippa achieved global fame this year when a Swedish children’s educational video aimed at three- to six-year-olds and featuring cartoon dancing penises and vaginas went viral. | Kaspar and his classmates have already had age-appropriate sex education at primary school where they learned about snopp and snippa – children’s names for their body parts. Snopp and snippa achieved global fame this year when a Swedish children’s educational video aimed at three- to six-year-olds and featuring cartoon dancing penises and vaginas went viral. |
| But for these 14- and 15-year-olds it’s getting a bit more serious. Jessica Holmström, a science and maths teacher who has won an award for her equality and sex education work, starts the session with a short animated film about the issue of sexual consent. | But for these 14- and 15-year-olds it’s getting a bit more serious. Jessica Holmström, a science and maths teacher who has won an award for her equality and sex education work, starts the session with a short animated film about the issue of sexual consent. |
| “It’s as simple as tea,” the voiceover says. “If they don’t want to drink it, don’t make them drink it. If they say ‘no thank you’, don’t make them tea. | “It’s as simple as tea,” the voiceover says. “If they don’t want to drink it, don’t make them drink it. If they say ‘no thank you’, don’t make them tea. |
| “If they are unconscious, don’t make them tea. Unconscious people don’t want tea, trust me on this. Whether it’s tea or sex, consent is everything.” | “If they are unconscious, don’t make them tea. Unconscious people don’t want tea, trust me on this. Whether it’s tea or sex, consent is everything.” |
| Kaspar is pretty confident he’s nailed this one. “I already know most of it. It’s like a, er, a reminder,” he says, searching for the right word. “You can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to. Everyone has their own will.” | Kaspar is pretty confident he’s nailed this one. “I already know most of it. It’s like a, er, a reminder,” he says, searching for the right word. “You can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to. Everyone has their own will.” |
| The students talk about consent with admirable maturity – Holmström asks a question, hands shoot up, discussions evolve – then they move on to a game where they are asked to match a set of photographs of individuals into pairs. Who’s in a relationship with whom? | The students talk about consent with admirable maturity – Holmström asks a question, hands shoot up, discussions evolve – then they move on to a game where they are asked to match a set of photographs of individuals into pairs. Who’s in a relationship with whom? |
| The aim is to challenge prejudices, and the resulting discussion takes in relationships between people of different faiths and ages, homosexuality, transgender, the Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst and Bruce Jenner’s recent transition to Caitlyn. “What do we think about Bruce?” asks Holmström, and on it goes. | The aim is to challenge prejudices, and the resulting discussion takes in relationships between people of different faiths and ages, homosexuality, transgender, the Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst and Bruce Jenner’s recent transition to Caitlyn. “What do we think about Bruce?” asks Holmström, and on it goes. |
| The luxury of devoting so much time to such a broad and varied subject means that any question can be asked and answered, and there’s ample opportunity to revisit and think again. Holmström, who has completed a specialist course in sex education at university, is gentle, fearless and totally unembarrassed. | The luxury of devoting so much time to such a broad and varied subject means that any question can be asked and answered, and there’s ample opportunity to revisit and think again. Holmström, who has completed a specialist course in sex education at university, is gentle, fearless and totally unembarrassed. |
| “Do you remember what I call this?” she asks holding up a large glass test tube. “A horse penis, because it’s so big.” Then she produces a packet of condoms and dishes them out. They’ve done this before, but she makes them go through the same drill. | “Do you remember what I call this?” she asks holding up a large glass test tube. “A horse penis, because it’s so big.” Then she produces a packet of condoms and dishes them out. They’ve done this before, but she makes them go through the same drill. |
| Check the date; yes, you can get them for free; remember, they don’t just protect you from pregnancy, they protect you from disease. Then everyone has a go at putting one on a horse penis. | Check the date; yes, you can get them for free; remember, they don’t just protect you from pregnancy, they protect you from disease. Then everyone has a go at putting one on a horse penis. |
| Once that’s done, they start pulling them on to their hands, slapping each other round the face, blowing them up and filling them with water. It’s fun and Holmström laughs with them. | Once that’s done, they start pulling them on to their hands, slapping each other round the face, blowing them up and filling them with water. It’s fun and Holmström laughs with them. |
| “To have fun with sex, to be a person who really wants to be alive and can say yes, and can say no, you have to know quite a lot about this, about how your body works,” says Holmström. Her own sex education was, she says, basically biology and her aim is to equip her students for the complexities of the world they live in today. | “To have fun with sex, to be a person who really wants to be alive and can say yes, and can say no, you have to know quite a lot about this, about how your body works,” says Holmström. Her own sex education was, she says, basically biology and her aim is to equip her students for the complexities of the world they live in today. |
| “It’s really important today that pupils can discuss and analyse; and it’s important I as a teacher let them try to do that, so it’s not only me standing in front talking.” | “It’s really important today that pupils can discuss and analyse; and it’s important I as a teacher let them try to do that, so it’s not only me standing in front talking.” |
| Hans Olsson, of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU), said it was rare for Swedish students to receive eight weeks’ sex education as in Gnesta, but there was a long tradition of comprehensive sex education in Sweden that meant young people were generally well prepared and teenage pregnancies were few and far between. | |
| “It’s more comprehensive here. It’s not just one or two lessons, it’s for some time. You need to be able to process things and come back to things,” he said. | “It’s more comprehensive here. It’s not just one or two lessons, it’s for some time. You need to be able to process things and come back to things,” he said. |
| Lucy Emmerson, of the UK’s Sex Education Forum, said: “We know in some schools here young people get plenty of time on sex and relationships education but we also know that in other schools rather than it being eight weeks it’s one or two hours one day and that’s it. The inconsistency is appalling.” | Lucy Emmerson, of the UK’s Sex Education Forum, said: “We know in some schools here young people get plenty of time on sex and relationships education but we also know that in other schools rather than it being eight weeks it’s one or two hours one day and that’s it. The inconsistency is appalling.” |
| In Gnesta, class is sent home early. They’ve worked hard, and besides, there’s plenty of time next week to return to the discussion. | In Gnesta, class is sent home early. They’ve worked hard, and besides, there’s plenty of time next week to return to the discussion. |