RTL Today – Luxembourg: 2021, a record year for the Sexual and Emotional Education Department
More than 8,000 people have been cared for by the Sexual and Emotional Education Department of Family Planning. An upward trend.
Detabilizing one’s own sexuality, informing about topics such as gender stereotypes, puberty and contraception. This all falls under the concept of sex education. For the Sexual and Emotional Education Department of Family Planning, education is precisely important for optimal development as a child and adolescent. And the demand is great: more than 8,000 people were taken care of by the Service in 2021.
The Service carries out various tasks. In addition to workshops in schools, homes and relay houses, its members received people on site for individual appointments.
Since sexuality is an existential need, a central component of identity and personality development, sex education would also be important.
Sandra Michely, Service Coordinator: “Children who have received sex education from an early age are comforted by being able to make different decisions in interpersonal relationships, to be strong. They are also generally better protected against transgressors. They can make a difference between what is correct, what is ok and what is not.
Young people sensitized at a young age would have their first experience much later and would be better informed about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases.
Courses and interviews must obviously be age-appropriate.
Sandra Michelle: “What does sex education mean in cycles 2 and 3? It’s a lot about diversity, gender stereotypes. About emotions, expressing feelings, learning to say yes and also to say clearly no, setting limits and respecting own body. The goal of these activities is to make children strong.”
In Cycle 4, puberty and body changes are also discussed. Once in high school, other topics are covered, such as the first appointment with the gynecologist for young women.
The Family Planning Service has also launched several projects, one of which is called “Hues de Froen?”, “Do you have any questions?”.
Sandra Michelle: “We designed a poster with our e-mail address and opened an Instagram account to still be accessible to young people during the pandemic, during confinement. Because from March to October, we were almost no longer in the field, we had no activity. And we wanted to leave the opportunity for young people to ask their questions, to speak to a professional.”
A guide for parents, which includes and answers the questions most frequently asked by young people, has also been produced. Another project, still in progress, revolves around consent. According to Family Planning, 10% of young people would feel obliged to sexual acts during their first relationship. Children and adolescents must gradually learn how to express their will. Indeed, condoms and leaflets are distributed with a clear message: no means no.