Health and sex education has been under the spotlight in recent weeks after the Otago Daily Times revealed concerns about the filming of intimate material by Dunedin teens, and a survey conducted at a Christchurch school found more than 20 pupils had been allegedly raped.
The worrying trends sparked calls for sex education to be compulsory in all schools.
One person fully on board with that approach is Dunedin’s Mike Hammond.
Mr Hammond will retire at the end of this month after three decades as a public health nurse in Otago schools.
He worked closely with schools and valued those relationships. But he also believed there needed to be more emphasis placed on the importance of sex education.
The level of sex education differed from school to school.
He pointed to Catholic schools as an example, saying some would not talk about contraception because of the values of their school.
Schools also legally had to consult with their communities about health education, and if parents were vocal about certain issues, that could affect the type of content offered.
‘‘They kinda get a bit timid about how much they should do.’’
Schools needed to take responsibility and delegate teachers who could champion the cause and get professional development around the health curriculum, he said.
‘‘We’ve had comments in the past like ‘well that doesn’t happen in our school’. It happens in all schools,’’ he said.
He believed young people wanted better education around health, sex and relationships.
‘‘They want to engage in conversation, and it needs to be around the relationship stuff.’’
Alcohol and pornography were increasingly prevalent issues, along with sexting.
‘‘They’re doing things without thinking about the long-term consequences.’’
Late last year, the Government released new relationships and sexuality education guidelines.
They place increased emphasis on issues such as consent, social media, gender and sexual orientation.
There will be 38 curriculum leads across the country - 36 are in place and two more are being recruited. They are educators put in place to help schools adapt to the new guidelines.
