SEXUALITY EDUCATION

“TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCE?”

Abstract

The efforts of the Education Sector to reduce sexual risky behaviors among adolescents and young people are still insufficient and meet obstacles such as prejudices related to Sexuality Education. The adolescents and youth (10 to 24 years old) are structurally and socially vulnerable: pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender, sexual violence, racial and ethnic discrimination, symbolic violence inside and outside the school. In this sense, we developed a case study to analyze students’ and teachers’ perceptions related to sexuality education at a high school Educational Center on the Federal District. We opted by a case study, based on triangulation methodology and techniques of observation, document analysis, structured interviews and focus groups. The above-mentioned Educational center implements actions related to sexuality education for more than a decade. Although the project is successful for teen and youth perceptions, there are some ongoing difficulties, due to the lack of reference at the educational project, or to the perspective that these actions may be discontinued once the leading teacher leaves the school. The main results were: there were no increase in sexual practices due to the inclusion of sexuality education in the school subjects; most students consider important access to condoms at school; teen pregnancy cases decreased; expanded the dialogue between parents and their children about sexuality; the relation between school and local health service increased and it was reduced school discrimination against sexuality issues.