Parent orientated sex education for pre-school children

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The aim of the study was to present guidelines for the composition of a parentorientated sex education programme for pre-school children. An exploratory studywas undertaken to describe and investigate the nature and extent of parental sexeducation to pre-school children. The investigation was done by first exploringexisting research literature and describing it. The empirical study was based uponboth the literature study and mothers' opinions on sex education.Pre-school children are disproportionately !ll0re likely to be sexually abused withdevastating consequences which result in behavioural and emotional problemsthroughout their lives. The ultimate responsibility of prevention of child sexual abuseshould be with the parent. However, two problems persist. Firstly, parents are oftenthe perpetrators and therefore it is not justified to leave the responsibility solely to theparents. Secondly, parents who want to teach their children prevention strategiesoften lack the skills and knowledge.Therefore, the concept of a prevention structure in which the child can live and findsupport should be put into practice by the school. Prevention strategies shouldinclude sex education, a neutral home environment and a safe environment fordisclosure of sexual abuse. This prevention structure should include the teacher, thesocial worker and the parent. These three components should support each other toimplement an atmosphere of prevention and healthy sexual development. Linkingand inter-dependence are important because there is always a possibility that one ofthe participants may be corrupt.Social workers should provide an effective basis for a personal safety programme toparents which should be supported and facilitated by schools. Training parents tobecome sex educators encourages better parent-child communication, builds thefamily support network, and has an impact on the ability of the family to deal morepositively with sexual concerns. This does not only result in the prevention of sexualabuse but also contributes to the healthy sexual functioning, development andunderstanding of the sexuality of pre-school children. Through parent orientated sexeducation, parents can also dispel sexual myths and misinformation that their preschoolchildren gain from peers and other sources.Despite the increasing public awareness devoted to sexual abuse and the advantageof sex education, a formal prevention education structure has not yet beenimplemented for pre-school children in South Africa.The first objective of this study was to describe and investigate the extent of parentalsex education presented to pre-school children. The second objective was toinvestigate the acceptability of a sex education programme for pre-school children.The third objective was to describe the physical and sexual boundaries existing in thehome environments of parents of pre-school children and finally to determine thesexual behaviours of pre-school children, which parents regard as acceptable.The main conclusions, based on the findings of the study, indicated that parentswere in favour of sex education for pre-school children and that they require moreinformation which would empower them to sex educate their pre-school children athome. They were also in favour of a classroom-based sex education programme.In conclusion it is recommended that a sex education programme is to beimplemented at pre-schools for parents of pre-school children, as well as aclassroom based sex education and a personal safety programme for pre-schoolchildren.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University