Support for Teachers and Youth Workers

Young people are exposed to a lot of information about sex – from TV, magazines, friends and online. We know from our research that young people can find it hard to rely on these informal sources of information and want good-quality, reliable information from trusted sources.

The Sexual Health & Crisis Pregnancy Programme has developed many resources to help teachers and youth workers do this important job.

Resources for teachers and youth workers

Did you know?

• 90% of schools are implementing the RSE programme in some form.
• Two of the main barriers to RSE delivery were an overcrowded curriculum and the discomfort of some teachers in teaching RSE.
• Teenagers disliked school sex education’s focus on the biological aspects of sex. In a recent survey, only half of 18-25s reported that they had received information on sexual feelings, relationships and emotions. Teens felt that they were missing an opportunity to learn about important moral, social and emotional issues around sex, and they wanted information on contraception, sexually transmitted infections and sexual health services.

Training

RSE Training for teachers is provided by the SPHE support service www.sphe.ie.

There are a number of sexual health training courses available for youth workers, in areas such as sexual health promotion, sexual health and safer sex negotiation skills for teenagers and delaying early sex among young people. For details click here.

Check out our ‘Facts & Figures on Teenage Sexuality’ section to find out what young people in our research think about sex education, relationships and sexuality. The CPP has lots of research and resources that may be useful in helping to open up conversations around the topic of relationships and sexual health with young people. 

Young Social Innovators

For young people taking part in the Young Social Innovators Relationships & Sexual Health Challenge, the ‘Facts & Figures on Teenage Sexuality’ section may be useful in helping  generate some ideas for tackling a specific issue in your school or community.