In recent years, sex education has been feared and panicked about, accused of “sexualizing” young people and taking away the agency of parents and guardians. What is the situation today? What do young people and parents expect, and how do teachers feel about the whole discussion? The Queer May Association has launched a study to assess the state of sex education in Poland.
Politicians are scaremongering, but Poles have no doubts – sex education should be taught in Polish schools. A 2019 IBRiS survey shows that 80% of our compatriots share this opinion, with 47% believing that it should be available from primary school onwards. Poles also understand that young people should not get their information about sexuality from the internet and their peers.
In 2020 the Queer May Association, while assessing the situation of LGBTQIA people in Krakow’s secondary schools, also asked about Family Life Education classes – two-thirds of respondents did not decide to participate in these classes, and 54.6% of those who did participate encountered topics such as LGBTQIA during these classes.
“Young people need reliable sex education, taught by people who are prepared for this, who are open-minded and who use professional materials. We want not only to examine the effects of the anti-education crusade in recent years, but above all to ask young people, parents, and teachers who conduct Family Life Education classes about their experiences and needs in this area” – says Toni Kania of the Queer May Association.
The organization has prepared separate surveys:
- for students: https://www.queerowymaj.org/sex-ed/ankieta-uczniowie/
- for parents and guardians: https://www.queerowymaj.org/sex-ed/ankieta-rodzice/
- for teachers: https://www.queerowymaj.org/sex-ed/ankieta-nauczyciele/