Sharlene Swartz Emphasises the Importance of Sex Education at the Launch of Old Enough To Know

The Mail & Guardian’s Victoria John attended the launch of Old Enough To Know: Consulting Children About Sex and AIDS Education in Africa at which co-author, Sharlene Swartz, addressed the need for exposure to sex education in African schools. In a report of the event John quotes Swartz as saying that “we must stop thinking that if kids don’t know about sex it will protect them against diseases and pregnancy”:

Children in sub-Saharan Africa are highly aware of the sexualised world they live in and are at dire risk falling pregnant or contracting HIV/Aids or both as teenagers if they are treated as mere innocents, a recent Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and Cambridge University study has found.

And children themselves say they want to discuss sex — because they see evidence of it all around them in any case.

• Complete article: Mail & Guardian

Book details

• Old Enough To Know: Consulting Children About Sex and AIDS Education in Africa by Colleen McLaughlin, Sharlene Swartz, Susan Kiragu, Shelina Walli and Mussa Mohamed
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  EAN: 9780796923745
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