Working Paper Series

Abstract: Although Guidelines on Sex Education in Schools was released in 1997, adolescents have perceived the sex education as useless while the teachers have negative comments on their roles in the implementation of sex education. Apart from the different perceptions among the adolescents and teachers, the effectiveness of the current sex education in Hong Kong is questionable. It may be attributed to the teachers’ attitudes, background; manpower; lack of training for the teachers; traditional teaching method; depthless topic coverage; and the school environment. It is critical that the government, school administrators, teachers, social workers and health professionals should be cooperating with each other to provide a comprehensive sex education for the adolescents. The government should support the schools financially and provide a clear direction to them by the policies, together with the encouragement for adoption of liberal and comprehensive approaches. The schools should focus on the implementation of sex education, include changing the traditional lecturing method; attempting to provide the sex education on the internet; strengthening the training of the teachers; involving the health professionals and covering comprehensive knowledge and practical skills with a logical sequence in sex education.