An international perspective on various issues in sex education as an aspect of health education.

Abstract

An effort is made to compare certain aspects of sex education in different national settings parmarily Sweden and the U.S. but also the Soviet Union and other Communist countries. The topics discussed are 1) sex instruction in the schools; 2) the degree of student sophistication or ignorance; 3) the morality of premarital sex relations and contraception; 4) masturbation; and 5) other sensitive areas such as hom osexuality. A recently released official survey in Sweden casts doubt on the efficacy of sex education especially its moralizing aspects. In the U.S. it is felt that the furor brought on by extremists may in fact accelerate sex education. In the Soviet Union there is an increasing call for greater sex education.