In my master's thesis, I researched the role of the school counselling service in context of adolescent sex education. I focused on the presentation of the activities, carried out by school counselling service in the field of sex education and its role, the issue of globalization of sexuality in today's society and the possible mismatch between the provision of sex education in accordance with it, and on the current needs and interests of adolescents in this field. In the theoretical part, I examined how different theoretical perspectives (biological, psychological, sociological, etc.) understand young people's sexuality and how they can enrich and complement the understanding of sexuality processes and the implementation of sex education in the school setting.
The empirical part is based on a mixed-methods research involving counsellors and biology teachers in primary schools and ninth-grade students in four primary schools in Slovenia. I used qualitative and quantitative methods to examine what activities are already being carried out in this field, how they are experienced by pupils and what challenges counsellors and teachers face. The results show that while primary schools do include sex education in their curricula, pupils express the need for a more open, tailored and comprehensive approach. The results also show that the implementation of sex education varies from school to school. Counsellors and teachers cite barriers to their work, such as lack of training, unclear guidelines and the sensitivity of the topic.
Based on the findings, the study offers recommendations for improving sex education in line with the current needs of young people and the challenges of modern society.
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