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Sex education is the process of acquiring information and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, relationships and intimacy. It is also about developing young people’s skills so that they make informed choices about their behavior, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices. It is widely accepted that young people have a right to sex education, partly because it is a means by which they are helped to protect themselves against abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.
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Sex education to be effective needs to include opportunities for young people to develop skills, as it can be hard for them to act on the basis of only having information. The skills like being able to communicate, listen, negotiate, ask for and identify sources of help and advice are useful life-skills and can be applied in terms of sexual relationships. It may help develop young people’s skills in negotiation, decision-making, assertion and listening. Other important skills include being able to recognize pressures from other people and to resist them, deal with and challenge prejudice, seek help from adults — including parents, peers and professionals — through the family, community and health and welfare services. It must assist to equip young people with the skills to be able to differentiate between accurate and inaccurate information, discuss a range of moral and social issues and perspectives on sex and sexuali...Competing Interests: None declared.