We are living in a sexual world

Sandra L. Caron is the author of a captivating statistical phenomenon, Sex around the world...
(For author and book information, see previous post)

So I talked about the majority of the countries in general in the last post. Now, I want to focus on our home and native land, and the land closest to that in values, culture, and lifestyle... one may argue. Canada and the United States.


In Canada, the age of consent for engaging in sex is 14 years old, or 18 years for "gay male sex" (14-vaginal intercourse, 18-anal intercourse).
Caron (2007) estimates that 50% of teens are sexually active by grade 11.

In Ontario specifically, the locations that have access to contraception facilities have lower teen pregnancy rates. (Re: my thesis that talks about harm reduction. You don't want kids to have sex? They will. Reduce the babies and the STIs by throwing condoms and pills at them! Trust...)

In Canada, in most provinces, the law permits each regional school board to set its own guidelines. (This is similar to the States. Each one has a vastly different sex ed curriculum than the next. Interesting... it's culturally and value-based, me thinks)

A youth and AIDS study found that most teens do not use condoms. From this musing, a plan was fashioned to install vending machines and improve sex ed programs (Mad props).

So Canada is pretty progressive. Way to go Canada! And Happy Birthday, yesterday :)

Interesting...
Human rights laws provide protection based on sexual orientation in all provinces ***except Alberta, Newfoundland, And Prince Edward Island***
Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Really? That's news to me! What happened Newfies? I thought we were bros.

This is interesting to me. I found a website (I will hunt down the link another day...) that listed the difference in sex ed curricula based on province. Very cool to see that Canada is different, depending on province... much like the States. It's weird though. I would have that Canada to have a more united front...
No pun intended on the fact that the States aren't really 'united' in their sex ed perspectives. HIYO!

Did you know?
In 2003, British Columbia and Ontario legalized gay marriage, and in 2005, the rest of Canada followed suit.
*** Canada was the fourth country to legalize gay marriage *** Again, PROPS CANADA!!!

In the US, only 19 states require schools to provide sex education. Thirty-six states provide abstinence-only. Hmmmm.
I think this is very interesting. USA has how many states? A million? Haha, I kid. But still! I find it very interesting that if you drive a couple of hours, you will find a completely different set of values. I guess it's the same as in Canada. This book has really made me think about that. If we are all sexual beings, how come we are taught about it so differently? I guess technically you could ask the same question about math... I teach long division differently than some teachers...

It's an interesting world out there, but again, I must reiterate: Sexuality is an important concept and N/A or "No information found" does not cut it. Let's talk about sex! In some way or another... let's talk about sex.

PS. http://www.sieccan.org/
http://www.sexualityandu.ca/home_e.aspx <-- LOVE!

Food for thought? Next post maybe?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/11/12/sex-education-new-brunswick041112.html

It's a sexual world out there!

Sandra L. Caron is a professor of Family Relations and Human Sexuality at the University of Maine.
Her main focus on human sexuality is that of social-sexual development of young people, with an emphasis on sexual decision-making, safe sex, sex education, and cross-cultural perspectives.

I feel like I'm looking in a mirror!

Her book Sex around the World: Cross-cultural perspectives on Human Sexuality was just staring at me in the library, so I HAD to pick it up! Very interesting.

Caron (2007) lays out her book statistically, listing countries and their views of Sexual Activity, Contraception, Abortion, Sex Education, STIs and HIV, Sexual Orientation, Prostitution, and Pornography.

I took a specific interest in Canada's statistics, but I am going to share with you some interesting facts from around the world. Canada will be a separate blog post (soooo much to say).

Interestingly so...

In Greece, there is no sex education in schools. According to Caron's (2007) findings, ***Greece is one of the few countries in Europe to have yet to adopt a liberal embrace of sex ed***

In Denmark, sex ed has been compulsory since 1970. Sex ed has been a long standing tradition. ALSO, Denmark was the first country to allow contraceptive availability to youth without parental consent. This began in 1966.

Like Denmark, in Poland, sex ed has been compulsory since 1972, but there is still a strong church influence.

Intriguingly, in Finland, when an adolescent turns 16, they are sent a package with information about STI/HIV, general sexuality, and condoms. Cool? Yes! Sex ed is also very prominent in Finland.

Who takes the cake?
In Sweden, sex ed has been compulsory since 1955!!!!! Also, when an adolescent decides to go on the pill, the first three months are free. WHAAAAT? Like subscribing to a cable company! YAY Sweden. I'm moving there tomorrow...

Along with Denmark, Poland, Finland, and Sweden among others, the Netherlands too has a very positive sex education curriculum with an abundance of contraceptive availability. Using contraceptive is just normal and seems to be done by most. :)

Weird...
In Romania, sex education was removed from the school system in the 1980s. I wonder why...

Honestly, this book is delicious. Sandra L. Caron has written other books that centre around cross-cultural patterns in sexuality. It is really neat to see that even though we live in a big, crazy, different world... there are loads of similarities when it comes to sex ed. AS THERE SHOULD BE. We are all the same anatomically... and that's just the beginning.

Canada and the US to follow. There are some JUICY stats there my friends. Some I didn't even know!