Stories: Children, Community, Future

Sex education may not be a subject many students would choose as their favourite, but it is one of the most important. Our brains and bodies change massively during adolescence. While the physical and emotional changes affect all young people differently, it’s a transition that every person goes through. They need the right tools, information and support to make informed decisions and develop and maintain healthy lifestyles and relationships.

In Tan Lac district, Hoa Binh province, secondary school students from grade 6 to 9 are learning how to manage their emotions and talk openly about sexual reproductive health with the help of dedicated teachers like Ms. Lua and Ms. Sam.

Lua teaching her students on reproductive health

Dan, 14, had doubts when she first heard about the project “Health and wellbeing for students”. Her initial thought was “The training will give me nothing, just more work”. However, after Ms. Lua, her teacher, explained the roles, responsibilities and benefits of participation, Dan and her friends Nhu and Bich (both 14) decided to join the core group of students participating in the project. Since then, Dan says that she and her friends have learnt a lot about themselves and how to protect their rights (topics included negotiation and refusal skills and how to ask for help). “The lectures the teachers gave helped us learn a lot about psychological changes during puberty to help us know how to take care of ourselves and keep ourselves safe. I learnt more about my period and can now maintain better menstrual hygiene,” says Dan. “My friends and I also understand more clearly the harm and consequences of having sex at a young age without safety measures. We can determine our values, manage our emotions and cope with stress and anxiety”.

Dan (centre) leading a discussion about physiological and psychological changes during puberty.

Her friend, Bich, is prone to experiencing a lot of anger, which affects her friendships. Since participating in the project, Bich has been more in touch with her emotions. She has learnt to recognise when she is frustrated and practice talking to others, using breathing exercises or singing her favourite song to feel better.

Throughout the training, game-based activities and an emphasis on creating a safe and non-judgmental space to share experiences and feelings were vital to getting students to open up and learn more effectively. Dan says she and her friends have become closer and plan on sharing their newfound knowledge and skills with classmates. “My friends and I feel lucky and happy to have participated in the training sessions and learn so many interesting things. What I have learnt can help more students understand themselves and their friends.”

As a Year 9 teacher, Ms. Sam has seen first-hand the impact unsafe sexual behaviours can have on students. She says the trend towards young people having sex at an early age is a growing concern for teachers in the region, with more and more students dropping out of school due to early and unintended pregnancies. In some cases, young girls are seeking to terminate their pregnancy in unlicensed abortion clinics, potentially putting their lives at risk. Both scenarios can have a considerable impact not only on girls’ physical and mental health but also on their future wellbeing.

However, before participating in the project, teachers like Ms. Sam had difficulties in engaging students during sessions on reproductive health. Ms. Sam shared: “I had previously organised a few extracurricular sessions with students on reproductive health knowledge such as menstruation, signs of pregnancy, some sexually transmitted diseases, and contraceptive methods, but they weren’t that effective”, she says. “I would talk to students about preventing pregnancy using condoms or emergency contraceptive pills, but I did not share about the dosage of contraceptives. Since I’ve never used the pills before, I hadn’t researched their effects, and it wasn’t in the curriculum.”

Last year, she participated in a ChildFund-supported training for secondary school teachers on sexual reproductive health knowledge and how to deliver it effectively to students. The combination of new, comprehensive knowledge and interactive teaching materials such as short videos and educational games has been particularly effective in not only capturing students’ attention, but also in strengthening communication and trust between Ms. Sam and her students.

Son, 14, a student of Ms. Sam, spoke highly about the new teaching style and lessons: “Ms. Sam uses many different methods to teach, but in lessons on reproductive health, she uses videos and images to explain to us, which makes us more comfortable and feel less embarrassed than if she just asked us to answer directly.”

Students learning about reproductive health

Ms. Sam says she is eager to build upon what she has learnt from the training program to help her students navigate this tricky period safely: “I will continue to research and apply knowledge of other topics to lessons and classroom activities. I will also include more group discussions to increase student involvement.”