Home-based sex education: The case of family intergenerational relations in PolandOstrouch-Kami´nska, Joanna;

Abstract

In school practice, sex education is often a field of stereotypes. Also, very little is known about the quality and content of home-based sex education. Therefore, the objective of this research was the analysis of gender socialization experiences of young men and women in their families of origin. The quantitative and qualitative analyses of very detailed questionnaires were made in the context of the «null curriculum» theory proposed by Eisner (1979). The research showed that, in families, of every fifth man and every sixth woman, sexuality and sex activity were taboo topics. Parents tended to educate – mostly according to gender stereotypes – girls rather than boys, who gained their knowledge about sex either from peers or erotic media.