Quality school-based sexuality education is important for all children and adolescents. The global trend towards students' earlier, longer, and technologically connected pubertal experience makes the timely provision of such education particularly significant. Quality international sexuality education documents are available for teachers…

All children need timely puberty and sexuality education. The task falls to schools because they have the learning and teaching processes, competency programmes, opportunities, and resources for age-appropriate cognitive, knowledge, and skills development in children and adolescents. Quality sexuality education guidance documents have been…

Sociological contexts are key factors in education and schooling. Contemporary contexts of world-view, or "Weltanschauungen," such as human rights, public health, demographics, biosocial factors including earlier puberty and a developmentalist approach, and technological connectivity, warrant significant professional consideration by…

This paper analyses some contemporary educational contexts that teachers should consider for their puberty education programmes and/or curricula, for primary and secondary school students. The educational contexts addressed here include significant international puberty education framework documents, socio-biological factors including earlier…

The processes of puberty, including reproductive fertility and social-role transitions, now begin earlier, last longer, and are experienced in very different contexts. Because of this, all children and adolescents need good-quality puberty education in school curricula, and this need is supported by positive cost-benefit analysis and international…

The processes of puberty are now commonly observed in primary school-aged students. Schools, therefore, need to address puberty and sexuality education for students' health, well-being, safety and pastoral care. Similarly, preservice teacher education needs to address future primary school teachers' unfamiliarity and lack of confidence with these…

Many primary school teachers avoid teaching sexuality education. In light of the earlier maturing of both boys and girls, and the educationally and personally significant effects of their experience of puberty, this is unfair to children. In response to this avoidance, however, some schools employ external providers of sexuality education, who…

Background: Children and young adolescents are reaching puberty earlier. Providing information about such changes before puberty can help them develop in a more competent and informed manner. Context and Objective: UNESCO's "International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education" forms a comprehensive, evidence-based, authoritative…

Primary school teachers are often tasked with puberty/sexuality education for students who are undergoing sexual maturation at ever-earlier ages. This study explores the changing trajectories of the pre-service learning and teaching of primary school puberty/sexuality education at an urban university, including student-teachers' childhood…

Preparing children and adolescents for sexual safety and reproductive responsibility lies at the heart and purpose of puberty/sexuality education. The document of International Technical Guidance released by UNESCO in December 2009 aims to provide an evidence-based and rights-based platform offering children and adolescents vital knowledge about…

Background: Teenagers need information about their changing bodies. Many young people do not receive adequate or accurate puberty/sexuality education from their parents or school, so many teenagers are going online to have their sexuality questions answered. Purpose: This research examines teenagers' web questions on sexuality, and an example of…

This paper evaluates UNESCO's recommended sexuality educational framework for junior school students aged 5-8 years. It also compares it to an existing state-designed Health and Physical Education curriculum that includes sexual and reproductive health for the same cohort. Based on the universal values of respect and human rights, UNESCO's"…

Globally, adolescents aged 12-15 years are making sexual and reproductive decisions of profound significance for their future, often based on misguided, inadequate or dangerously wrong information. Very few countries provide evidential and comprehensive education about puberty, sexuality, and reproductive health and safety to children and young…

Human Relationships Education is a very important part of primary school student-teacher education. All primary school children need sound guidance and enhanced knowledge about puberty, growing up successfully, and feeling competent and confident in themselves. An interactive multimedia CD-ROM was designed and developed for some Australian…