Sex Education and Youth Advocacy Through Circle with Sophie King-Hill

Show notes

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In this episode, Julia Davis spoke to Dr Sophie King-Hill (https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/social-policy/departments/health-services-management-centre/staff/profile.aspx?ReferenceId=170453) talked about:

• Beliefs around sexuality and youth lead to discrimination against teenage parents
• Young people are guarded because of the stigma around teenage pregnancy
• Work to set expectations (guidelines is too formal) to create a safe space where young people can ask questions without feeling stupid or having the fear of ridicule
• She meets parents ahead of group meetings to know their history and potentially upsetting issues
• Key is thinking that you're equal to them, that all voices are valid, and facilitator is here to learn and prepared to be wrong
• Setting is informal - no need to ask to go to the toilet, whether they can eat something, get up, have a headphone in
• 'A Student's Guide to What You Don't Know' booklet was produced by young people to give to teachers and educators
• Person teaching sex ed has to be comfortable with the topic
• Support critical thinking about what they find online and be able to discuss in a safe space without judgement
• Important to give space to think through contraception rather than making a last minute decision
• Smaller groups for Sex Ed would be ideal and in a circle format - teachers can be transparent about being nervous about trying a new format
• Ask anonymously what the young people want to know - same paper, pen for each person so no-one singled out
• Need to be ready to be responsive to what comes up
• If parents don't want their children receiving Sex Ed, gently share research with them showing how it helps kids to be safe in a highly sexualised environment

Sophie is an Associate Professor in the Health Services Management Centre at the University of Birmingham. She specialises in sexual behaviours and first point assessment in children and young people, sexual health, controversial issues and teenage parents. Sophie has an interest in policy implementation, transfer and success frameworks and evaluation strategies. Sophie was one of the leads for part of the National Rape Crisis England and Wales Sibling Sexual Abuse Project and has subsequently, with colleagues, written a book on sibling sexual behaviour and produced a mapping tool for professionals to use when assessing the support that children and their families need in this space. Sophie leads an ESRC project is seeking to understand what constitutes sexual behaviours – both online and offline – in young people aged 13-18 in the UK. Her research is grounded in listening to the voice of young people, participatory and co-design approaches, incels, masculinity for young men and boys and relationships, sex and health education. She previously taught relationships, sex and health education in schools, worked with teenage parents, youth offenders and was the national impact coordinator for a leading sexual health charity.

X: @DrSophieKH Instagram: @DrSophieKingHill

Recent publications King‐Hill (2021) Assessing Sexual Behaviours in Children and Young People: A Realistic Evaluation of the Brook Traffic Light Tool | Child Abuse Review

Powell and King-Hill (2021) Health Service Capacities, Responses and Practice | SpringerLink

Powell and King-Hill (2021) Intra-Crisis Policy Transfer: The Case of COVID-19 in the UK | Palgrave Macmillan

King-Hill, Greener & Powell (2021) Lesson Drawing for the UK government during the Covid-19 pandemic: a comparison of political, scientific and media lenses | Social Policy Review 33

Powell and King-Hill (2020) Intra-crisis learning and prospective policy transfer in the COVID-19 pandemic | International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy

UoB Blog: ‘We’re In This Together’ – Sexual harassment in schools: a boys’ voice

TES: Why sex education is flawed | TES: How has sex education evolved since the 1970s

TES: How to tackle rape culture in schools | TES: Relationships and sex education: How to teach children about divorce |The Guardian: Interview - why are people breaking lockdown rules

UoB Blog: Rape culture in schools | NOTA: Researching vulnerable populations in lockdown | UoB Blog: + History Month 2022: The Legacy of Section 28

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Music credit: Fabio Venuti