Yellowknife (Sep 03/04) - Anyone who's been through sex ed in school probably remembers giggling, feeling uncomfortable, and the health teachers who you couldn't imagine ever "doing it."

But sexual health is serious business, and the GNWT Department of Education, Culture and Employment, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Services, is now poised to release an updated version of its sex ed program.

Elaine Stewart, Early Childhood and School Services Co-ordinator with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. According to the government's updated program, sexual health is about much more than condom use. - Alex Glancy/NNSL photo

The move was motivated by rising territorial rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections, or STIs, according to communicable disease specialist Wanda White.

The NWT now has the highest per capita incidence of gonorrhea in the country, totalling 209 cases last year. It has the second highest rate of chlamydia with 568 cases in 2003, trailing only Nunavut.

Syphilis, herpes, and human papilloma virus -- which can lead to cervical cancer -- are also "huge" problems in the North, according to White.

Sexual health is taught from Grade 5 onward, said Elaine Stewart, co-ordinator for early childhood and school services at the department of Education, Culture and Employment, but sexuality can enter the curriculum as early as Grade 3.

She said instruction in sexual health varies with community, cultural and religious tolerances.

Teaches values, prevention

The crux of sexual health instruction, said White, lies not only in infection prevention, but in values.

"If young people value themselves, they'll be able to make better decisions," said White. "Safe sex is not about wearing a condom. Safe sex is how feel about yourself."

White added that many factors influence sexual behaviour and have to be addressed by health programs. Substance abuse, power relations, broken homes, social norms and economic issues all have an effect.

In consultations with elders, White said one major concern was with age inequalities -- an issue that she says plays to many of the factors that influence behaviour.

"They were talking about men in their twenties engaging in sexual activity with girls as young as 13 or 14."

According to White, the age of sexual initiation is lower in the NWT than national averages.

"We have to be willing to take our heads out of the sand," said Stewart, adding that an "alarming" number of sexual experiences among young people are forced, according to surveys.

New messages

White admits that people grow tired of hearing safe sex messages, calling the phenomenon "condom fatigue," part of the reasoning behind updating school programs.

The current material for schools is called Skills for Healthy Relationships. It originated in the south in 1996, but was "Northernized" by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, said Stewart.

In its updated form, the program will reflect information collected by the department of health since the mid-'90s, said White.

The old program focused on HIV/AIDS, but the scope of the program will be broadened to focus on STIs like gonorrhea and chlamydia.

"The focus on HIV is still there," said White, "but we're working to make the program more comprehensive."

"We're expanding it to focus on other infections, too," added Stewart.

She said the updated manuals and teachers guides will be available on-line, although hard copies will be made available to schools that need them. ECE also currently uses two educational videos, including one for parents and community members titled Your Turn to Do the Talking.

White and Stewart said their departments are looking to other options for the Web site, including a forum for questions.

Students work together

The updated program will also feature a peer-leader component, where teacher-designated students will work with their classmates on sexuality issues and consult with their teachers.

"I think that today's young teachers are more prepared to address these (sexual health) problems than their colleagues who graduated a few decades ago," said Stewart.

"These materials put a challenge to the kids to discern for themselves what they want from their lives."

Stewart said the updated material could be on-line sometime this fall.

The program is not mandatory curriculum for schools, said Stewart, but meets "outcomes" that must be achieved -- no matter what program a school uses -- by the time a student finishes Grade 9.