Attention sensitive subject! “Tackling issues of sex education is to risk coming up against the embarrassment of students, the incomprehension of families, the dissatisfaction of local elected officials… This is why we are tempted to pass quickly on the subject, even to ignore it”, confides a teacher questioned on the reasons for which the law of July 2001 is not always respected. He is in unison with many of his colleagues. This text provides for the establishment of three annual sex education sessions in primary and secondary schools. But, according to a report by the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research, only 15% of schoolchildren and high school students and less than 20% of college students benefit from it.
Faced with this observation, three associations – Family Planning, SOS Homophobia and Sidaction – seized the administrative court on March 2 to “make known the responsibility of the State in the failure to implement” the law. In a press release, the collective called “Cas d’école” highlights “cries needs”, based on statistical data based on various studies: one in five women aged 18 to 24 say they have suffered rape or sexual assault; one in three young people say they are poorly informed about HIV; while testimonies of LGBT students claiming to be victims of discrimination are on the increase.
The Minister of National Education Pap Ndiaye, who does not fail to regularly affirm his commitment to the realization of these sexuality education sessions, had published a new circular in September 2022 to “strengthen” them. “Insufficient!” retort the complaining associations. “Faced with growing public health issues, politicians can hardly ignore these questions, explains Claude Lelièvre, education historian. questions of transidentity, homophobia or pedophilia. In short, they are on a particularly delicate crest line.
And the specialist recalls the very recent nature of the introduction of this subject at school: “It was only at the beginning of the 1970s, shortly after May 68, that the institution will take hold of it”. By clearly distinguishing between information, through biology lessons, and education. “On this last point, at this time, teachers must stick to voluntary questions from adult high school students or families,” says Claude Lelièvre. The law of July 4, 2001, will introduce the famous three mandatory annual sessions. The implementing decree will not appear until February 17, 2003.
Twenty years later, what are the sticking points? Lack of resources, training and organization are regularly highlighted. Themes revolving around sexuality education can be dealt with by teachers of life and earth sciences as well as by teachers of other disciplines, school nurses and doctors or even specialized associations. “SVT teachers, on the whole, do not encounter any particular problems, no doubt because they have a scientific approach and they rely on specific programs”, explains David Boudeau, president of the association. biology and geology teachers.
Fight against fake news
Faced with the growing weight of social networks, which carry their share of fake news, teachers have the difficult task of dismantling received ideas: the pill protects against HIV, a young girl is not at risk of becoming pregnant after a first sexual intercourse. , menstruation is a disease… “Each year, I have the right to new affirmations of this kind which I would sometimes never have thought of”, continues David Boudeau. “On the other hand, I think that teachers of other subjects do not run after these sessions”, euphemistically Carole Zerbib, member of the national executive of SNPDEN-Unsa, union of school heads. The fact that they do not have a specific dedicated time would force them to encroach on already busy schedules. “The solution, in my opinion, would be to make the link with the courses, continues the principal. The history teacher could address the question of abortion when he talks about Simone Veil. Or the subject of consent could be studied in the detours of a chapter of philosophy”.
Lack of time is not the only pitfall facing teachers. Many fear the sneers, the provocations, even the demonstrations of hostility from certain pupils and even, sometimes, from their parents. “Addressing this subject is risking opening a kind of Pandora’s box and exposing yourself to a situation that will be difficult to manage”, recognizes sociologist François Dubet. Teachers are also concerned about encroaching on an area long reserved for families. “Some consider that it is not up to school to put their nose in it. If their child amplifies or distorts certain remarks made during lessons, this can create an explosive situation”, continues this education specialist. . The risk of being dumped on social networks is also enough to scare more than one. “Today, we know very well that our words can be filmed, edited and distorted. This is why I remain very vigilant when I embark on the subject”, explains a teacher from the Paris region.
It also happens that teachers come up against hostility, often “passive”, from their students, linked in particular to religious reasons. “I have feedback from colleagues explaining to me that some students skip the course devoted to reproduction, in the 4th grade SVT program. Sometimes with the complicity of parents”, explains François De Sauza, co-founder of the Vigilance colleges network high schools which fights against attacks on secularism and educational freedom. This professor of history and geography, who teaches in a college “relating to city policy”, has involved the association SOS Homophobia twice. “The first time, I informed the students beforehand. As a result, a handful of them did not come. The next time, I took good care not to warn them. All were present but some locked themselves in in a hostile attitude, head down and arms crossed,” he said.
The importance of referring to the law
Like him, some teachers come up against the opposition of some students who claim the right to “modesty” and “respect”. “Their relationship to the body is sometimes complicated”, recognizes Anne * who teaches French in a college classified REP in the academy of Rennes. During a course on creation, given to his 6th graders, he happened to work on a Renaissance painting representing Adam and Eve. “The fact that they are naked sometimes causes a lot of excitement,” she wonders. “Recently, I showed a video of a performance of Phèdre to a 4th grade class. When the actress slightly lowered her top to the birth of her chest, the students pretended to hide their eyes, watching that their comrades were doing the same”, continues the young woman who often admits “walking on eggshells”.
François De Sauza sees it as a paradox of our time: “On the one hand, young people now have access to erotic or even pornographic content in just a few clicks. And on the other, some show growing prudishness. Sometimes, this are the same ones who use a very raw vocabulary and who, at the same time, have a censor’s approach when they see a bare breast or a bare shoulder.” However, there is no question of evading certain subjects, in particular those related to equality between girls and boys or the prevention of homophobia. “We sometimes feel a certain mistrust towards us at the idea that we can impose a moral vision or a personal opinion on them. The fact of relating to the law, of explaining that the acceptance of the other is framed legally makes it possible to dispassionate the discourse”, continues Anne.
Some of his colleagues deploy other strategies such as separating boys and girls to address these themes. “Experiments, carried out a few years ago, have shown the effectiveness of this method. This is also what is done in other countries such as Finland, Belgium, Denmark or Germany”, relates Jean-Louis Auduc, ex-director of the IUFM of Créteil. “Young women who speak out on topics related to sexuality are very quickly labeled as ‘easy girls’. I know very well that, if I don’t see them apart, they will never say anything”, confides Valentine*, prevention, health and environment teacher in a vocational high school in Seine-Saint-Denis.
“Getting out of class and going to dedicated places such as, for example, teenagers’ homes, also frees up speech,” continues David Boudeau. Another solution advocated by many establishments in recent years: bringing in specialized associations experienced in dialogue with adolescents. Provided, of course, that they are approved by the National Education and that they are subject to strict and regular controls to avoid any risk of proselytism or militancy. “These have the advantage of benefiting from a certain distance vis-à-vis the students, unlike the teachers who meet them almost every day”, recognizes Carole Zerbib, who however pleads for the establishment of joint sessions. involving association volunteers and staff from the establishment, such as librarians, nurses or teachers. This deputy principal of the Voltaire high school, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, admits that she does not have the necessary means to keep up with the rhythm of the three annual sessions. “It’s a shame because I remain convinced of the importance of addressing these issues, and in particular those related to gender equality,” she sighs.
* The first name has been changed