In common with their counterparts worldwide, young people in the Asia-Pacific region are living in increasingly sexualized societies, and are developing sexually earlier, becoming curious about and exploring their sexuality at younger ages, and living the social and health consequences arising out of these changing sexual behavior patterns. Contemporary youth sexuality presents a major challenge to well-established social norms, and poses serious social and public health concerns such as unwanted pregnancy, abortion, sexually transmitted infections, sexual offenses, and compensated dating. It poses an urgent challenge to education systems, which nowadays are often criticized for failing to provide adequate sex education for youth.
This symposium will address the needs and capacities for (and obstacles to) sex education (and related research) in the Asia-Pacific region. It will address the various ways in which sex education (policy and practice) across the region have failed youth and caused them harm. We will also examine ways of providing more effectively for youth sex education in the future. We believe the symposium will interest teachers, education advisors and administrators, social workers, NGO workers, health professions, parents and the general public.
Media representatives are cordially invited to the symposium, the details are as follows:
Date: June 26, 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 9:30am - 1:30pm
Venue: Room 223, Knowles Building, HKU
For media enquiries, please contact Ms Queenie Wong, Development and Communications Manager, Faculty of Education, HKU (Tel: 2219 4270 / Mobile: 9220 5840 / Fax: 2540 6360 / E-mail: qlpwong@hku.hk )
