Brazilian teenagers’ perspective of sexual education programs in schools: A qualitative participatory study

Evidence points to the worsening of sexual health problems in adolescents due to the lack of sexual education in the family and at school. Sexual education programs with an approach to empowerment, emphasizing gender, rights and their active participation are more effective. This study aims to understand what a school program on sexuality education should be like from the perspective of Brazilian high school adolescents. Qualitative participatory research was operationalized through a Freirean Thematic Investigation, conducted in a public school within a low-income community in the Northeastern region of Brazil. Forty-two high school adolescents, aged between 15 and 18 years, participated throughout the year 2022. The data collected through participant observation and focus groups were analyzed using the Method of Interpreting Meanings. The consequences caused by the scarcity of sexuality education, the lack of dialogue, and the fragility of intergenerational relationships are highlighted. It is reflected that sexuality education is a possible path to transforming reality if initiated in the family environment and continuously extended to the school, with the active participation of adolescents, covering a broad range of contextualized, practical, stimulating topics with gradual complexity, promoted in a relaxed setting, and small groups. A proposal for Critical and Emancipatory Sexuality Education was outlined as an educational action developed by integrating Freirean references, Comprehensive Sexuality Education, and the collective construction of adolescents. A dialogical process of awareness is proposed, to experience safe sexuality in the defense and guarantee of citizenship with a commitment to changing reality towards humanization.