Told through the lens of Malawi customs, culture, and taboos, the authors describe the life experiences and mental health needs of Pilirani, a young Malawi Slay Queen, and her children. The article reveals the adversities she faced, her dreams for her children, how she and her children fared, and what helped them at various junctures in their…

Research on sexual practices among young South Africans has proliferated in light of the national imperatives to challenge the spread of HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence and unwanted early pregnancies. In this special issue of "Perspectives in Education" the authors builds on this research by examining how Life Orientation (LO) or Life…

This author's reading selection for his class provoked an unexpected response: when one of the main characters in the reading "came out of the closet," the students divided themselves into those who were willing to discuss the issues, and those who weren't.

This article examines the ways in which Sudanese Australian students from refugee backgrounds are often perceived in their high schools as transgressive, and how this transgression--perceived or real--may become for them a liberatory invitation for both students and teachers, and a means to a reconstruction of self, educational contexts, and…

This report summarizes data contributed to Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) during the 2012-2013 academic year, closing on June 30, 2013. Data was contributed by 132 college and university counseling centers describing more than 95,00 unique college students seeking mental health treatment, 3,000 clinicians, and over 500,000…

Despite media attention to teen sexual behavior and public concern about its consequences, the public is surprisingly ill-informed or misinformed on the subject. Yet without the facts, it is difficult to develop effective approaches to curb risky sexual behaviors and prevent teen pregnancy and STI transmission. This paper presents a true or false…

The problem of underage drinking on college campuses has been brewing for many years to the continued vexation of higher education administrators. In 2008, John McCardell, president emeritus of Middlebury College, began to circulate for signature a public statement among colleagues titled "The Amethyst Initiative," which calls for elected…

Sex segregation (the separation of boys and girls into same-sex groups in their friendships and casual encounters; [Thorne, B., & Luria, Z. (1986). Sexuality and gender in children's daily worlds. "Social Problems, 33", 176-190]), has typically been viewed as a childhood phenomenon. In the present paper, we review research that suggests the…

I use a randomized experiment to test whether information can change sexual behavior among teenagers in Kenya. Providing information on the relative risk of HIV infection by partner's age led to a 28% decrease in teen pregnancy, an objective proxy for the incidence of unprotected sex. Self-reported sexual behavior data suggests substitution away…

This essay attempts to examine the difficult question of sex scandals both in public school settings and in the academy. It raises issues over the way authority in the classroom is unequally exercised by both male and female teachers in terms of power and seduction. However, the Law remains explicit when it comes to judging who is at fault within…

Attitudes toward the sexuality of adults with intellectual disability were assessed in parents and carers of adults with intellectual disability and in a community sample. An instrument that contained items relating to eight aspects of sexuality (sexual feelings, sex education, masturbation, personal relationships, sexual intercourse,…

The authors focus on the special issues involved in providing counseling to aging gay men regarding sex and intimacy. Although the stresses of aging experienced by gay men are similar to those of heterosexual men, older gay men face issues of a stigmatized sexual orientation, invisibility, negative stereotypes, and discrimination regarding aging.

Over the past decade, considerable legal and policy discussion has emerged about sexual activity between young teens and older individuals. This discussion has been prompted by the growing awareness of the personal and societal costs of this activity. Sex between young teens and older individuals is linked with risky sexual behaviors that could…

Outlines techniques for integrating race, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, and other categories of socially defined identity into a survey course on women and violence in a student-centered participatory classroom. Early efforts indicate that an open and participatory classroom facilitates dealing with the stresses of this…

The National Survey of Family Growth is a periodic survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, and designed to produce national estimates of statistics on fertility, family planning, and aspects of maternal and child health that are closely related to childbearing. This report presents statistics based on data collected in the…