Sex education of adolescents in Greece

The aim of the study was to explore the attitudes and views of Greek parents concerning the provisionof sex education to adolescents, as well as the opinion and the involvement of school health promotersin sex education. A questionnaire containing 20 items was constructed andadministered to 93 parents of adolescents whoparticipated in parents’ associations. Another 10-item questionnaire was constructed, and telephone-administered to the coordinators of allthe Health Promotion Divisions of the Greek Educational system.
Although the majority of parents (91%) reported that they discuss issues concerning sex education with their children,only 47% state that it is ‘moderately’ easy for them. The majority (70%) believe that sexeducation should start before adolescence, but 80% believe that school is not adequate toprovide it. Regarding the coordinators, most of them (83%) have implemented school-basedsex education programmes and one in three believes that parents are slightly sensitised to theissue but 51% believe that adolescents are extremely sensitised to sex education.
In conclusion, this study shows a discrepancy between parents’ and coordinators’ views, and one can assume that this hinders their cooperation on adolescents’ sex education.