11.01.09
By now, we should all be familiar with Toyota’s woes. No sooner did the automaker finally ascend to the No. 1 global spot, displacing General Motors, than it began to hit speedbumps and potholes. There were historic financial losses, lawsuits, and embarrassing, tragic recalls. At one point, it was widely believed that Toyota could do no wrong. All of a sudden, it could do no right.
So last week’s Tokyo Motor Show, by all rights, should have set up as an opportunity for Toyota to redeem itself in its own backyard. Along with Honda and Nissan, Japan’s two other big carmakers, Toyota had the place to itself — the grim story of the Tokyo show, traditionally a forum for exotic roll-outs of concept cars, was that few international automakers would be spending the money to make the trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.
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10.31.09
If sex education is going to be effective it needs to include opportunities for young people to develop skills, as it can be hard for them to act on the basis of only having information.6 7 8
The skills young people develop as part of sex education are linked to more general life-skills. Being able to communicate, listen, negotiate with others, ask for and identify sources of help and advice, are useful life-skills which can be applied to sexual relationships. Effective sex education develops young people’s skills in negotiation, decision-making, assertion and listening. Other important skills include being able to recognise pressures from other people and to resist them, dealing with and challenging prejudice and being able to seek help from adults – including parents, carers and professionals – through the family, community and health and welfare services.
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10.31.09
Sex education aims to reduce the risks of potentially negative outcomes from sexual behaviour, such as unwanted or unplanned pregnancies and infection with sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. It also aims to contribute to young people’s positive experience of their sexuality by enhancing the quality of their relationships and their ability to make informed decisions over their lifetime. Sex education that works, by which we mean that it is effective, is sex education that contributes to both these aims thus helping young people to be safe and enjoy their sexuality.
10.31.09
Sex education, which is sometimes called sexuality education or sex and relationships education, is the process of acquiring information and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, relationships and intimacy. Sex education is also about developing young people’s skills so that they make informed choices about their behaviour, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices. It is widely accepted that young people have a right to sex education. This is because it is a means by which they are helped to protect themselves against abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and AIDS. It is also argued that providing sex education helps to meet young people’s rights to information about matters that affect them, their right to have their needs met and to help them enjoy their sexuality and the relationships that they form.