Teaching Comprehensive Sexuality Education In The Early Grades: A Case Study Of Grad 1 South African Parents

Child sexual abuse escalates exponentially, and parents and schools are essential in protecting their children. The Bill of Rights in South Africa and the Children's Act stipulate that every child is protected from harm or hurt. Public schools in South Africa took the initiative to introduce comprehensive sexuality education into their Life-Skills curriculum. This qualitative study used an interpretivist paradigm to explore Grade 1 parents' views on teaching comprehensive sexuality education. The study was conducted in three Gauteng schools with five parents with a child in Grade 1. The author used a semi-structured open-ended interview schedule to collect individual face-to-face data from each parent. Data were analysed using Creswell's six steps of data analysis. The findings revealed that parents did not understand the difference between sexuality and comprehensive sexuality education. They believed their young children would learn explicit content and reproduction in Grade 1. Many peoples were against the teaching of comprehensive sex education due to their misunderstanding. However, once parents understood the difference and the significance of protecting their children against sexual abuse, they acknowledged and agreed that comprehensive sexuality education is a curriculum-based approach to sexuality education. The content is grade and age-appropriate. The study recommended that parents be capacitated on the difference between sexuality and comprehensive sexuality education. Furthermore, parents as partners in education must be consulted and engaged when new skills programs are implemented.