To better prepare yourself to answer any questions a learner might ask, it's important you understand the material you will be teaching. You can go online, to your local library, or bookstore to find information about sex, sexual health, and sexuality. There are also many organizations that provide courses and materials to help educators teach sex education.


Sex education is more than just teaching about sexual behaviours.This means you should also educate yourself on issues such as abstinence, body image, gender, sexuality, sexual development, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual health, and sexual pleasure.
Use established, evaluated sex education sources and curriculums to aid in your research. There are many myths and misconceptions that surround sex education and sex in general. Knowing what the truth is and having accurate information about sex education can help you teach better and prevent you from relaying inaccurate or negative information to your learners.
Educating yourself about sex can help increase your comfort level with talking about sex or certain topics related to it to others.
 Age is an important factor that will shape how you educate sex to your learners. Some parents, guardians, and educators will be uncomfortable with sex being taught to children as young as kindergarten. But using age-appropriate information to teach sex education can help ease worries and discomforts about teaching such a sensitive topic like sex.Different issues or topics will be taught depending on a learner's age. Established curriculums will have versions that are tailored to the age of the learner.
Knowing the stage of sexual development of your learners will aid you in answering questions and help you provide age-appropriate information and resources for your learners. This way, you can avoid situations where you overstep boundaries or teach beyond what is appropriate to your learners.
 Defining your goals or what you would like your learners to achieve after you teach is a helpful way to organize and teach your lessons. In general, most sex educators strive for these goals:


To reduce negative outcomes from sexual behaviours such as unwanted or unplanned pregnancies and infection from sexually transmitted diseases.To provide appropriate knowledge and skills for learners to make healthy decisions about their sex life and future.
To build self-confidence in learners.
To help learners develop positive relationships and experiences with their sexuality.
To provide medically accurate information about concepts like abstinence, contraception, and other health concerns.
To respect community, social, and individual values and beliefs regarding sex., If you are a teacher or someone who works for the community or a sexual health organization, you will most likely be teaching in a classroom setting. Whether you're a teacher, parent, guardian, or a friend, it's important you set up a safe environment to talk about sex. A safe environment:


Allows learners to feel positive and confident as they learn and ask questions.
Is free of negative judgements.
Discourages censorship and instead, promotes an open and honest environment.
Can be in a classroom, at a community centre, or at home.
 Gender, sex, and sexuality are different concepts that are often confused together. By differentiating them, you can help ease a learner's confusion about their identity, especially for those who are struggling with "non-normative" identities. These identities include people who may have gender identity issues like trans youth or those who may be questioning their sexuality.


Reach out to the community to obtain a better understanding of these complex issues. There are many organizations within the LGBTQ+ community that can provide you with materials, resources, and even curriculums for you to follow.
Advocate for safer policies regarding issues like homophobia or transphobia. Trans and LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to be harassed and abused verbally, physically and sexually.By educating or approaching the community with these issues, you help save lives of LGTBQ+ individuals and foster a more accepting environment.
Partner with professionals that specialize in certain topics to ensure your curriculum covers everything accurately and effectively. For example, you may ask invite a member of the LGBTQ+ community to lead a lesson and talk about their experiences and share their knowledge about sexual health and well-being to your learners.
Make sure your curriculum is age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, and respects the beliefs and values of differing groups. This may be difficult to do but it's not impossible. By getting feedback from other educators, professionals, and parents or guardians of learners, you can help ensure your curriculum is appropriate.
 This can be very beneficial if you find the topic of sex education uncomfortable to discuss. Try talking casually and openly to a peer or a close friend about sexual health. Or practice teaching your lesson to someone you're close with. This exercise can help you with become comfortable talking about sex and also provide you with feedback on how effective your teaching is.Practicing can help you avoid mistakes like being overly critical of someone else's opinion about sex, laughing in times of discomfort or embarrassment, and avoid lecturing or talking down to people when you're teaching.
 While teaching young learners, it's extremely important you keep parents and guardians involved in the process of sex education. Send parents and guardians a letter detailing the sexual health program you will be teaching to their children. This way, learners can choose to either opt out of the lesson or provide you with comments before you start teaching.


Many sexual health organizations and curriculums can provide educators with a sample letter to use to send to parents and guardians.
You can send simple outlines of each lesson or a detailed summary of the whole program.
If you are teaching adult learners, it is also important to let them know what you plan to teach. Some learners may have differing beliefs and values and may choose to opt out of certain lessons or from the entire program you'll be teaching.
Educate yourself on sex and sexual health.
Understand who you are educating to.
Determine what your goals are when teaching sex education.
Provide a safe environment when talking about sex.
Prepare to tackle complex issues like gender and sexuality.
Practice talking about sexual health.
Contact your learners' parents or guardians with information about the content you'll be teaching.
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