Conclusion: Addressing the Gap between SRE and Young People’s Lives

Abstract

This book has described how teens engage with SRE provision through exploring SRE messages in a Youth Work-led programme, and how these relate to the social and contextual conditions of young people’s lives. Of interest has been how class practices and gendered heterosexuality shape adolescent’s experiences of sex and intimacy, values, expectations and orientations, and the consequences of these for informing successful SRE provision. Drawing on empirical data from interviews with young people and SRE educators, I have argued that SRE inadequately represents particular teens’ lives and circumstances. A contradiction exists between the assumptions, values and normative practices in SRE provision and policies, and the values and motivations which inform adolescent behaviour across key areas of their lives.