School children aged 6-16 are learning this week about consent as part of a sex education focus in week 6 approved by Sex & Society.
But their high school counterparts, students generally aged 16-20, feel the need to confirm consent before two people become confidential, which was made part of Danish law in January 2021, being overlooked in high schools.
Many of them therefore strike at noon to draw attention to the problem.
Livestreamed teaching arranged by students
Sex education also has a place in high schools, they claim. In addition to consent, they demand more education about gender, sexuality and boundaries.
Student association group Danish High School Students’ Association (DGS) has joined Sex & Samfund livestreams two hours of sex education from Christianshavns Gymnasium between 12:15 and 14:15.
At least nine other gyms will join the strike and watch the broadcast.
The authorities approved it in 1970, but it came to nothing
“We want to shout that there is a lack of sex education,” DGS chairman Alma Tynell explained to DR.
“We see a great need as many young people find it difficult to decode each other’s boundaries and understand what consent is.”
According to Professor Christian Graugaard from Aalborg University, sex education for high schools was recommended in 1970, “but it never came to anything”.
The Minister of Education approves and offers funding
Education Minister Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil has already stated that she supports sex education for the age group, but not as an official topic.
Instead, there is a pool of 2 million kroner a year, which the youth education bodies can seek to fund initiatives such as special theme days.
“It’s weird when most people lose their virginity while they’re in the gym,” Tynell concludes.
The average age for losing one’s virginity in Denmark is 16 or 17 years.
Source: The Nordic Page