John Coleman

Challenging the Image: The involvement of young people with disabilities in volunteering and campaigning

Much of the debate about young people with disabilities focuses on the difficulties these young people experience and their needs in terms of service provision. Rarely is there a focus on the positive contribution that disabled young people themselves make to society. The paper describes research which aimed to highlight the contribution that young people with disabilities make to their communities, by focusing on their participation in volunteering and campaigning. A national survey of disabled young peoples participation was undertaken, as well as two case studies of particular projects. The paper describes the range of voluntary and campaigning activities being undertaken by young people with disabilities, highlights the effects of participation on the young people and those around them, and identifies issues for organisations wishing to enable more young people with disabilities to participate in this way.

Knowledge about Puberty and Sexual Development in 11‐16 Year‐olds: implications for health and sex education in schools

Summary Knowledge is an important but largely neglected variable in sex education research. This study aimed to develop a measure to assess young peoples knowledge about puberty and sexual development, and to examine knowledge in relation to age, gender and school. The main results of the study were that knowledge increased more between age 11/12 and 13/14 than between 13/14 and 15/16, girls knew more than boys at every age, and there were few differences in knowledge between the four schools involved in the study. The research has a number of implications for sex education in schools. First, it was found that even by age 15‐16 some young people lack information which is essential if they are to avoid unwanted pregnancy. Second, it may be that boys and girls need to be taught separately to enable the different needs of each gender to be addressed. Third, young people know more about some aspects of puberty and sexual development than others, and there are particular times when knowledge develops most rap...

Education and Advice About Illegal Drugs: What do young people want?

Research and debate concerning education about illegal drugs rarely explores what young people themselves want. The paper reports research which looked at this issue in a sample of 2100 young people aged 11–16. Issues explored included the drugs education and advice the sample had received, what they thought of this, and where and in what form they would like to receive information about illegal drugs. Results include a preference for drug education from someone with personal experience of illegal drugs, and for private sources (such as leaflets and books) as well as more public ways (such as videos and talks) of accessing information about drugs. A number of implications of the results for drug education and advice are presented.