In this podcast episode, Truls Olufsen-Mehus and Tone Lise Gustavsen delve into the complexities of sex education, with a particular focus on new approaches that need to be adopted in public schools. When theories developed by activist groups are allowed to define both practice and government action plans, fundamental questions arise about who actually sets the boundaries.
The conversation reveals how today's sex education often provides strong guidance, but little room for reflection, maturity and real choices. Many young people are left with confusion, shame and inner conflict – not because they lack information, but because they lack wholeness, coherence and safe guidance. Through concrete experiences from meetings with young people, the tension between cultural expectations, sexual practice and inner conscience is highlighted. What happens when everything becomes legal, but nothing becomes true? And what happens when choices are presented as neutral, but the consequences are kept quiet?
The episode also points to the need for a new foundation. Gustavsen shares the work of developing alternative foundational documents for new sexuality education – rooted in biblical anthropology, biological reality, empirical research and psychological insight. The goal is not to moralize, but to give young people better conditions for understanding themselves, their choices and their value. Because only when contrasts are made visible, and different paths are actually opened, can young people make real choices.
Watch the full episode here:
