Evaluation of the effects of
the Birmingham Speakeasy
course.
Research commissioned by Birmingham
Family Learning Service
Josephine Ramm and Dr. Lester Coleman
March 2008
Trust for the Study of Adolescence
23 New Road
Brighton
East Sussex
BN1 1WZ
UK
www.tsa.uk.com
Contents
Report Summary
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1
1.2
Background
Aims and objectives of the evaluation
Chapter 2: Method
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
Research Design
Sample
Data analysis
Ethical considerations
Chapter 3: Results
3.1
3.1.5
Evaluation of results in relation to findings of previous large
scale Speakeasy evaluation.
Memories and impressions of the course
Increased factual knowledge around sex and sexual health
Increased confidence and communication skills
A more positive and open approach to discussions of sex,
sexuality and sexual health
Further learning and professional development
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.2.4
3.2.5
3.2.6
Exploration of the effects of Speakeasy on the parent-child dyad.
General Impact
Course as a catalyst for discussion
Awareness of each other’s knowledge
Embarrassment
Confidence and openness
Change
3.3
Exploration of the wider effects of Speakeasy, both within the
family and in the wider community.
Friends, family and co-workers
Partner
Older generation
Young people as role models
Involvement with sex education
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.1.3
3.1.4
3.3.1
3.3.2
3.3.3
3.3.4
3.3.5
Chapter 4: Summary and Conclusion
References
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Appendices
Appendix A
Interview Schedule
Appendix B
Participant Information Sheet
Appendix C
TSA research ethics guidelines
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Report Summary
Parents who had attended a Birmingham Speakeasy course were interviewed with
their children. This report delivers the finding of these interviews.
Background
Speakeasy is a community-based educational programme. The overarching aim of
the Speakeasy course is to support and encourage parents to communicate with
their children about sex, sexual health, and relationships. The course is run over a
number of weeks and delivered directly by Speakeasy trained facilitators.
The Speakeasy course has a number of more specific aims for parents, these are to;
•
•
•
•
Increase parents’ confidence and communication skills with their children.
Help parents show a more positive and open approach to discussions of sex,
sexuality and sexual health.
Increase parents’ factual knowledge around sex and sexual health.
Provide a step towards further learning or professional development for
traditionally excluded groups of parents.
Aims of the Evaluation
The report structures the findings into three sections.
1. Results in relation to the findings of a previous large scale Speakeasy
evaluation.
Speakeasy has previously undergone extensive evaluation, the findings of which are
reported in a recent report (Coleman, Cater, Ramm and Sherriff 2007). The current
report details the findings of ten interviews in light of the key findings of the large
scale evaluation and explores how well the Birmingham Speakeasy course is
achieving the stated aims.
2. Exploration of the effects of Speakeasy on the parent-child dyad.
For the first time in Speakeasy’s evaluation history, interviews were conducted with a
parent-child dyad. In previous evaluation only the views of the people who had
attended a Speakeasy course had been elicited. By interviewing a parent and child
together this research can explore how the dyad felt their relationship had been
affected by the Speakeasy course.
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3. Exploration of the wider effects of Speakeasy, both within the family and in
the wider community.
Previous evaluation suggested that the Speakeasy course may have wider
community effects. This research addresses this suggestion and explores how
attendance on a Speakeasy course may affect other family members, friends, and
the wider local community.
Results
1. Results in relation to the findings of a previous large scale Speakeasy
evaluation.
The research suggests that the Birmingham Speakeasy course is achieving its aims
for parents. People who attended the course felt that their factual knowledge had
been greatly increased through attendance. Increased confidence in talking about
sex, sexuality and sexual health issues was reported. Parents also felt that they
were more open with their children as a result of the course. Attending Speakeasy
had encouraged some parents to become actively involved in other courses. All of
the parents in the sample reported that the course was a very positive and enjoyable
experience and that the facilitators had been excellent.
2. Exploration of the effects of Speakeasy on the parent-child dyad.
All of the parent-child dyads felt that the course had positively influenced their
relationship. The course acted as a catalyst to open discussions of sex and puberty.
It was often the case that prior to the course young people sensed reluctance and
embarrassment in their parent when discussing sex and avoided talking about it with
them as a consequence. Parents agreed with this but felt that attending the course
had reduced their embarrassment. Young people who had previously felt
embarrassed found that this feeling diminished when they discovered their parent
was confident and did not feel embarrassed talking about sex. The course allowed
people to gain some common ground to explore each other’s knowledge. This
promoted more natural and open discussions about sex. Children observed the
increase in knowledge in their parents and felt more confident approaching their
parent as a consequence.
3. Exploration of the wider effects of Speakeasy, both within the family and in
the wider community.
The results suggest that the Speakeasy course has an important impact on the wider
group of family and friends of those who attended the course. Parents who attended
the course were happy to discuss sex with people they knew and had been able to
offer advice and assistance to their friends who had not attended the course. There
were also instances where they were able to offer advice directly to young people
who were friends of their children. The children of the people who had attended the
course were also key in widening effect of Speakeasy. Children occasionally talked
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about issues with their friends, had shown leaflets to some of their close friends, and
acted as an alternative role model to their peers.
Conclusion
Consistent with previous evaluation the research found that the Speakeasy course is
meeting its aims for parents.
The course has a significant and beneficial impact on the relationship between the
parent and child.
The Speakeasy course has a positive effect on the wider family and friends of those
who attended the course and also upon friends of the young people whose parents
attended.
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Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 Background
The Speakeasy course was first run in England in 2002. It offers a non-threatening
group based opportunity for people to gain the confidence and skills they need to
communicate with young people about sex and sexual health. The course consists
of seven weekly sessions which are flexible and relaxed, encouraging parents to
gain greater confidence in talking about issues which are often considered
embarrassing or taboo. The Speakeasy course is registered for accreditation with
the Open College Network (OCN). For parents who wish to, the course and the
portfolio work arising from it can be used to gain OCN credits.
A variety of teaching methods are used on the course including; collage, role play,
games and written work. Each session lasts approximately two hours and the
course typically follows the format shown in Table One.
Week
Topics
Taster
Session
Week One
How we learned. What children need. Course outline. OCN
accreditation.
Hopes, fears, expectations, group agreement, language and the words
we know, pre course evaluation.
Week Two
Naming body parts. Physical and emotional changes during puberty
Week Three
Needs of children at different stages of their life. Age-appropriate
information learning opportunities with children
Week Four
Collage exercises on stereotypes and media pressures and how to
deal with them. Communication role play.
Week Five
Methods of contraception. Information on Sexually transmitted
infections
Week Six
Sexual relationships education policy. Useful resources
Week Seven Safe from harm. Child safety. Review and completion of portfolio.
Post course evaluation.
Table One. Speakeasy course outline.
Speakeasy is targeted in areas of multiple deprivation and where high teenage
pregnancy rates occur. Previous analysis of the demographics of people attending
the Speakeasy course (Coleman, Cater, Ramm, and Sherriff 2007) shows that;
95% of the people who attend Speakeasy courses are female
71% of people on the course classify themselves as ‘White British’
The largest other self-classified ethnic groups attending the course are;
3% ‘White other’
3% ‘Black or Black British-Caribbean’
3% ‘Black or Black British-African’
12% of those attending the course are in full-time work
27% are employed part-time
29% are registered unemployed
32% are unwaged and not seeking work
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For 17.7% of people, the Speakeasy programme was the first course they had
attended since leaving school.
10% of Speakeasy attendees did not consider themselves able-bodied.
Besides the overarching aim of the Speakeasy course which is to support and
encourage parents to communicate with their children about sex, sexual health, and
relationships, Speakeasy has four specific aims for parents which are to;
•
•
•
•
Increase confidence and communication skills with children
Help parents show a more positive and open approach to discussions of sex,
sexuality and sexual health
Increase parents’ factual knowledge around sex and sexual health
Provide a step towards further learning or professional development for
excluded groups of parents.
Results of previous research
A recent large scale evaluation of the Speakeasy programme (Coleman, Cater,
Ramm and Sherriff 2007) focused on how well the aims were being achieved. The
report is available from the fpa.
This report utilized a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative methods in its
analysis and included a qualitative three-year longitudinal follow up of parents who
attended the course. The results of the longitudinal study suggested that the
Speakeasy course was achieving its aims for parents. Quantitative analysis of pre
and post course questionnaires filled in by Speakeasy attendees showed that selfrated scores in the key aim areas had increased after the course. Parents were
asked to rate themselves on a five point likert scale, (1 indicating a low score, 5
being high). The results are briefly summarized as follows;
1. Before the course, parents rated their confidence at a score of 2.99. After
the course the average score was 4.40. This shows an increase of 1.41 points,
or a 47.0% increase.
2. Prior to the course the overall knowledge score - which included the topics
of puberty, contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and keeping
safe - was 3.07. This increased to 4.47 after the course, showing an average
increase of 1.40 points or 45.6%. The most dramatic increase in knowledge
score was for STIs, where parents rated their knowledge at 2.59 prior to the
course and 4.33 after the course which relates to a 67.2% increase in score.
3. Before the course 60.9% of parents, ‘agreed strongly’ or, ‘agreed’ with the
statement, ‘I feel able to talk to my children openly about sex’. This
increased to 95.5% of parents after the course, showing an additional 34.6% of
parents who, ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ with the statement as a result of
attending the course.
4. There was a slight increase in interest in further education amongst
Speakeasy attendees. Prior to the course 67.7% of people, ‘strongly agreed’
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or, ‘agreed’ that they were interested in returning to education. After the
course this figure rose to 73%, an increase of 5.4%
An additional evaluation conducted by TSA outlined the effects upon professionals
trained as Speakeasy facilitators (Sherriff and Coleman 2006) and is concerned with
the fifth aim of the speakeasy course which is to;
•
Enable health and educational professionals to give higher priority to work
with parents and carers, with the backing of accredited Speakeasy training so
that large numbers of parents throughout England will have access to a
Speakeasy course.
This evaluation showed that the training was successful in increasing confidence,
knowledge and facilitating skills and that the training was extending into the work
place of the trainers, providing staff with the skills and knowledge to refer parents to
other service providers where needed.
The large scale evaluation of the fpa’s Speakeasy course used the fpa’s key aims as
guidance. However, the evaluation also uncovered some novel findings. Some of
the most significant findings were that;
There was a significant change in children observed by parents. Parents reported a
growing confidence in children and reported that there were more frequent and open
discussions about sex. Many parents felt that their relationship had changed as a
result of the Speakeasy course.
There were wider effects of attending a Speakeasy course. Many parents reported
that the Speakeasy course had not only affected them but also had far reaching
consequences. Parents often reported that their spouses and friends looked to them
for advice, that their children were passing information to their friends and that they
had become actively aware of SRE policy.
These findings were of significance but arose spontaneously during qualitative
investigation; they were not the main focus of the evaluation.
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1.2 Aims and Objectives of current research
Building upon the large-scale evaluation work, this research reports the findings of
the ten in-depth interviews in relation to previous evaluation results and examines
how successful the Speakeasy course is in achieving its aims for parents.
Therefore the first aim of the research is to;
Evaluate the interview findings in relation to results of previous large
scale Speakeasy evaluation.
Previous evaluation work suggested that the Speakeasy course was having an
important effect upon relationships between parent and child. However, the
research could not directly examine this suggestion as only parents were
interviewed. Importantly and for the first time in Speakeasy’s evaluation this
research focuses on the effects upon the relationship between the parent and child
by interviewing both parent and child together.
As such the second aim of the evaluation is to;
Explore the effects of Speakeasy on the parent-child dyad.
Previous work also suggested that there may be wider effects of the Speakeasy
course, for example, the passing of information from the Speakeasy course between
children (p. 61 Coleman, Cater, Ramm & Sherriff 2007). This research prioritises the
suggestion of wider effects and also considers in more depth how the course content
is shared.
Therefore the third and final aim of the current research is to;
Explore the wider effects of Speakeasy, both within the family and in
wider community.
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Chapter 2. Method
2.1 Research Design
The research plan was informed by Kvale’s (1996) suggested stages for designing
and implementing interview studies. These guidelines provide detail on thematizing,
designing, interviewing, transcribing, analyzing, verifying and reporting of interview
based research.
An ‘Interview guide approach’ (Patton 1990) was adopted. In this design the
interviewer has a schedule of questions (See Appendix A) or areas which are
covered during the interview but is not restricted by wording or orders of questions.
The interviewer is also free to probe with further questions where any interesting
data are suggested. The structure of the ‘Interview guide approach’ allows for a
systematic and comprehensive evaluation to be made whilst also embracing areas
which may not be covered by predetermined questions, thus allowing a more
thorough and ecologically valid exploration of the area.
All interviews were conducted in person. The interviewer had a thorough knowledge
of the Speakeasy programme and had previously been involved in its evaluation and
was therefore able to direct questioning to relevant areas and build rapport with the
interviewees based upon a shared knowledge of the Speakeasy course.
All interviews took place in a private room. The room was set up with flexible seating
so that participants could chose to sit wherever they preferred in relation to the
interviewer and could also sit next to, or separately from, their family member who
was also being interviewed.
Participants were recruited by the fpa who telephoned potential participants to
request their informed consent and to arrange a time for interview. When
participants arrived for their interviews they were asked to read through a brief
Participant Information Sheet (see Appendix B).
Immediately prior to interview the researcher read through a list of more thorough
consent information (shown in Appendix A) and ensured that both the parent and
young person agreed and were happy to be interviewed. Participants were told the
reason for the research and that the interview would take approximately 25 minutes
to complete. Participants were also asked for their consent to have their interview
recorded. All participants were assured that the interviewer would be the only
person to listen to the recording and that no other person would have access to it.
All participants freely gave their consent.
At the end of interview all participants were given the opportunity to provide
spontaneous feedback on the course and were asked if they had any questions for
the interviewer. Participants were all sent a thank you message with the contact
details of the interviewer should they have any questions or wish to withdraw from
the research at any time. This also provided information on how they could access
the research report once it had been completed.
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2.2 Sample
The sample was purposively selected to represent the varied backgrounds of those
who had attended a Birmingham Speakeasy course. This was to ensure a range of
experiences and views were captured through the interviews and to increase the
representiveness of the sample. All of parents in the sample had completed the
course at least three months prior to interview. This was to ensure that there had
been adequate time for parents to put their learning in to practise. All of the parents
in the sample were female. Ninety five percent of the people who have attend a
Speakeasy course are female (Coleman, Cater, Ramm and Sherriff 2007) and as
such an exclusively female sample was not deemed to be problematic.
Ten interviews were conducted. As one of the purposes of the evaluation was to
explore the parent-child dyad, participants were encouraged to ask one of their
children if they wished to participate in the research. In eight out of the ten
interviews both a child and parent were present. The ages of the young people
ranged from 11 to 18 with a mean age of 13.75. Three of the eight young people
interviewed were male.
It is important to note that the sample was formed of people who had successfully
completed the Speakeasy course, and by those who were motivated to spare their
time to be interviewed. It is likely then that there is bias in the sample and as such
the findings of the research should be treated with caution.
2.3 Data analysis
The qualitative material recorded during interviews was analysed in the following
ways;
Interview summaries were created for each interview. The researcher made detailed
notes of the participants’ responses to the interview questions. Any comments or
areas where interesting data were suggested were then transcribed verbatim from
the interview recording. The researcher also recorded their post-interview reflections
noting any striking aspects or themes in the interview. Through this process the
main data set was developed and the interpretation of the data was initiated.
The analysis then continued in two separate ways;
•
Evaluation of results in relation to findings of previous large scale Speakeasy
evaluation.
The findings in this section were structured against the findings of the previous large
scale evaluation. Thematic analysis was used in this previous research to develop
themes which emerged through the interviews. In the current research each theme
was taken in turn and examined against the findings of the ten interviews.
Information from the interview summaries was compared to the themes to either
support and confirm the findings, or to challenge the previously established themes.
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•
•
Exploration of the effects of Speakeasy on the parent child dyad.
Exploration of the wider effects of Speakeasy, both within the family and in the
wider community.
The findings in these sections were novel and therefore Thematic Analysis was used
to develop key themes emerging from the interviews. Work by Braun and Clarke
(2006) guided the analysis and their suggested stages of thematic analysis are
shown in Table Two. Once the interview summaries were fully developed they were
inspected through iterative reading to facilitate familiarity with the data. The
researcher then identified themes in an interview summary and used verbatim
quotes to support the developing theme. When all the emerging themes had been
identified the researcher moved to the next summary and identified emergent
themes. When all the themes from each summary had been identified separately
the researcher integrated the themes from each summary, which were reviewed and
refined through this process.
Phase
Familiarization with data
Generating initial codes
Process
Transcribing, iterative reading, initial ideas
Coding interesting features in a systematic fashion
across the entire data set
Searching for themes
Collating codes into themes
Reviewing themes
Checking themes reflect the coded extracts and
the entire data set
Defining and naming themes
Refine the specifics of each theme, generate clear
definitions and names
Producing the report
Selection of vivid extract examples, final analysis
of extracts, production of report
Table two. The stages of thematic analysis
Thematic analysis recognises that the researcher is an integral part of the research
and brings their values and theoretical positions into the research. It is necessary to
recognise that the interpretation of the data is viewed in these terms (see Stanley
and Wise 1993). To ensure as far as possible that the findings reflected the data the
researcher made constant comparisons of the interpretation with verbatim quotes
drawn from the interview summaries. Unless there is a qualifier, e.g. ‘SON’ prior to a
quote included in the result section, the data has been reported by a parent.
Throughout the results section reference is made to numbers of people who reported
a viewpoint or idea, these are used to help give an idea about the strength of
comment being made (see Silverman 2001), phrases such as, ‘all’ (meaning all),
‘many’ or ‘most’ (meaning ¾ or more), ‘half’ (meaning approximately ½) ‘several’
(approaching ½) and ‘a few’ (meaning ¼ or less) are used as such. These are in no
way intended to claim a statistical generalisability – something which such small
scale interview based research cannot claim – but are used to illustrate the strength
of the theoretical points being made.
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2.4 Ethical considerations
The evaluation was undertaken in accordance with the Trust for the Study of
Adolescences’ (TSA) ethical guidelines (see Appendix C). These guidelines cover a
number of issues such as informed consent, care of participants, confidentiality,
anonymity (where relevant and appropriate), disclosure and feedback. The
interviewer from TSA held a current Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check.
In their initial contact with the participants the fpa gained informed consent from
potential participants in regards to their taking part in a face-to-face interview
conducted by an interviewer from TSA. On the day of the interview participants were
given a participant information sheet to look through while they were waiting for
interview and at interview were read further information (see Appendix A) and were
asked to confirm their consent. All participants were informed of the aims of the
research, how their views were valued and confidential and how they would be of
great help. Parents received a gift voucher in recognition of their assistance in the
research. The young people also received a £10 voucher of their own in
appreciation of their help.
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Chapter 3. Results
The results section is divided into three sections. These are as follows;
1. Evaluation of results in relation to findings of previous large scale Speakeasy
evaluation.
2. Exploration of the effects of Speakeasy on the parent-child dyad.
3. Exploration of the wider effects of Speakeasy, both within the family and in the
wider community.
3.1 Evaluation of results in relation to findings of previous large
scale Speakeasy evaluation.
The findings of the research support and add depth to those reported by the previous
large scale evaluation (Coleman, Cater, Ramm and Sherriff 2007). As in the
previous evaluations the interview questions were structured around the main aims
of the Speakeasy course for parents that are to;
1. Increase parents’ confidence and communication skills with their children.
2. Help parents show a more positive and open approach to discussions of sex,
sexuality and sexual health.
3. Increase parents factual knowledge around sex and sexual health.
4. Provide a step towards further learning/professional development for
excluded groups of parents.
The findings presented in this section are structured in relation to these aims and are
presented as follows;
3.1.1 Memories and impressions of the course
3.1.2 Increased factual knowledge around sex and sexual health
3.1.3 Increased confidence and communication skills
3.1.4 A more positive and open approach to discussions of sex, sexuality and
sexual health
3.1.5 Further learning and professional development
3.1.1 Memories and impressions of the course
The data from the interviews suggested that people had a highly positive opinion
of the Speakeasy course.
‘I’ve done a lot of courses, and it was the best one I’ve done, and I’ve actually
told everybody, you know, ‘If you ever get the chance to do it I would do it’, I
said. I really enjoyed doing it, it’s, you know, it’s fun and it’s quite an eye
opener’.
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‘I would do it again, I mean I really would go through it and do it again’!
‘Why didn’t I know about this course ten years ago’?!
It was an enjoyable experience for myself, it was really enjoyable and I can
actually say it has had a positive impact on myself and my daughter’.
Several people remarked at how they had attended the course ‘by accident’ or had
little understanding of what the course would give them before they attended.
People were often unaware of their lack of knowledge or skills in the area until they
attended the course.
‘It was another course that we was just put forward for and we sort of went in
going, ‘Ok, not really sure but ok we’ll have a go’, cause a lot of courses you
can’t really get the jist of it until you go’.
‘I’m just one of these people that like to go on any course…I went along and
thought, I’ll go and see what it’s like and if I don’t like it I won’t go sort of thing,
but I must admit I was intrigued then, it was a really good course’.
‘It’ll open your eyes, it was totally different from what I expected, I mean I went
along, not because I was cornered in to it but, the school says, ‘Do you want to
come, we’ve got a crèche’, so I felt as though… I was a bit cynical at first’.
Only a few parents felt that they initially attended the course for a specific reason.
‘I think it was something I needed to discuss because I don’t think some of the
schools covered some of the issues, and I think if I knew more then I could
probably explain more to her, so that’s why’.
‘The reason why I wanted to go on the course was because, it was mainly
because I’ve got a ten year old daughter and I really struggled to discuss
periods and stuff like that with her, so that was the main reason why I went on
it, cause I kind of got embarrassed and bit stuck cause my mum never really
talked to me about things’.
This highlights an important point, whilst those who attend the course speak very
highly of it and its usefulness, some work may be necessary in marketing the course
so that parents are made aware of what the course can give them. This was a novel
finding in Speakeasy evaluation and is important as such.
The parents spoke highly of the programme and most of the parents reported having
recommended the course to their friends or members of the family, however it was
often the case that they were not aware when or where a Speakeasy course
would be run again.
‘I know there’s a lot of people who are interested in it as well, there just isn’t
one in the area as far as I know’.
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So whilst the parents who attended are valuable resources in terms of marketing to
parents within the target group a lack of awareness about where and when the
course is run could be preventing these people from accessing the course. A
possible solution to this issue would be to target parents who had attended the
course with fliers giving details of courses which are to be run.
Parents particularly enjoyed the relaxed and informal nature of the course and
praised the facilitators for being able to put the group at ease in what parents
sometimes felt to be an unknown and potentially frightening situation.
‘The tutor we had at the time, she really made us feel at ease, she was lovely,
she made us feel really at ease, cause obviously you’re put into a room with
some of the women we don’t know and it’s really weird because not knowing
something you’re thinking oh are you going to say the wrong thing but then after
a bit we just all went for it, really enjoyed it’.
‘She made you feel at ease to talk about it so you was quite open to talk about
it with somebody else, whether it be your child or another adult’.
‘A little bit scary cause there was a lot of people that we didn’t know, um and
when you’re in a group that you don’t know and you’re talking about like sex
education and that sort of side of it then you think, I wonder what their opinions
are but we all seemed to gel really well’.
‘After the first day we all gelled really well and we was like, yeah yeah, can’t
wait to come back next week to find out more’.
Parents particularly enjoyed the opportunity to discuss, debate, and share
information with other parents who were going through similar situations.
‘We had quite a good age range, cause obviously I’m in my 40s so I was one of
the older ones and then we had some like 19s, 20s who have also got kids so
we had quite a lot of different opinions so there was a lot of, not so much
arguing … we all had different views on different things’.
‘The discussion, I’ll always remember the discussion’.
‘Being in a group, some of them were younger, some of them were slightly
older, and its nice to have that so you can have, not an argument about it but to
sort of see their views, your views, and think well you can see where they’re
both coming from’.
A novel but significant finding from one parent revealed that the Speakeasy course
had the positive effect of prompting her to undergo STI testing.
‘It actually prompted me on a personal level as well, when we got to the
diseases part… that prompted me to go and get checked out … I started to
worry that I wouldn’t be about to look after the children’.
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3.1.2 Increased factual knowledge around sex and sexual health
Most of the parents reported that the Speakeasy course had increased their
knowledge to a great extent. Parents reported that the most useful and enlightening
sessions were those covering STIs and contraceptives.
‘It really opened my eyes about all the diseases.’
‘I think it was the diseases and the contraception’.
‘Contraception one [leaflet from course] you know, when you look, I was
surprised how many is out there and the side effects and the disadvantages
and the advantages it was quite, you know, cause I’d always been on the pill so
I’d never thought about anything else, and to look at the different things it was
sort of thinking, ‘Oh my god’, I didn’t realise there was that many and what side
effects a lot of them had’.
Many of the parents reported that all aspects of the course had been helpful.
‘The whole lot of it was helpful, I, in terms of helpfulness was learning about the
body like teenagers, through puberty and stuff, that helped me, for both of
them’.
All of the parents in the interviews reported that they had used the leaflets with their
children and had retained them as a valuable resource and aid to memory.
Sometimes you do think, oh I hope that was correct, so I have to get me
leaflets out, have a little learn, yeah I still get them out just to check.
A few of the parents reported that learning about what children were taught in
schools had been very important to them and had been a motivating factor for them
to begin to educate their children to make up for the perceived lack of education in
schools.
‘Knowledge I think, knowing more, and knowing that the schools don’t do that
much, that was the biggest shock I think’.
‘My friend’s daughter started then [menstruation at eight or nine years old] and
obviously the schools had done nothing to prepare her and she was quite
young’.
3.1.3 Increased confidence and communication skills
Parents reported that the increased levels of knowledge had led to an increased
confidence in discussing areas around sex and sexual health.
‘I really struggled, I tried to explain about periods to her and I said to her, ‘Do
you understand’, and she said, ‘No’ and I kind of like got stung then I was like,
‘What else do I say to her’ ’?
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‘If I hadn’t took this course then I wouldn’t be as clued up to say to [NAME]
about it’s ok saying, ‘I can sleep with someone and I’ll be on the pill’, but you
can still catch a disease on the pill, whereas before I don’t think I would have
ever spoke to [NAME]’.
3.1.4 A more positive and open approach to discussions of sex, sexuality and
sexual health
Parents reported that the course had taught them to be more open with their children
about sex and had prompted them to think about educating their children at a
younger age.
‘I think openness, it took the stigma out of it, just to be free and accept it’.
‘It hadn’t crossed my mind to actually start to discuss things’.
‘It would have taken some time to just go there and start talking about it, I
would be looking at her and saying, ‘She’s too young’ but the course itself,
because we did age groups, timeline, it just bought to light that you really start
talking about it when they’re young’.
Parents reported more instances of discussion about sex and sexual health, and on
occasion revealed a drastically changed attitudes due to the course.
‘She sort of was going over what ages really they should be taught and we was
like, ‘Oh no you’re joking’, we were like putting things in 15 and 16 year olds
and they were like in the 7+ ages and we were like and at first you sort of sit
there and ‘Oh god that’s a bit young to be talking about things like that’ but
when she sort of explains it to you, you think well actually she’s quite right, so
she changed our minds on loads of things’.
PARENT: ‘I’m always saying to [NAME], if you get up to anything you basically
use a condom.’
SON: ‘It weren’t long ago she said that to me as well…she’s always trying to
keep on top of it’.
‘I think now I’m more relaxed with the girl, so I don’t think that she’ll ever have a
problem’.
Parents also reported that they were now aware of opportunities to discuss sex and
recognised that previously they would either not have recognised the opportunity, or
would have avoided raising the discussion.
‘There I could have spoken to him [about sex] then, whereas before I would
have just went, ‘Ok that’s good’ ’.
3.1.5 Further learning and professional development
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Several parents mentioned during interview that they had initially been daunted by
the thought of paperwork or the work that would have been required of them on the
course. However, as found in previous evaluations, the Speakeasy course is often
not what was expected.
‘At first I felt it quite daunting, I thought, ‘Oh to go back and do paper work’, and
but…’
‘I would like to do some more cause it’s something I enjoy, cause it’s not work
related… I don’t know what’s available’.
‘I really enjoyed it, I’d like to do another one actually’.
Two parents reported that they would like to become Speakeasy facilitators whilst
another said that the OCN credit would be useful in their ambition to work with
children. Two parents reported how they were now actively involved with the
schools in developing SRE policy.
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3.2 Exploration of the effects of Speakeasy on the parent-child
dyad.
The second section of the results focuses on the effects of the Speakeasy course on
the parent and child’s relationship. The results are structured as follows;
3.2.1 General Impact of course
3.2.2 Course as a catalyst for discussion
3.2.3 Awareness of each other’s knowledge
3.2.4 Embarrassment
3.2.5 Confidence and openness
3.2.6 Change
3.2.1 General Impact of course
All of the parents and all of the young people reported that the effects of the
Speakeasy course had been positive. A few young people found that initially they
were embarrassed when their parents began speaking to them about sexual issues
but they all reported that this embarrassment diminished rapidly. The overall
impression was that the Speakeasy course had allowed parents and young people to
discuss sex in an open and relaxed way and had a positive impact on their
relationship.
‘It was an enjoyable experience for myself, it was really enjoyable, and I can
actually say it has had a positive impact on myself and my daughter’.
3.2.2 Course as a catalyst for discussion
Most of the parents who were interviewed reported that they had discussed the
course with their child whilst they were attending. Parents reported that besides
teaching factual knowledge about sex and how to talk to children, the course also
‘broke the ice’ by providing a suitable opportunity to open discussions about sex.
‘It was difficult of course to, before the course, to explain why relationships
broke down and things like that… but during the course it prompted me to’.
‘I think it triggers it off don’t it? I mean we’ve learnt things on the course that I
didn’t know about so when I went home I’d say to [NAME], ‘Did you know this’
or, ‘Did you know that’?
‘But it’s been good really, because, a few bits that I managed to do like, with
my daughter, it just broke that ice, because I found it a bit difficult, I was like,
‘How am I going to start talking about this’?
‘We have discussed bits and pieces as the course was progressing I was
introducing things like that to her’.
SON: ‘She did come home and ask me a few questions’.
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Some of the young people interviewed reported that they had been the ones who
opened discussion, using their parent’s homework or folder as a prompt.
DAUGHTER: ‘When she had the homework and that I’d ask her what she’s
doing it for’?
‘She’s different, she’s not like me, she loves talking, she’s the one who initiated
all the talking, yeah, so it did really help’.
Only one of the parents reported that the course had not been a useful tool to open
discussion and that their children were uninterested in what they had been learning.
This was in a situation where the children had become ‘used’ to their mum being on
a course and were uninterested as a consequence, ‘Mum’s on another course’.
3.2.3 Awareness of each other’s knowledge
As shown in section 3.1 parents gained a lot of information through attending the
Speakeasy course and also learnt how to talk to their children about this information.
Many of the parents reported that through opening discussion about sex they were
able to discover what their children knew about sex and sexual relationships.
Parents were often shocked to discover the level of their children’s knowledge.
‘It’s opened my eyes…I don’t know, I just found it hard to talk to my kids I think
you wrap your kids up in cotton wool… I felt like it was a taboo subject, and I
didn’t want to talk about it, I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t want
them to know about it sort of thing, but now, they do know about it don’t they,
and I think you just a bit, block it out to tell you the truth’.
‘I know, I was just amazed about diseases, but he already knew… they’re more
clued up than me’!
‘I was quite shocked actually, when I was doing the course we had, um, a
section on like contraception and things and [NAME] had got out this board and
there was all these different contraceptions, and she got out this thing called a
dam, well I never knew what it was, right, so then I went home and I knew he’d
had this sex education at youth club but I didn’t ask him what it was or we
didn’t really talk about what he’d done at youth club did we, until I done this
course, and I said to him, ‘Do you know what, have you heard of this dam’?
and he says, ‘Yeah’, and I said, ‘Next time you go to youth club will you get me
one’ and he says, ‘Hold on I’ve got one’! if I didn’t learn that then I wouldn’t
have known that he knew that, and then we had a conversation about them
and that then so’.
Through this open discussion young people also became aware of the level of their
parent’s knowledge. Some young people observed that this had increased through
attending the Speakeasy course and that this was an important factor in the young
people’s increasing confidence in asking their parent about sex and sexual health
issues.
Page 22 of 50
SON: ‘She’s more faster instead of having to think about it, I think she knows
quite a lot about it now’.
SON: ‘She does know more now than she did’.
A few of the parents reported that now they both had a good knowledge they had
common ground and could discuss things more naturally and easily.
‘It is nice to have conversations, like cause we both know, cause he knows I
know about drugs and sex education, and I know he knows, we can have a bit
of that conversation, like not in depth like but just like the frilly bits’.
SON: We’ve spoke more since she’s done the course cause she tells me
about the diseases and always wear protection when you do it.’
PARENT: ‘We sometimes have a laugh and a joke about it don’t we’?
SON: ‘Yeah [laughs]’.
Some parents also reported that through finding out about what their children knew
they could establish what they needed to be told about.
‘At least now I have a rough idea like ah how far they go [what daughter had
learnt through school] and what they don’t do and what they do’.
3.2.4 Embarrassment
Throughout all of the interviews there was a discourse of embarrassment and the
role which it had played in preventing or promoting discussions of sex.
Several of the young people reported that they had always been happy and
unembarrassed to discuss sexual issues with whoever was present.
SON: ‘I just ask whoever is there, it’s not a problem’!
However, they also reported that they had perceived an awkwardness or
embarrassment in their parent and had not discussed sex with them as a result.
DAUGHTER: ‘I would never like have spoken about it to her’.
DAUGHTER: ‘If we asked questions before she would have tried to squash it
like that [GESTURES] but now if we ask questions she just like talks about it
and tells us what it is and warns about like stuff like STDs and stuff’.
Parents often agreed with their children that they had previously been embarrassed
and had avoided talking about sex;
‘I would say I’m more open now to [NAME] whereas before she would be like
‘Oh I’ve got cramp’ and this and I’d be like, ‘Oh right,,, er’ but now I’ve seen all
that, it’s like, ‘Your periods, you’re body’s changing’ I feel I’ve got more
confidence now, to speak to [NAME]’.
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Some young people reported that they did used to feel embarrassed about talking
about sex with their parent but this lessened when they realised their parent was no
longer embarrassed and now had a good knowledge of sex education.
DAUGHTER: ‘I was really embarrassed at the start about talking about it I just
kept quiet’.
SON: ‘Yeah because before it used to be embarrassing but now that I’ve found
out that she knows about it so I can ask her things’.
It was apparent from the interviews that the Speakeasy course had allowed parents
to overcome the embarrassment of talking about sex and this in turn had helped
some of the young people to become less embarrassed.
3.2.5 Confidence and openness
With the diminishing embarrassment associated with discussions of sex many of the
participants reported that they were now more confident discussing sexual matters.
‘She’s got the confidence in me to come to me, and I’ve got the confidence that
I can tell where as before I’d be like, ‘I’ll tell you afterwards’ or, ‘I’m busy’ or,
you know, that way’.
DAUGHTER: ‘A lot, she’s been more confident, she can talk about stuff like
that now. I’ve always been confident; I just start talking about stuff like that...
She was alright but she didn’t really like, talk about it that much until you, like,
asked something but now she just says stuff without you having to. It’s like
vice-versa now’ [it’s equal now].
Parents also reported that their confidence in talking to their children was greater as
a result of having a better knowledge and knowing how to approach their children.
‘I feel more confident in myself, knowing what I know, and what I’ve learnt on
the course, that I can speak to [NAME] and say to him like, I mean, like about
diseases and condoms. I mean we do talk a lot about drugs… we talk about
things like that openly’.
Participants felt that they were more open and relaxed about discussing sex with
each other as a result of the Speakeasy course.
SON: ‘It’s only been little things that really have occurred … but I think it will be
just as easy’ [asking mum about sexual problems in the future].
‘I think she’s more open to me now…She knows she can come to me’.
However, parents and young people occasionally suggested that it would be
beneficial for young people to learn how to approach their parent, and a couple of
young people reported that whilst they would be happy to talk to their parent they
Page 24 of 50
were not sure how to begin talking the conversation and would like to know ways to
do this.
SON: ‘Yeah [would now be confident talking to mum], but I wouldn’t be sure
how to actually start the conversation about the problem, sometimes it depends
what the problem is’.
‘I personally think we need another bit of this course on the side of the children,
the children actually being taught how they can be open with their parents, that
would help a lot because it would be a two way thing’.
This new openness was not restricted to discussion of sex but translated into
everyday family life. For example, one parent reported how her daughter was now
happy to look up information about drugs and sex on the internet in front of her
whereas before she would have hidden this.
‘I think before she would probably go on it and ‘oh’ [not tell anyone] but now
she’s like, I’m going on this [website] to look up this’.
3.2.6 Change
Throughout the interviews both parents and young people talked about an observed
change in themselves and their relationship which they attributed to the Speakeasy
course. Some reported that there was a gradual change in the way they discussed
sex and that this relationship had developed slowly.
INTERVIEWER: ‘Since the Speakeasy have you started telling them more
things’?
PARENT: ‘Yeah, even the leaflets that we had, it was just like even saying, well
you know, at first it was like, ‘I’ve got some leaflets if you wanna have a little
look and then if you think that you want to come and talk to me’. So at first it
was like [SHRUGS] [they didn’t want to], then first they’d have a look and then
it was like, ‘Oh I’m not sure’ and then the more times that they, you could see
cause I’d left them on the side, so they could just, and they’d keep going to
them, and then eventually it was like, they’d ask me a question.
‘Firstly I gave her a book to go through and read, at first she was like, ‘Oh I do
these things at school’ and I was like, ‘No, read more’ and she went through
the book and was like, ‘Oh’ she’s going on [she became interested] and then I
introduced stuff like, easy things you know, like, ‘Would you talk to me if you
had a boyfriend’ and she’ll say ‘oh yes, yes’. Then I could see there was some
bit of impact that she’d got from reading that and she understands that there is
nothing to fear talking to mum about it’.
Parents reported how they were now much more aware of the influence of hormones
and the processes occurring during puberty, upon their children’s behaviour. This
had often reduced tension at home because the family was now aware of these
factors and their influence and as a consequence no longer placed so much blame
on the young person, instead attributing blame to puberty.
‘That’s what I was trying to explain to the girls in the [name of place] it even
helped with [NAME] and mood swings, so now, I used to be like, ‘Oh don’t do
Page 25 of 50
this and don’t be cheeky’ but now I’ve got more understanding and she’s at that
age and she’s starting you know’ [puberty]?
Some of the young people also developed an understanding of themselves and their
bodies which they did not have previously and now recognised the influence of
hormones in their siblings and parents.
A few young people observed that their parents had changed and were now more
approachable and understanding and a few of the parent-child dyads felt that they
had become closer as a result of the Speakeasy course.
SON: ‘First she knew to come around asking about it and understanding more
why you don’t want to talk about it’.
DAUGHTER: ‘She’s quite different, she didn’t really talk as much’.
The Speakeasy course was found to be particularly useful by three parents who felt
that the influence of their culture had prevented them from talking to their children
about sex and sexual health. They observed a significant change in themselves and
their relationship, and exposed how Speakeasy may have particular importance in
challenging cultural norms.
Two participants reported that in their culture it was the aunts and uncles of a child
who would discuss sex education with a child but the nature of British society meant
that children often had little or no contact with the child leaving them unsupported.
‘I never really got any one talking to me, and again, cause in my culture you
don’t talk to your mother about things like that you talk to your aunties, your
mother, no. Well that’s then and I suppose we’re in a different world now, there
are no aunties here, well they may be here but they are so many miles away,
whereas back home the aunty would be ten minutes away or living in the same
homestead’.
‘We don’t have aunties to talk to our children, so I thought that was a
breakthrough [Speakeasy], why not do it and have a better way of talking to my
own children’?
One parent revealed a dramatic change in thinking attributed to the Speakeasy
course.
‘You know in my culture I wouldn’t, I can’t talk, to my children, but this is good
you know, because at least now, I can sit in my house with my children and I
can talk about it without thinking, ‘What will people say? Why is she doing
this’?
Another parent talked about the lack of information she was provided with about
sexual development and attributed this to cultural values. This parent found that the
Speakeasy course was particularly significant in breaking this cycle and reported that
she had been able to discuss puberty with her children as a result.
‘When they were growing up nobody tell me that when they are this age this is
how they are going to behave… when I come to the course they teach us how
to talk to them and how to know that they are growing up’.
Page 26 of 50
‘Nobody tells you this is what is going to happen, but my daughter won’t be
surprised because I’ve already told her, nothing will be a surprise’.
Page 27 of 50
3.3 Exploration of the wider effects of Speakeasy, both within the
family and in the wider community.
The final section of results focuses on the wider effects that the Speakeasy course
has. These include effects within the family but are not restricted to the parent and
child, and also focus on effects upon non-family members. This section is structured
as follows;
3.3.1
3.3.2
3.3.3
3.3.4
3.3.5
3.3.6
Friends, family and co-workers
Partner
Older generation
Young people’s friends
Young people as role models
Involvement with schools
Throughout the interviews it was apparent that the effects of the Speakeasy course
were not limited to the parent and child’s relationship. There were a number of
spheres were Speakeasy was seen to have an effect.
3.3.1 Friends, family and co-workers
Parents often talked about how they had spoken to their friends about the course
and had been able to give them advice on how to speak to their own children. There
were also occasions when parents had passed on the Speakeasy leaflets to help
other people.
‘Yes I have actually, I’ve passed on a few of them as well, to friends and erm
and one friend had a daughter that had a pregnancy scare so I gave her the
pamphlet from the fpa for the information of where to go and get tested where
she could be safe’.
‘I’ve talked about it to my friends and my priest … I’ve got my friend… she was
just like me, she’s like, ‘I’m just freaking out I don’t know what I’m supposed to
do and I’m like, ‘No, take it easy, you’ll be fine’ … I can take her through the
course, on a day to day basis’.
Parents frequently reported that their friends had been interested and enthusiastic
about the course when they had described the content. Most of the parents reported
that at least one of their friends was now interested in attending a Speakeasy course
and some had gone on to attend. However, it was often the case that parents were
not aware of where and when the courses were next being run and therefore could
not advise their friends on how to join a group.
‘Three of them got enough information to want to do the course, so they’re
doing the course now [having shown course content leaflets]…actually one’s a
man, one parent’s male, and he’s doing really well’.
‘I’ve been talking to my own community, my own people from our country about
this course I’ve been doing and I’m looking to one day facilitate and they’re like,
Page 28 of 50
‘Oh what do you do and I say you know the course really helps you are able to
talk to children and to raise child you need to talk to them you need to give
them more education about sexual health’.
‘So many people are saying, ‘Oh I think I would like to do this course’.
People often spoke of the course as a, ‘talking point’ which interested people and
would crop up in conversation. One parent reported that her work colleagues had
enthusiastically followed her progress through the course and she had been happy
to show them each week’s work.
‘I’d even go into work and when I’d get into work my boss and my colleagues
would say, ‘What you done today then’? And I was like, ‘I’ve got my leaflets’,
‘Get them all out then’ ’!
This reflected the suggestion which ran through the interviews that people were now
happy talking about sex, not just to their children, but to anyone who needed advice
or who was interested. People reported that on occasion their friends would refer
other people to them for advice. Parents expressed that they were happy to help
where they could but also recognized that if they were unable to help they now knew
where to access information or how to find contacts who could provide assistance.
Some parents felt that having attended the course they were now in a position where
they would be happy to talk not only to their own children but any young person who
approached them for advice.
‘It’s not just for [NAME], if [NAME] and [NAME] [parent’s children] have got
friends or anything like that it’s nice to know that they can openly speak about it
as well because I know I had difficulty when I was younger and I wouldn’t like
any of [NAME] or [NAME] or their friends to feel like that, or my nieces or
nephews either, you want to be there for them as well don’t you’?
Indeed, some parents reported that friends of their children had approached them
and they had felt able to discuss their issues openly.
The open nature of discussions about sex had on a few occasions meant that they
had been discussed in the presence of other young people, particularly their
children’s friends, as the following quote shows;
PARENT: ‘I even get like the older one, his mates, so there’s been a lot of the
times when we’ve spoke about stuff when his mate’s been there as well’. I’m
quite open for him to ask me, obviously I spoke to his mum and she said it was
fine, it’s not a problem’.
INTERVIEWER: ‘So you asked his mum if it was ok for you to speak to him’?
PARENT: ‘Yeah, obviously not actually what he said but I’ve told her what I’ve
shown [NAME] and that and then I said to her, ‘Is it ok if [NAME] looks at it, is
that fine is that alright if he asks anything’? She says, ‘Yeah it’s not a problem’.
This suggested that friends of the young people may be influenced by the
Speakeasy course without having to actively seek the information or ask a parent
who had attended the course. Visiting the house of a Speakeasy attendee may
expose the young person to some of the learning.
Page 29 of 50
3.3.2 Partner
People talked enthusiastically about how they had been able to help their friends and
about how they had become very interested in the course. However, the general
impression from the participants was that male partners were interested in what the
course covered and supportive of their partners attending the course but had not
been greatly impacted by it and as a result had not significantly changed their
attitudes or roles within the family.
PARENT: ‘I’ve spread it to my partner, I mean he’s still a bit, he is open, but
there’s some things, especially the girl side of it, he’s still, ‘When she goes
through that, you deal with It’.
INTERVIEWER: ‘Would he say it’s more his responsibility for the boys then or
is that you’?
PARENT: ‘That’s me again, that’s what I’m trying to come across to him, I
mean they do talk to him, but not as much, you know, different things that
they’ve had, like, going through, so they have like spoke him but he’ll always
come to me going, ‘They’ve said this to me’.
‘When I told him about the course [partner] he was like, ‘Don’t they do that at
school’ and that was it’.
Participants mentioned that they had shared some information with their partners
and that their partners had been interested in the content, however, no participants
mentioned that they had become interested in doing the course as a consequence.
‘I’d go back and talk about the diseases’ [to husband].
SON: ‘He did listen though, when you’d come back, and if there was something
that grabbed his attention he’d ask about it’.
‘He did, when I bought them home’ [partner looked through leaflets].
‘My boyfriend knew at the time cause I was doing, obviously my work, and he
was like, ‘Oh we can have a go’… he was quite happy, he thought it was quite
interesting that I would actually go out and do something like this’.
The primary responsibility for sex education lay with the female parent. This was
apparent throughout the interviews but parents often mentioned that they felt that it
would be more appropriate for the male partner to be responsible in some situations.
PARENT: ‘He’s really good actually isn’t he’?
SON: ‘Yeah he knows quite a lot about it as well’.
PARENT: ‘I think sometimes when it comes to lads it’s nice to have their dad
talk to them about certain things, something in common, and the same with
girls’.
However children of both genders were observed to approach females more than
males when it came to questions about sex.
‘I feel more comfortable [talking to son now] but what I did was, cause
obviously I’ve got a partner, I’ve spoke to him about it and he’s put in how he
Page 30 of 50
felt but I do find that they come to me more, little issues that it feels a bit weird
sort of thing they’re more likely to come to me than their dad, even though their
dad would probably have come through it… Probably because I’m more open’.
This could in part be due to socialisation processes where the assumption that
females are responsible for raising and educating children is prevalent. This issue is
further complicated by the issue of non-nuclear families, where the male partner may
not be the child’s biological father and may therefore be assigned fewer
responsibilities within the family. To draw further conclusions about reluctance on
the part of child to approach the male partner, or indeed the male partner to talk
about sex and sexual health to children a larger study would be required where
comparisons between biological and non biological parenting could be made.
3.3.3 Older generation
Interestingly whilst parents were now confident talking to people about sex and
sexual health the exception to this rule was with their own parents. The majority of
the parents in the sample had received very little or no sex education from their
parents and still felt unable to raise and discuss the topic with them.
‘I wish my mother would do something like this because she’s so old fashioned
it’s unbelievable. I think the first time she mentioned sex I was about thirty’.
‘I still can’t talk to my mum’.
On the whole parents did not feel that this was a significant issue but parents valued
the idea that they were ‘breaking the cycle’ and making sure their children wouldn’t
experience the same thing.
‘There was only my mum about but we never spoke about stuff like that it was
more learn it from your friends, when you’re in the situation… the stories that I
heard I was like oh my god, using plasters [as sanitary towels]’.
However a couple of parents felt that their parent’s manner still presented a problem,
particularly where there was frequent contact between grandparents and children.
These parents were concerned that their mothers’ attitude was apparent to their
grandchildren.
‘I mean I’ve spoke to my mum about it and she’s still like, ‘Oh you can’t be
telling them those things’. There’s certain things that I can say to my mum and
she’d be like, ‘Ooh’ she’d say things like, ‘Well I didn’t tell you things like that’,
and I was like, ‘No, I had to learn it the hard way, or not know it at all’.
One parent reported that as a result of this concern they had encouraged their
mother to attend the Speakeasy course.
PARENT: ‘With my mum, when there’s even just some kissing on the telly she
turns it over doesn’t she’?
SON: If you stop at her house… she’ll say, ‘bed’ [When there’s kissing on
television], and it’s like half eight, she’ll tell me to get to bed, ‘That’s naughty
that is’.
INTERVIEWER: ‘Have you tried talking to her about the Speakeasy course’?
Page 31 of 50
PARENT: ‘She’s actually doing the Speakeasy course now! She started about
two weeks ago. My sister more or less drummed it into her that she should do
it really because it would help because of the way she is with the kids really’.
3.3.4 Young people as role models
Young people reported that they had learnt more as a result of their parent attending
the Speakeasy course.
SON: ‘With mum being on the course she bought leaflets back and I learnt
more’.
Throughout the interviews it was apparent that this increased knowledge was often
shared by the young people. Young people reported that they had shown the
leaflets from the course to their friends, and whilst occasionally their friends had
laughed and joked about them, they had found them useful.
SON: ‘I’ve showed the leaflets what she bought back to some, to a few of my
close mates… they didn’t think of it seriously, they laughed, they was laughing
at the pictures’.
PARENT: ‘When they was left on the coffee table they were picking them up
and having a good read’.
One young person also brought them to school for a sex education lesson and
reported that the teacher was unaware of some of the content and as a
consequence structured some of her lesson around the leaflet.
SON: ‘I’ve shown a few people when I took them into school, when we was
doing sex education and then showed them the teacher and then she tried to
do a bit about it because there were things she didn’t know’.
Some young people reported that they had also spoken to their friends about their
parent and the Speakeasy course. In some instances they had been able to direct
and help their friends further, for example as the quote below shows;
DAUGHTER: ‘I told them that my mum’s got condoms they say, ‘Ah, that’s
weird’, because sometimes you wouldn’t expect your mum or your dad to say
‘I’ve got condoms tell your friends that I’ve got them and I’ll leave them out in
the open’ and some of them have asked me if I can get them some…’
PARENT: ‘Which I’m happy because she knows that whatever, the condom is
the safe method’.
Parents encouraged this openness, and hoped that the correct knowledge would be
spread by their children.
‘I don’t really mind if they tell their friends that my mum does this because it
actually helps the next child who’s parent has not done this course’.
‘And obviously if the two of them know, maybe they’ll pass it on to their friends
and if they’re getting the right information it’s better than not’.
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Young people often observed that the way they now thought about sex was different
from a lot of their peers at school. It was unclear if this had an impact on young
people, however, this is an interesting finding which warrants further investigation.
DAUGHTER: People at school talk about it like it’s something dirty and sordid
but I just read that [the course material] and it was different and wasn’t
embarrassing’.
DAUGHTER: ‘In science you get about one lesson of sex education and like
it’s all people giggling like when they say stuff about sperm, everyone just
bursts out laughing and I’m sitting in the corner like that’ [SHRUGS].
They also observed that other parents were not as open with their children as their
parent now was.
DAUGHTER: ‘They [boys] try to make girls like scared of it, they use dirty
words and things and like I saw some people who’ve went up to their mums
and their mums have started shouting cause like all the words that they use,
they don’t use like the proper words’.
Parents also pointed to the importance of their children’s attitudes in the future,
suggesting that they would be better equipped to educate their own children.
‘We need a course like this just everywhere, just let every parent know, so we
change our community because by the time she becomes a mother she will
have all the knowledge, she will know that it’s easy to, to tell my child at an age
of this to say, ‘This is what you see, this is what you do’ ’.
3.3.5 Involvement with sex education
Some participants talked of a heightened awareness of issues surrounding sex,
sexual health and sex education as a result of attending the Speakeasy course and
reported that they now followed stories in the news and kept aware of policy
developments.
As part of the course parents learnt what was taught in schools and were often quite
shocked at what they felt was an inadequate sex education curriculum.
‘[NAME] went through what the school teaches and that and it’s not on the
curriculum or anything like that and we was all really shocked at it, and we all
said that it should really be on the curriculum’.
When I told him about the course [partner] he was like, ‘Don’t they do that at
school’ and that was it, and it was like, ‘Well they do’, which is what I thought
they do as well, but from what the sort of things that we was learning, they’re
not even learning that at school’.
This highlighted the importance of educating young people about sex in all of the
participants. All of the parents felt that educating their children was very important
and their responsibility, and many of the parents reported that they would provide
information and advise other young people where suitable opportunities arose.
Having learnt what children were taught in schools parents also felt strongly about
the school’s involvement in sex education.
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‘It’s become more important to me, It’s only since doing the course, that I can
actually see, I’ve always wanted to be open and everything but since doing the
course at the school I think it’s important that the school takes an involvement
as well’.
‘I think this sort of thing [Speakeasy leaflets] should be available in schools and
things like that, in science labs or what have you’.
As a result some parents had become involved in directing the future policy.
‘Yes I got the PSHE policy and the sex ed policy and it was rubbish, rubbish,
and we’re rewriting it’.
Two parents also reported that they were now attending a Speakeasy facilitators
course and hoped that in the future they would help more people to be open with
their children.
With their increased knowledge and relaxed attitude towards discussions of sex
young people also reported that they realised that the sex education provided by
schools was often inadequate or ineffective.
SON: ‘At school I didn’t really take it in but then at [youth club] they’re like,
more friendly and then you could take it in off them cause you got to speak to
them and not be shy’.
SON: ‘We watched a video, I remember that, but that’s about it, it weren’t over
a long period of time but we haven’t been taught it since, it’s the little things
that pop up in a lesson’.
PARENT: ‘What year was that’?
SON: ‘That was in year seven’?
PARENT: ‘And you’re in year nine now, it is pretty bad really’.
SON: ‘I think there should be more just to keep you on top of it like, especially
when you’re going through teenage years’.
SON: ‘It’s not really good cause once you’re round like a lot of your friends
like… who you don’t like, really know well, then you’re shy and that’.
It is important that these young people, who may become parents in the future, are
both conscious of what they feel to be an inadequate education and are being raised
in families where they are encouraged to ask, learn and share information so that in
the future they feel able to pass this knowledge on to their own children and ensure
their education is complete.
‘By the time she becomes a mother she will have all the knowledge’.
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Chapter 4. Summary and Conclusion
This report represents the Trust for the Study of Adolescences’ findings in an
evaluation of the Birmingham Speakeasy course. The report aimed to examine how
successfully the course was achieving its aims for parents and also to explore the
effects on parent-child dyads and the wider effects of the Speakeasy course. These
aims were achieved through the analysis of ten in-depth interviews held with parents
who attended the course and the children of those parents.
It is important to note at the outset that the findings from the evaluation are not
generalisable. The findings provide insight into the experiences of ten parents who
attended the Birmingham Speakeasy course, and their children. These findings are
valuable because they provide an in-depth understanding of how the course had an
effect upon the people who attended, their family and their friends. However, they
cannot be said to represent what all parents will obtain through attending. Indeed it
must also be kept in mind that the interviews are conducted with parents who had
successfully completed the Speakeasy course and who were motivated to attend
interview. Therefore there may be a significant bias in the sample; those who failed
to complete the course or declined to be interviewed may have had a very different
experience.
The analysis shows that, in keeping with previous evaluation, the Birmingham
Speakeasy course is achieving its aims for parents. Parents reported that the
course was a very positive and enjoyable experience. Parents valued the
opportunity to learn and specifically the opportunity to learn about STIs and
contraception. People who attended the course felt that their factual knowledge had
been greatly increased through attendance. Increased confidence in talking about
sex, sexuality and sexual health issues was reported, this was in part due to
increased factual knowledge and also as a consequence of learning how to
communicate with children about a variety of different topics. Parents felt that they
were now more open with their children. Attending the Speakeasy course had
encouraged some parents to become actively involved in other courses.
The parents and young people felt that the course had a positive impact on their
relationship. Parents reported that being on the course acted as a prompt to discuss
of sex with their children and felt that this was extremely useful as they had been
unsure how to raise the subjects with their children.
Through opening discussion, parents and young people learnt a lot about each
other’s level of knowledge. Young people found it very important to know that their
parent’s had a good knowledge as this increased their confidence to ask their
parents questions. Parents were often shocked to discover what their children knew
but found it was useful to know that they had some common ground upon which to
build. By judging their children’s knowledge, parents were able to see how much
information they felt they needed to give their children.
The course reduced the embarrassment associated with discussion of sex. Perhaps
due to their upbringing (where they did not discuss sex with their parents) the adults
in the sample often reported that they felt embarrassed or didn’t know what to say to
their children about sex. The young people had previously observed this in their
parents. Some young people reported that initially they felt embarrassed about
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talking to their parent which could have been a learnt behaviour from their parent.
However, several of the young people reported that they would happily talk about
sex and sexual health to people but did not with their parent because they could see
their embarrassment. Both parents and young people found that upon discussing
sex their embarrassment quickly diminished. By reducing the embarrassment
associated with discussions of sex parents and young people reported that they had
more confidence in approaching each other and were more open about discussing
sex. Some dyads reported that discussing sex was a more natural and normal
conversation now.
Throughout the interviews a discourse of change was observable which was
attributed to the Speakeasy course. Some dyads reported that the family now had a
greater understanding of its members and the influence that puberty and hormones
have.
The Speakeasy course was observed to have effects not only on the parent and
child but on a much wider circle of family and friends. The most frequently reported
finding was that people’s friends were very interested in the course and looked to
those who had attended the course for advice. Parents felt equipped to help, had
passed on leaflets, and felt able to direct people to other sources of help. As a
consequence of the course parents felt that they were able to talk to many different
people about sex and sexual health and no longer considered it a taboo subject.
Parents reported that they were happy to talk to their children’s friends about sex
and several parents mentioned that they had been approached and discussed
matters with these young people. The open nature of discussion of sex in the
household meant that in some instances, without the young person’s friends
approaching the parent, the young person had witnessed discussions of sex
between the parent and their child.
Partners of the people who attended the course were interested in the course and
supportive, however, there was little to suggest that they had been significantly
influenced by their partner’s attendance. Most of the responsibility for sex education
lay with the mothers of the young people. This finding is further complicated by the
small sample size and the fact that some of the male partners were biological
fathers, some were long-term partners and some were relatively new partners, this
has a significant impact on where responsibility for sex education lies within the
family.
Interestingly, despite people’s confidence in discussing sex openly a significant
proportion of the sample reported that they still felt unable to discuss sex with their
mothers. This is perhaps due to the long-established relationship where sex is not
discussed and is taboo. Most parents found that this was no longer an issue,
however, where there was a high level of contact between the grandmother and child
parents occasionally showed some concern about the influence of the grandparent.
Young people reported that they were sharing information which they had gained
through their parent’s attendance on the Speakeasy course. Pamphlets from the
course were often shared between friends and young people occasionally reported
that they talked to their friends about their parent’s Speakeasy course. Young
people also observed that they now had different attitudes towards sex and sex
education than some of their peers at school. It is unclear if their changed attitudes
had an effect on their friends.
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There was a heightened awareness of issues surrounding sex and sex education in
the parents who had attended the Speakeasy course. Some parents had gone on to
become actively involved in sex education either through changing school policy or
by training to become Speakeasy facilitators. Young people observed that they were
now aware of the inadequacies of sex education.
The fpa currently make an assumption, based on previous evaluation work, that in
general, 50% of the people who attend the course have a partner and each person
who attends has an average of two children. The fpa assumes that the Speakeasy
course benefits each of these people and also suggests that on average two more
people are benefited through one person’s attendance on the course. This report
cannot confirm these suggestions but gives an insight which implies that these
assumptions may have some foundation.
This report can be viewed as a necessary pilot study for further investigation into the
wider effects of Speakeasy. Whilst studying a small sample though qualitative
methods will never provide quantifiable generalisable data, a qualitative investigation
is essential to provide data to suggest where and who the course benefits prior to
large scale study. The findings from this pilot could be used to direct further
investigation into the wider effects of the course and these could become the focus
for a larger quantitative investigation.
By itself, this report suggests that the Birmingham Speakeasy course is successfully
meeting its aims for parents, that the course has a positive effect on the parent-child
dyad, and that the Speakeasy course has a number of wider effects. Viewed as the
beginning of a larger piece of work this evaluation also suggests a number of
significant avenues where the positive effects of Speakeasy are present and could
benefit from investigation.
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References
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative
Research in Psychology. 3, 77-101.
Burns, S. (2004). Fpa Speakeasy: Longitudinal outcomes study and year three
evaluation. Final report prepared for fpa.
Coleman, L. Cater, S. Ramm, J. & Sherriff, N. (2007). Evaluation of the fpa
Speakeasy course for parents: 2002 to 2007. Report prepared for the fpa: London.
Kvale, S. (1996). Inter Views: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing.
Sage: UK
Patton, M. Q. (1990) Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Sage:
Newbury Park, CA.
Sheriff, N. & Coleman, L. (2006) Speakeasy Parenting Fund Evaluation: Supporting
professionals working with young people around sex and relationships. Report
prepared for the fpa: London.
Silverman, D. (2001). Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for analysing talk, text,
and interaction. London: Sage.
Stanley, L. & Wise, S. (1993). Breaking Out Again: Feminist ontology and
epistemology London: Routledge.
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Appendices
Appendix A
Interview Schedule
Appendix B
Participant Information Sheet
Appendix C
TSA research ethics guidelines
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Appendix A. Interview Schedule
‘Speakeasy’
Interview Schedule – February 2008
Family Interviews - Birmingham
•
•
•
•
To increase parents confidence and communication skills with their
children
For parents to show a more positive and open approach to discussions of
sex, sexuality and sexual health
To increase parents factual knowledge around sex and sexual health
A step towards further learning/professional development for excluded
groups of parents.
•
Effects upon the parent and child relationship
•
Wider effects of the Speakeasy course
Introduction:
I’m nothing to do with the people who ran the course so they won’t know your
name or that it’s you who said what you did. Everything is confidential.
•
There are no right or wrong answers – I’m just interested in your views and
experiences, we want to find out how good speakeasy is and the effect on the
family.
•
Don’t worry if you can’t remember bits of the course, anything you tell us is
great. The interview should take around 25 minutes.
•
The reason we are doing this research is to evaluate how good the course is
and to try and make it better in the future, so if you didn’t like bits of it, it
would be great if you told me.
•
You don’t have to answer any questions which you don’t want to and we
can stop and you can withdraw from the interview any time you like
•
I will be making written notes of our conversation – no one outside of the
research team will see/hear them – it’s just so I can remember what we have
talked about. Is this ok?
•
May I record the interview – again, no one else will hear it.
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GENERAL - Parent
Do you remember what made you want to attend the course?
What memories stick out about the course?
Would you say that overall it was a positive or negative experience?
GENERAL – Child
Did you know that your mum had been on the course?
Did she tell you about it while she was on the course?
What did she tell you about?
MEMORIES and OPENNESS - Parent
How long ago did you do the course, do you think you remember much of it?
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What do you think the most useful topics were for you?
Do you think that you’ve used any of the things you remember in your daily life.
IMPORTANT QUESTION.
MEMORIES and OPENNESS - Child
Do you remember talking to your mum about anything from the course? What do
you remember the most? Was she really embarrassing?
Do you think she knows more stuff now, can she answer your questions better?
MATERIALS - Parent
Have you used any of the course materials, have you shown any leaflets?
MATERIALS - Child
What did you think of the leaflets?
CONFIDENCE/RELATIONSHIP - Parent
22. Do you think it has affected your confidence in raising topics?
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Do you think it’s affected your child’s?
Do you think going on the course has changed your relationship?
CONFIDENCE/RELATIONSHIP - Child
What do you reckon? Is it easier to talk to your mum now? Are there things you’d
ask which you wouldn’t before?
WIDER EFFECTS - Parent
Has the fact you’ve done the Speakeasy course affected any other people (e.g.
friends) or members of your family? For example, do they ask you questions, do they
want to do the course etc.? Do they communicate better about these issues?
Have you or are you aware of any fellow-speakeasy parents who have tried to
influence schools in relation to their sex and relationships education? If so, please
give some details…
WIDER EFFECTS – Child
Some of the young people I’ve spoken to say that their friends have asked them
about the course, or that they’ve shown leaflets to their friends, has anything like this
happened to you?
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CLOSE
Finally, is there anything else you would like to add or mention about the Speakeasy
course?
That’s all the questions about the course I have for you.
Vouchers
Is there anything else you’d like to mention about the course, any suggestions,
anything you’d like to ask me?
Thanks for your help
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Appendix B – Participant Information Sheet
Speakeasy Parents… Worried about your interview? Don’t be! Everything you tell me is confidential, your name or details won’t be in any reports. I’m not testing you! It doesn’t matter what you remember, and there are no right or wrong answers to any of the questions. If you didn’t like bits of the course you can tell me! No one will know that it’s you who said what you did, it’s important that we find out these things to try and improve the course. Page 45 of 50
You don’t have to answer any questions you don’t want to, and you can stop the interview whenever you want. Page 46 of 50
Appendix C - TSA ethical guidelines
TSA aims to maintain the highest ethical standards in its research work, and
regularly reviews its policies and procedures in this respect. These guidelines were
developed by the research team following a review of the ethical statements of a
variety of bodies involved in social research. The aim of these guidelines is to inform
TSA’s ethical judgements and decisions. The guidelines are presented in the
following sections:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Protecting participants in TSA’s research
Informed consent
Confidentiality and the use of information
Feedback
Disclosure
Expenses and payment
Organisational matters.
Each of these issues should be reviewed when research work is being planned.
PROTECTING PARTICIPANTS IN TSA’S RESEARCH
A range of people are involved in TSA’s research work, including practitioners,
young people, and parents. Whoever is to be involved in a TSA research project, it is
the responsibility of those involved in that project to think through the ethical issues
involved. All researchers have a responsibility to ensure that the physical, social and
psychological well-being of participants is not adversely effected by participating in
research.
All researchers should ask themselves a number of key questions when embarking
on a new research project at TSA. These include:
•
•
•
•
What are the possible risks and costs to participants, in terms of time,
inconvenience, distress, or intrusions on privacy?
How will the project deal with participants who become distressed, who
wish to withdraw from the project, or who disclose certain facts?
How will issues of power and status be addressed in the research? How
can a relationship of trust and relative equality be established?
What issues are raised by the items below, such as informed consent and
payment? What additional information or advice is needed?
The main issues to be considered are discussed in the following sections.
INFORMED CONSENT
Participants must be informed of the purpose and nature of research in as much
detail as possible, in order for them to make an informed decision as to whether they
wish to participate or not. Researchers need to recognise and uphold the rights of
those who may not fully comprehend the aims or methods of a piece of research,
and who might feel over-awed by a professional adult. Researchers must make clear
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to all participants that it is their choice as to whether or not to participate in research,
and work to ensure that individuals do not feel pressured to participate. Ensuring
informed consent must also include ensuring that participants realise that they can
withdraw from the research at any stage, without needing to give a reason.
Where the participant is aged under 16, a decision must be made about whether the
parent/carer of the young person should be informed about the research, and if so
whether their consent for a young person to participate is needed. TSA has no fixed
view about gaining parental consent, and believes the decision should be based on
the competence of the young person to make an informed choice about participation.
In some cases, for example in schools, the school itself will make a decision about
whether their pupils can participate in research, and will act in loco parentis in this
respect. However, this does not replace the need to secure the individual consent of
each young person involved.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND THE USE OF INFORMATION
Those who agree to participate in TSA research projects should be told that all the
information they provide will be treated in confidence, and that their anonymity will be
protected. A full explanation of what this means in practice should be given. This
could include, for example, saying that in school-based research teachers will not be
told what pupils have said; also in family research young people will not be told what
their parents have said, and vice versa.
Participants must be told as early on as possible that there is one exception to this
rule. This is where a participant discloses that they or someone else is at risk of
‘significant harm’. Where this happens the researcher has a duty to inform another
professional (see also the section on Disclosure below). TSA also has specific Child
Protection guidelines which further address this issue.
Participants must also be told at the beginning of the research how the information
will be used, for example as statistical information, individual quotes, or case studies.
They should also be told in what format the information will be reported, for example
as books, articles, and in conference presentations. In all such work, it is important to
stress that this will be done in a way that ensures that the individuals concerned are
not identifiable. Participants should also know that, in accordance with the Data
Protection Act, they have a right to see any information that TSA holds in relation to
them.
FEEDBACK
People who participate in TSA research should, wherever possible, be given
feedback about the results of the research. The participants should be told about the
nature of the feedback they will receive at the beginning of the project. At times it
may be more appropriate to feedback to organisations rather than individuals, but it
is the researcher’s responsibility to ensure that all those who participated receive
feedback if they want it.
DISCLOSURE
During the course of a research project, if someone discloses that they (or someone
else) is at risk of ‘serious harm’, then the researcher has an obligation to inform
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another professional who can act to protect the individual. Where this happens the
researcher must inform their line manager immediately, in order to agree the most
appropriate person/ organisation to contact. The researcher should inform the young
person what they are going to do, and what the next steps may be. As stated earlier,
all participants must be told from the start that this will happen if they make a
disclosure of this kind, so that they are aware of the consequences of disclosing
during the research.
There may be times when a research participant is not considered at risk of
immediate harm, but the researcher is concerned about their well-being. In this
circumstance, the researcher should ensure that the participant receives information
on helping organisations and sources of support. Note: TSA’s Child Protection
guidelines address these issues in greater detail, and all researchers are required to
follow these procedures.
EXPENSES AND PAYMENT
All participants should receive reimbursement for any expenses incurred during the
course of a research project, such as travel expenses. TSA has no fixed views on
whether participants should be given a ‘thank you’ when participating in research.
Where this is offered, it should ideally be in the form of a voucher. However, it is
acknowledged that this decision cannot be made in isolation to the funding available
for a particular project. There may also be practicalities involved, such as the large
numbers of young people involved in school-based research – in these
circumstances it may be appropriate to provide an organisational thank-you, such as
by providing materials for the library. Ideally, payment should only be offered to
participants after they have agreed to take part.
ORGANISATIONAL MATTERS
As a research organisation, TSA as a whole is responsible for maintaining the
highest ethical standards in research. A number of organisational structures and
policies aim to ensure that this is achieved. These include:
•
All TSA’s research applications/projects are considered by the Trustees’
Sub-Committee on Ethical Standards.
•
TSA is committed to employing qualified and competent researchers. All
its researchers receive regular line management, to ensure that all ethical
issues raised are discussed and addressed.
•
All TSA’s researchers are subject to checks by the Criminal Records
Bureau.
•
TSA is committed to ensuring the personal safety of researchers. It will
ensure that researchers are protected in terms of personal safety, by such
things as the use of mobile phones and identity cards, and the use of a
monitoring system for checking researcher whereabouts and activities.
(See separate document ‘Safety of Researchers During Fieldwork’ for
further details).
•
TSA is committed to following the ethical procedures of other bodies
where appropriate, for example NHS Research Ethics Committee where
appropriate.
•
TSA is committed to protecting the security of all data collected, following
the guidelines provided within the Data Protection Act (see separate
document).
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•
Finally, TSA is committed to the regular review and updating of these
guidelines, which will take place at least once a year.
TSA Research Team
Last updated November 4th 2005
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