My Mother Said... The Way Young People Learned About Sex and Birth Control

Based on over 1500 interviews with a national random sample of 16- to 19-year-olds in 1974–5, originally published in 1978, My Mother Said… examines the sources of information encountered by young people during their early years which helped or hindered them in their acquisition of knowledge about sex and birth control.

The study explores teenage patterns of sexual behaviour and contraceptive practice and looks at the way in which learning and sexual behaviour are related. Interviews were also conducted with over 300 parents of the teenagers, their attitudes to and experiences of the provision of sex-related information being discussed and described in detail. The author’s findings suggest that, although sex education from parents and in schools had improved over the previous ten years, there was still considerable room for changes in attitude and education. By putting the young people’s views and experiences in perspective, the book would help teachers, parents and others concerned to develop sex education along lines which would meet the needs of the young at the time.