In the attic of their family home in Ghent, seventeen-year-old Lise was rummaging through an old box marked "1991." It belonged to her father, Johan. Inside, amidst old cassette tapes and faded concert tickets, she found a small, blue notebook.
In Flanders (the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium), the educational framework for sexual education was introduced in 1991, which recommended that schools provide information on human reproduction, puberty, and relationships. However, the approach was not always comprehensive, and there were variations in the quality and scope of sexual education across schools.
The 2021 teenager lives online. While 1991 teenagers worried about an awkward magazine letter, 2021 teenagers navigate: Title: The Two Notebooks In the attic of
In 1991, Belgium was still deeply marked by the School Pact of 1958 and the lingering cultural dominance of the Catholic Church, even as church attendance plummeted. Education was (and remains) a community competence (Flemish, French, and German-speaking), but sexual education was not mandatory.
, education now focuses on managing the intense emotional changes and "romantic" interests that emerge in middle school (grades 6-8). Equality and Respect , education now focuses on managing the intense
| Aspect | 1991 | 2021 | |--------|------|------| | For girls | Period shame, no mention of pain or PMDD | Period positivity, reusable products, endometriosis awareness | | For boys | Erections as “uncontrollable and embarrassing” | Normalized discussions, plus emotional literacy alongside physical changes | | LGBTQ+ | Invisible or pathologized | Fully integrated (e.g., puberty blockers mentioned for trans youth) | | Disability | Ignored | Adapted materials for intellectual/physical disabilities (e.g., “Groeiwijzer” for all abilities) |
It was a lie. He was thinking about the way the light from the classroom window caught the gold in her hair. He wanted to say something—something smooth, like the characters in the movies they used to make fun of—but the words felt heavy and clumsy in his mouth. but discussions of pleasure
The overarching pedagogical model in 1991 was risk prevention. The primary message, heavily gendered, was "don't get pregnant" for girls and "don't get (or spread) a disease" for boys. The 1991 Belgian version of sex ed was, in essence, a driver’s education course for the reproductive system. Condoms were demonstrated on wooden models, but discussions of pleasure, desire, or even enthusiastic consent were taboo. Homosexuality was at best mentioned as a pathological deviation, and more often simply ignored. Transgender or non-binary identities were not on the radar. For a boy attracted to other boys, or a girl who did not fit feminine stereotypes, the 1991 classroom was a place of profound invisibility and potential shame.