Puberty Sexual Education For Boys And Girls 1991 Belgium 2021 -

From "Biology & Blushing" to "Consent & Clicks": 30 Years of Puberty Education in Belgium (1991 vs. 2021)

If you walked into a Belgian classroom in 1991, the sexual education curriculum looked vastly different than it does today. Over the course of thirty years, the conversation around puberty has shifted from a hushed, biological necessity to an open, socio-emotional dialogue.

Here is how the landscape of puberty and sexual education transformed for boys and girls in Belgium between 1991 and 2021.

Part III: Head-to-Head Comparison (1991 vs. 2021)

Part V: A Tale of Two Adolescents

To humanize the shift, consider two fictional Belgian teens on their 13th birthday.

Julie, 1991 (Liège): Julie gets her period. She hides the stained underwear in the bottom of the laundry. She doesn't tell her father. At school, the nun separates the girls and shows a diagram of a uterus. No one mentions that sex might feel good. A boy pulls her bra strap in the hallway; the teacher says "he likes you." She feels confused and ashamed. In 1991, Belgium was still heavily influenced by

Liam, 2021 (Ghent): Liam discovers he might be bisexual. He doesn't panic. In his "social and emotional learning" class last semester, they watched a video about a boy who liked boys. His teacher uses they/them pronouns. He has a "red card" (a flag system card) in his backpack to show his friends when a joke crosses a line. He still feels awkward, but he knows exactly where to go (the Sensoa chat line) for answers.

1. The Landscape in 1991

General Context:

In 1991, Belgium was still heavily influenced by Catholic moral traditions, although secularization had progressed since the 1960s–70s.
HIV/AIDS was a major public health crisis (first recognized in the early 1980s), which pushed governments toward reactive sexual education, focusing on risk prevention rather than holistic development.
Puberty was rarely discussed openly in co-ed settings; teaching was often gender-segregated (boys and girls separated for biology lessons on reproduction).

Content and Approach (1991):

Focus: Biological mechanics of reproduction (menstruation, ejaculation, fertilization), sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) – especially HIV – and contraception as a medical/technical issue.
Puberty: Taught primarily as a physiological process. Emotional and psychological aspects were minimal. Body image, consent, or sexual pleasure were not addressed.
Gender differences: Girls received detailed instruction on menstruation and pregnancy prevention; boys on wet dreams and condom use. Little emphasis on mutual respect or shared responsibility.
Materials: Booklets from the Flemish Institute for Health Promotion (VIG) and French-speaking SIDACTION (founded 1989) focused on fear-based HIV prevention. Diagrams of reproductive organs and contraceptive methods were common.
Parental involvement: Low. Many parents felt embarrassed or ill-equipped. Schools were the primary source, but lessons were often limited to one or two hours in biology or "natural sciences" (typically in 6th grade of primary, around age 11–12).

Limitations (1991):

No mandatory, standardized curriculum across all schools (especially Catholic schools could opt for abstinence-focused messaging).
Puberty-related issues like masturbation, same-sex attraction, or gender identity were taboo.
Little attention to digital safety (internet was not publicly available).
Disabled or neurodivergent youth were largely excluded from sexual education.

The Political and Religious Landscape

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.

The Status Quo: Most schools were "official" (state-run) or "free" (Catholic-affiliated). In Catholic schools, which educated over 60% of children, sexual education was often folded into "moral or religious studies."
The HIV/AIDS Crisis: By 1991, the fear of AIDS was at its peak. Condom campaigns were controversial. This fear acted as the primary catalyst for change, forcing conservatives to acknowledge that silence was deadly.

Key Shifts for Boys and Girls