In the Netherlands, students learn about sexuality gradually, starting as young as age four. This expansive sex-ed model has been credited with some of the world’s best outcomes for teen sexual health. Known as ‘Spring Fever’, the programme is centred around a week each March in which students learn about sex, love and relationships in a ‘shame-free’ environment. This documentary from the UK filmmaker Anna Snowball follows a group of pre-teens during Spring Fever as they attend lessons, engage in open discussions and submit anonymous questions for their teacher to address. Alongside an introduction to the Dutch system of comprehensive sex education, the film offers a charming window into to the awkward adolescent years – and all the giggling, camaraderie and self-discovery they entail.
What does the Dutch model of comprehensive, ‘shame-free’ sex-ed look like?
Director: Anna Snowball
Producer: Julia Ton
videoTeaching and learning
The vulva dialogues – inside a sex-ed class that rebels against genitalia shame
11 minutes
videoSex and sexuality
Virginity lost, perspective gained – four stories of formative sexual experience
15 minutes
videoChildhood and adolescence
Want an unvarnished window into the world of kids? Try cutting their hair
15 minutes
videoChildhood and adolescence
The aliens among us: close encounters of the teenage kind
6 minutes
videoSex and sexuality
For ages, solo sex was hardly taboo. What led to its centuries-long dry spell?
4 minutes
videoChildhood and adolescence
Children at play provide a rare glimpse into the imagination, ours and theirs
15 minutes
videoChildhood and adolescence
The police camp where tween girls enter a sisterhood of law and order
28 minutes
videoTeaching and learning
The school where children make the rules and learn what they want to learn
28 minutes
videoChildhood and adolescence
A project takes teens from war-torn regions to schools in Canada
25 minutes