Abstract:
Existing research points to a gap in knowledge regarding what teachers in
primary schools know about harmful sexual behaviour, and about how
they react and deal with this behaviour in the school setting. This article
sets out to better understand this gap based on results from a digital
survey carried out among teachers in primary schools in South-Eastern
Norway. Data were collected from 15 primary schools with a total of 159
respondents from a selection of 376 teachers, which makes up a
response rate of 42.3%. Findings from the survey show that teachers
report lack of knowledge about children who display problematic and
harmful sexual behaviour, and that they struggle to find an appropriate
response towards the behaviour when observed in school. The article
identifies both individual and systemic responses in schools that may
impede early intervention towards harmful sexual behaviour.