Sexuality education has long been framed by social and historical discourses that constitute its provision as a way of governing the child to conform to the moral order of the time. While these discourses position parents as ‘sexuality educators’, young people argue that parents need to ‘do’ sexuality education differently. This thesis focuses attention on the broader sexuality education landscape in New Zealand, where discourses of health and education inform parents’ sexuality education practices. Within this thesis, I analyse 12 focus group interviews with 45 parents of children (aged 11-14 years) to consider how they experience and make sense of their role as sexuality educators in Aotearoa New Zealand. In order to do so, I use thematic analysis informed by a feminist post-structural approach focusing on discourse and subjectivity. My analysis of findings illustrates a complex landscape where neoliberal notions of individual parental responsibility converge with children’s rights to sexual citizenship and educational policy. This landscape creates much uncertainty and anxiety for participants about their role as parents and sexuality educators.

While this thesis illustrates that participants are worried about how to protect their children from sexual harm, most participants recognise their children as sexual agents. My analysis draws attention to how participants are considering and devising new ways of ‘doing’ sexuality education with their children. Many are critical of moralistic and risk-based approaches that informed their childhood experiences. I argue that a relational ontology provides opportunities for parents to explore and critique the functions and purposes of sexuality education. My interest is in ways the ‘the parent as sexuality educator’ is being and can be reconfigured to highlight possibilities for doing things differently. The analysis in this thesis also draws attention to new ways of thinking about how parents are putting sexuality education to work with their children. I argue that there is a need for reframing the ‘parent as sexuality educator’ as a shared educational process that embraces educational uncertainty about knowledge—and the subject-ness (Biesta, 2022) of children in the present moment. I suggest this creates a space for parents and children to take up their interest and stake in the education process—whatever and whenever that may be. This inquiry offers valuable insight for a range of people working with/in sexuality education spaces, including affirming messages for parents as they negotiate uncertainty, risk, and possibilities as sexuality educators.