School teachers' perceptions of the relative importance of cancer education in the United Kingdom.

Questionnaires were used to measure health education teachers' perceptions of the potential scope and relative priority of cancer education in UK schools. The results indicate that a majority (64%) of such teachers would be supportive, in principle, of both the theory and practice of school cancer education. However, the results also indicate that teachers do have reservations about the possible side effects of teaching about the cancers and about their relative importance in comparison to other health and ill-health topics. The qualitative findings strongly suggest that part of the explanation for these reservations lies in the assumption that all teaching about disease must employ negative methods and messages.