An Adolescent Perspective on Sexual Health Education at School and at Home: I. High School Students

In this study we assessed high school students attitudes toward and experiences with sexual health education (SHE) at school and at home. The participants were 1663 youths enrolled in Grades 9-12 in New Brunswick. Almost all students were in favour of SHE at school (92%). The majority (77%) also agreed that schools and parents should share responsibility for SHE although girls and Grade 12 students were more positive about parents and schools sharing this responsibility than boys and students in Grades 9 10 and 11. Most students thought that SHE should start in middle school and that each of 27 sexual health topics should be covered in middle school or before. About one half of students rated the quality of the school-based SHE they had received as fair or poor. They highlighted a need for more factual information as well as practical skills related to a wide range of sexual health topics. Over one half of students were positive about their most recent sexual health teacher and about two thirds rated the SHE they had received at home as good or better. Gender and grade level analyses indicated that overall these results apply to girls and boys and to students across the high school years. (authors)