The Influence of Sex Education Experiences for Adults at a Private Religious Midwest University

• In Event: 21020 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7: Curriculum and Pedagogy

Abstract

This study explored the influence of receiving sexual education in secondary school on contemporary opinions of sex education using a novel questionnaire built upon empirical topics regarding sex education and previous surveys. We recruited students and faculty at a religious higher education institution and administered the survey online via Qualtrics. Participants were 140 self-identified students and faculty associated with a Religious University in the Midwest. Participants reflected on their past experiences with sex education by indicating topics that they were taught and what topics they reported as currently important. In the analysis stage, we will use multinomial logistic regression to understand how previous exposure to certain sex education topics (e.g., abstinence and gender identity) and demographic characteristics (e.g., religion) influence respondents’ opinions on what sex education should be available to secondary school children today. We hypothesized there would be significant differences in what participants believe current secondary school children should be taught based on what they were taught in secondary school, their religion, and their comfort with their perceived comfort with sex education survey. Preliminary results suggest that exposure to sex education topics does significantly predict the approval of the contemporary education of topics such as sexual orientation and information about porn.

Authors

• Anne Kaye Brown, Washington University in St. Louis

• Zarah S Robinson, Saint Louis University