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pubmed:abstractText |
The emergence of AIDS as an untreatable, lethal disease, responding to educational prevention strategies in high-risk populations, has brought the issues of sex education in the public schools to the forefront. However, administrators, teachers, and parents perceive different barriers to sex education implementation. This study, undertaken in a northeastern, multigenerational, ethnic city, characterized by adolescent pregnancy rates a third higher than the state overall, polled 42 junior and senior high school administrators regarding educational priorities, perceived barriers to expansion of sex education, and preferred methods of introducing sex education. Administrators perceive parents as a major barrier to the introduction of more formalized sex education in their schools. Paradoxically, these same administrators felt that parents were generally uncomfortable in talking to their children about human sexuality. Recommendations are offered from existing models of health education for resolution of administrators' conflicting views on parental roles.
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pubmed:otherAbstract |
PIP: The emergence of Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease (AIDS) as an untreatable, lethal disease, responding to educational prevention strategies in high-risk populations, has brought the issue of sex education in the public schools to the forefront. Administrators, teachers and parents perceive different barriers to sex education implementation. This study, undertaken in a northeastern, multigenerational ethnic city, characterized by adolescent pregnancy rates 1/3 higher than the state overall, polled 42 junior and senior high school administrators regarding educational priorities, perceived barriers to expansion of sex education, and preferred methods of introducing sex education. Administrators perceive parents as a major barrier to the introduction of more formalized sex education in their schools. Paradoxically, these same administrators felt that parents were generally uncomfortable in talking to their children about human sexuality. Resolution of this apparent paradox between administrative perceptions and parental behavior may be achieved in a number of ways. One approach would be to pay more attention to what parents say they would do versus what they actually teach their children about sex. Findings from other communities' attempts to institute sex education in the public schools attest to parents' concerns, but also to the possibilities of working with parents to develop an acceptable sex education curriculum. For those administrators who plan to launch or expand a sex education curriculum, a body of data now exists to help anticipate and work through adult (parent and teacher) reactions.
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