Comprehensive Sexual Education Research

When discussing sexual health to students, it’s important to be inclusive and address every vantage point such as exploring the options for various sexualities and genders. Comprehensive sexual education ensures that every student is knowledgeable on different forms of birth control, methods of having protected sex, STI’s, and how to receive medical treatment for sexual health. It’s important to raise awareness on these topics, especially during puberty so that teens are prepared for sexual encounters in the future. This is why my focus is driven towards adolescents in middle and high school. Realistically, the student body is not composed of homogenous individuals who identify with heteronormative social norms. Instead, schools are rich in diversity
consisting of a multitude of sexualities, genders, ethnicities, and races.
My research hypothesis is that comprehensive sexual education is more effective than abstinence only education in terms of preventing unwanted pregnancies, STI/HIV contractions, and increasing contraceptive
use. This is because it teaches adolescent students more than just abstinence, but sexual strategies, medication, and treatments for all students to engage in safe sexual activities now or in the future. As an undergraduate college student, I have experienced abstinence only education first-hand during junior high.
Pupils are exposed to pictures of diseases, become well-aware of STI symptoms, memorize statistics of unwanted pregnancies, and learn the demographics of them. The general structure of the course was heteronormative with gender roles attached. For example, we emphasize the male use of condoms encouraging their sexual activity without shame. But, women are rarely taught the specifics of birth control methods specifically for her sexual organs, potentially shaming females for having any form of sexuality. The general audience of classrooms are assumed to be predominantly heterosexual, so schools don’t entirely address the precautions and tactics for other sexualities, such as homosexuals. As a result, this magnifies the stigma around comprehensive sexual education, reproaching teen-aged girls and LGBTQ adolescents from engaging in safe sexual activity and mystified about their reproductive
health. The types of sources that I will be using will include informative medical websites such as Planned Parenthood and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, providing me with recent statistics associated with adolescent sexual activity and STI/HIV contraction. Also, these educational sites include insight on various methods of contraceptives, pregnancy, sexual assault, and treatments for STIs. I will also read scholarly journals that consist of studies concerning sexual education, gender division, and including a multitude of sexualities in health class. I am going to interview UF students, faculty, and adults on campus providing me with a broad age range and assorted population. These interviews would take place in Turlington, Library West, Marston, and the Reitz consisting of questions on their health education experience, how it affected them, and their thoughts on comprehensive sexual education in middle/high school curriculum. This would allow me to have diverse and up-to-date data.