Sex Education Knowledge Differences between Freshmen and Senior College Undergraduates.

Abstract

Abstinence sexuality education (sex ed) is the only federally funded sex ed in the United States. The strict curriculum of this education does not educate American adolescents about safer sex practices and leaves a knowledge gap in these adolescents that follows them into college. THE PROBLEM: This project aimed to identify sex knowledge differences between freshmen and senior undergraduate students at a northeast private university. METHODS: The Acquisition of Sexual Information Test was taken anonymously online (MonkeySurvey.com) by freshmen and seniors at the selected university. The test covered the four areas of human sexuality: 1) venereal disease; 2) birth control, sexual relations, and reproduction; 3) male biological aspects of sexuality; and 4) female biological aspects of sexuality. RESULTS: The freshmen (n=52) and senior (n=40) groups were similar in gender, ethnicity, college attended within the university and type of sex ed received in high school. Overall, the senior students scored significantly higher (p=0.01) on the test compared to the freshman. More specifically, the seniors scored significantly higher in the sections on birth control, sexual relations and reproduction (p Keywords: abstinence education, human sexuality, venereal disease, birth control, sexual relations Introduction The aim of sexuality education (sex ed), through any curriculum, is to reduce the risk of negative outcomes from sexual behavior (e.g., pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, emotional turmoil) and to enhance the quality of relationships. The most effective method of obtaining this shared outcome is still highly controversial in the scientific literature, in schools, and in government. There are four main categories of sex education: comprehensive sex ed, abstinence-plus education, abstinence-only education, and no sex education [1]. Currently, only abstinence-only sex education programs are funded by the federal government. There is no federal funding for comprehensive sex education [1]. There is, however, funding for programs that promote HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) awareness and establish family planning clinics. Sometimes these monies can be funneled into sex education in schools, but on the whole, only abstinence-only programs receive federal funding [1]. Under federal mandate, funded abstinence-only sex education programs encourage abstinence until marriage and cannot mention contraception, or any forms of birth control or protection, unless it is to mention their limitations and failure rates [2]. There are serious problems with the federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs that leave adolescents with a gap in sexuality knowledge. Scientific investigations [3,4] have shown that abstinence-only education may delay sexual intercourse for a short time, however, when the youth does participate in sexual behaviors they are more likely to engage in unsafe sex than more educated peers, which may be due to their lack of knowledge about birth control or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In 2004, the Special Investigations Divisions of the U.S. House of Representatives reported that a majority of the curricula supported by the federal government contained false information [5]. This evidence suggests that not only are abstinence-only sex education programs not informing teenagers on STDs and contraception, but these programs are also misinforming our youth, thereby placing them at greater risk for harm. The question arises: do students who have been graduated from American high schools bridge the sexual knowledge gap while they are undergraduates in college? Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify sex knowledge differences between freshmen and senior undergraduate students at Syracuse University. …