EXAMINING THE CORRELATION OF SEXUAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH IN STUDENTS 1

Examining the Correlation of Sexual Education and Health in Students

By: Elizabeth Rose

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Professor Amber Barnes

April 24, 2020

 EXAMINING THE CORRELATION OF SEXUAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH IN STUDENTS 2

Introduction
Gap in the Scientific Knowledge
College has been a pivotal part of many student’s lives for years when it comes to

learning and taking off into adulthood, but it takes many years of schooling to prepare for such a

time. One could hope that a student is being adequately prepared for subjects other than the basic

math, science, English, and history, but it seems most prospective college students are entering

into a phase of experimenting and growth with little to no knowledge on how to keep themselves

safe in their newfound independence. One of which being sex. There is little research done to

determine if there is a correlation between high school sex education and the quality of safe sex

being had by college students. According the American College Health Association from 2011,

“Students come to college education that has ill-prepared them for the sexual realities they

experience. The vast majority of students are engaging in sexual acts.” (American College

Health Association, 2011). A study conducted by Alison Buck and Kylie Parrotta in 2013 during

a summer college course had the students create their own high school sex education curriculum.

The curriculum the students created were based on their personal beliefs and on what should be

taught in high school, as well as information gained from reading an excerpt from Risky Lessons

by Jessica Fields and from the article “Women and their Clitoris,” by Waskul. The data collected

from this study showed a direct correlation between formal sex education and improved sexual

health.

Background

A research study done on sex education for high school students in Mexico in 2017,

Sexual and reproductive health outcomes are positively associated with comprehensive sexual

education exposure in Mexican high-school students, looked surveyed their students on different

sexual and reproductive health knowledge and then split the data collected up by gender and age
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to determine what areas students were lacking exposure to, based on those variables (Castro, et

al, 2018). The data collected showed that the students had a 97% (generalized) exposure to

sexually transmitted infections education, 97.2% of HIV education, and 97.7% exposure to

reproductive information (Castro, et al, 2018). The research done and the data collected in the

study confirmed that there is a positive correlation between exposure to the comprehensive

sexual education improved the student’s sexual and reproductive health safety, including condom

use and whether they had a positive or negative attitude towards sex. Through our background

research we learned that only about half of the United States requires sexual education

(Guttmacher Institute, 2015).

Research Purpose and Proposal

The purpose of our study is to determine if students are receiving adequate sexual

education courses in high school to make competent and healthy sexual decisions in college.

According the American Sexual Health Organization one in two sexually active people will

contract an STI by the time they turn 25 (Cates JR, et al., (2004)), which is around the time

students graduate from college. According to the CDC, in 2016 30% of abortions were given to

the 20-24 year old age group, which is the highest percentage compared to the other age groups

listed (all of maternal age) (Jatlaoui, T. MD, et. Al., 2019, Table 4). This information should be

alarming to society as a whole, but especially those teaching high school sex education

curriculum. Both STIs and unwanted pregnancies can be easily prevented with the proper

knowledge on contraception and safe sex practices. Because of data like what is stated above, we

believe it is important to find out if students are receiving the sexual education necessary to make

healthy choices when concerning sex in college, and if so, are they using their knowledge to

make the healthiest decision or are they not taking into account when they are having sex (which
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we defined as vaginal, anal, and/or oral sex). Through our study we will also take into account

whether the student’s sex education in high school left a big enough impact on them for the

student to remember if they even had sex education. Because I am someone who did not receive

sex education beyond a basic biology lesson in high, but have in college, I realize there are some

imperative lessons that I, like many other college students I am predicting, missed out on.

Methods

Study Population

Because the research we are conducting is meant to find the correlation between the

quality of high school sex education and the competency of a college student to make healthy sex

decisions our study population is University of North Florida undergraduate students aged 18 to

25 years old. We decided to study only University of North Florida students because there are a

variety of students who come from different counties and states with different standards for their

sex education curriculum. We also decided to only study the undergraduate students 18 to 25

because at that point most of the students are still basing their knowledge on sexual and

reproductive health from what they learned in high school. We wanted to keep this study as

unbiased as possible and after those ages we feel that personal experiences or college would

hinder their recollection on their high school sex education courses. We will not be taking any

data from surveys completed by students under the age of 17, because it is not possible to obtain

parental consent, nor will we be taking information from someone who is older than 25 or who is

not currently a student at the University of North Florida.

Reaching the Study Population

The survey will be sent to the student’s email to ensure that all students enrolled at the

University of North Florida will have an opportunity to take the survey. The incentive of a
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smoothie coupon will be used in hopes that it will entice more students to complete to survey

fully. The coupon incentive was chosen because it is not something the student couldn’t pass up,

but also something that college students can appreciate without feeling pressure to take it. The

students will have the entirety of the spring semester (January 8 to April 24) to complete the

survey, which is about 5 months. 500 surveys is the goal to receive, with an equal representation

of male and female students.

Survey

The qualitative study will ask the student’s general questions about age and gender

identity to begin with. These questions will be used to weed out individuals who do not meet the

criteria of the survey, as well as to see if there are any correlations or discrepancies in the data

related to the student’s gender identity. The survey that was chosen is a revised version that what

was originally given in a trial run based off of questions and confusion those being surveyed had.

The data being collected includes if the student did, did not, or does not remember receiving sex

education in high school and if they did receive sex education in high school, what kind of sex

education (Abstinence-based contraceptive-based, comprehensive, or other). The survey will also

ask the student if they are or have been sexually active from the beginning of high school up

until now (vaginal, anal, or oral sex), or if the prefer not to state. It will then ask how often does

the student or their partner use contraception (defined as male or female condoms) when

engaging in sexually active if they said yes to the previous question. The student will then have

the answer choices always, sometimes, rarely, never, or N/A. They will then be asked to check

off any and all contraceptive forms they or their partners have used. The contraceptives listed

will include any form of birth control (IUD, hormonal pill, contraceptive injection), condoms

(male or female), an emergency pill (i.e. plan B), the “pull out” method, other (the student will
 EXAMINING THE CORRELATION OF SEXUAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH IN STUDENTS 6

fill in this space), N/A, or I did not answer yes to the question above. The student will then be

asked to answer whether or not they feel their high school education adequately prepared them

for college based on their personal sexual experiences. They will then be given the options to

answer agree, somewhat agree, neutral, somewhat disagree, disagree, and N/A, as well as being

asked to write why they feel that way to understand the student’s definition of each of those

answer choices. From there the student will be asked to write if they feel the University of North

Florida has adequately informed them on safe sex practices to first understand if there is anyway

that colleges can be improving to help their student’s sexual health and well-being, as well as to

take into account anyway the University of North Florida could have influenced their sexual

health and behaviors.

Although the survey is completely anonymous, we do expect there to be some hesitation

towards answering the survey provided, given the personal nature of the question. Any student

who feels uncomfortable answering the survey will be assured that it is completely anonymous

and that they will be given no judgement as well as no follow questions or health lesson. If the

student still feels uncomfortable answering the survey they will not be made to do so. The

students who do take the survey will be offered a smoothie coupon once they complete the

survey.

Timeline

Because the participants are all over the age of 18 and because it is anonymous and no

identifying information will be taken, we do not need consent to use the data. The study will

have 8 months to take place. The surveys will be collected during the spring semester from

January 8 to April 24, 2020. We plan to zoom call each other throughout this process to make

sure the study is kept on track and we are meeting our goals throughout this time to have a
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sufficient amount of data to present out findings. This will allow for the students to have the

entirety of the spring semester to fill out the survey and for us to collect it. After the 5 months of

collecting the surveys, the data collected will be recorded which, depending on the amount of

surveys received, should take about a month, from April 25 to May 25 of 2020. Any surveys that

do not meet the criteria will be voided. From there correlations will be looked for throughout the

survey based on that answers given by the students. After all the surveys have been reviewed,

our team will begin working on our presentation, which should take about a month. All-in-all,

this research should take 7 months, From January 8, 2020 to July 8, 2020.

Data Analysis

We will be looking at if the student received a sexual education in high school, and if so

what type, and comparing it to their sexual health in college. We will be measuring their sexual

health based on their use of contraception and condoms, and how well they use them (meaning if

they use them every time, most of the time, sometimes, rarely, or never). We will also look into

whether or not they have received any sexual knowledge from their school either through

university provided information or classes they have taken. We will measure someone with

perfect sexual education and health as someone who received comprehensive sexual education in

high school, now use both condoms and contraception every time they have a sexual encounter,

and who feel their high school sexual education has prepared them enough for college. We will

not be basing any information off of a person who has remained abstinent, or how many sexual

partners a person has had, just they’re use of condoms and contraception and they type of sex

education they received in high school, if they received any sex education in high school, and if

they feel their high school sexual education has prepared them well enough for their college

experiences.
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Findings

Once the research study has completed, we will present our information to the

stakeholders in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. We will provide background information,

class lectures, and a summary of what and how we are planning to research. The stakeholders

will be provided with the appropriate graphs and charts needed to understand the data being

presented. Because of quarantine, the presentation will be given over a zoom meeting call, and a

date will eb coordinated to ensure all who need to attend will be available to. Stakeholders will

be given time at the end of the presentation to voice and questions or concerns they have. After

the research is complete, we plan on presenting the findings to the UNF students to provide

information on the correlation of proper sexual education and student’s sexual health. We hope

that our findings will inspire future research done on the topic of sexual education in high school

so students can receive adequate information to keep themselves and their partners safe and

healthy during sexual activities.

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References
Abortion Surveillance - United States, 2016. (2019, November 27). Retrieved from

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Advanced Solutions International, Inc. (n.d.). Home: American College Health Association

(ACHA). Retrieved from https://www.acha.org/

Buck, A., & Parrotta, K. (2013). Students teach sex education: introducing alternative

conceptions of sexuality. Sex Education, 14(1), 67–80. Doi:

10.1080/14681811.2013.830968

Castro, F. D., Rojas-Martínez, R., Villalobos-Hernández, A., Allen-Leigh, B.,

Breverman- Bronstein, A., Billings, D. L., & Uribe-Zúñiga, P. (2018). Sexual and

reproductive health outcomes are positively associated with comprehensive sexual

education exposure in Mexican high-school students. Plos One, 13(3). doi:

10.1371/journal.pone.0193780

Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ashasexualhealth.org/stdsstis/statistics/