Sexuality Education in the Schools : A Comparison of Parent Opinion and Current School Curriculum

This paper assesses the opinions of 100 parents from a rural Midwestern state about sex education in the schools and compares them to the sex education curriculum offered by their school districts. Several demographic variables were also examined in order to look for correlations to restricted topic selection and/or older student age for topic introduction for sex education. Many significant differences in responses were found. Using these findings, the paper examines the relationship between parent opinion, current school curriculum and the research supported criteria for effective sex education. Practical implications and directions for future research are also discussed