Abstract
Introduction
Historically in the USA, divergent views about sex education have led to inconsistency in implementation. While state standards and mandates convey the wishes of legislatures and voters, understanding the impact of these state policies on the actual delivery of sex education is critical to planning, implementing, and evaluating the effectiveness of school-based sex education efforts.
Methods
This retrospective investigation used in-depth focus groups, as part of a broader study focused on first sex experiences conducted between 2011 and 2014. Researchers explored high school sex education experiences of seventy-four first- and second-year college students at a state University in New Jersey, a state with a sex education mandate, and strong comprehensive sex education state learning standards.
Results
Despite being educated in a state which, through its policies and learning standards, is better than most at promoting comprehensive sex education, participants reported largely negative experiences of school-based sex education, characterized as too little too late and with a fear-based, abstinence, sex-negative, and heterocentric focus. Results describe a missed opportunity to provide young people with the knowledge and skills to grow into sexually healthy adults.
Conclusions
Strong policies and solid public support for a comprehensive approach to sex education are vitally important, but without accountability and enforcement mechanisms, may not be enough.
Policy Implications
This study suggests that in addition to a requirement that sex education be medically accurate, state legislatures and boards of education must adopt and strengthen provisions to make sure that high-quality sex education is actually being delivered.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge, with great thanks, the tireless work of our team of Graduate Assistants: Dawn Diamond, MPH; Chris Hellwig, MPH; Mikaela Kestler, MPH; Samantha Kwiatkowski, MPH; and Paul Santos, MPH.
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Eva Goldfarb and Lisa Lieberman contributed to the study conception and design as well as performed material preparation and data collection. Data analysis was performed by all authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Eva Goldfarb, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study was approved by the Montclair State University Institutional Review Board, study # L-000891.
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Goldfarb, E.S., Lieberman, L.L. & Bible, J. High School Sex Education in the Context of State Mandates and Policies in New Jersey: a Qualitative Retrospective Study of Student Experiences. Sex Res Soc Policy 19, 1968–1978 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00739-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00739-2