Unmet Needs in Sex Education—What Adolescents Aim to Understand About Sexuality of the Other Sex

Abstract

Purpose: Sex education programs need to modify their focus in light of changing societal norms and increasing exposure to pornography. This study investigates what adolescents want to know about the sexuality of the opposite sex. This will allow practitioners to adjust sex education curricula to the needs of adolescents, thereby supporting the establishment of healthy, respectful, and sexually fulfilling relationships.

Methods: Two thousand three hundred forty-three adolescents from the age of 11-19 years (123 classes) were asked to formulate questions addressed to the opposite sex as part of peer-led sex education classes, where girls and boys were divided into separate groups. Groups of 10-12 individuals each formulated about 11 questions, resulting in a total of 2,625 questions. The questions were categorized using content analysis.

Results: The largest portion of questions addressed sexual interaction (35.8%), with many questions further addressing sexual preference (e.g., oral sex, sex positions) and the logistics and qualitative aspects of first-time sexual intercourse. Adolescents were also interested in questions about the body (e.g., anatomy, body hair, 15.2%), relationships (e.g., love, dating, 13.9%), ideal characteristics of men/women (10.5%), masturbation (10.1%), and pornography (7.3%).

Conclusion: Adolescents show a high degree of interest in understanding the feelings and perceptions of the opposite sex. Acquiring this knowledge could be beneficial in building emotionally and physically fulfilling relationships. To increase adolescents' sexual and relationship competence, sexual education curricula should encompass pleasure and desire aspects of sexuality, initiating and managing relationships, societal ideals, and addressing pornography, in addition to sexual and reproductive health knowledge.