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Jan, 2023;52 (1): 95-106.

Timing of Sexuality Education: Hong Kong Preteens' Perception of Sexual Health.

Monit Cheung, Patrick Leung, Shu Zhou, Miao Yu, Xin Chen, Amanda Ford, Yu-Ju Huang
Author Information
  1. Monit Cheung: Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
  2. Patrick Leung: Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
  3. Shu Zhou: Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
  4. Miao Yu: School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA.
  5. Xin Chen: School of Social Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
  6. Amanda Ford: College of Education and Behavioural Sciences, Houston Baptist University, Houston, TX, USA.
  7. Yu-Ju Huang: Department of Medical Sociology and Social Work, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan. yujuhuang2013@gmail.com. ORCID
PMID: 36376745 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-022-02471-9

Abstract

Although young people want to know more about sexuality, they do not feel they have received what they need to learn. In Chinese societies, scant research has solicited direct input from the youth to obtain their views on sexuality education (SE) deliverables. We found research gaps in the lack of Chinese preteens' input regarding SE timing, knowledge perception, learning readiness, and preteens' reasons for obtaining information about sexual health. In Hong Kong, a not-for-profit agency collected data from Chinese preadolescents who expressed opinions through a general survey. This agency surveyed students from 24 primary schools and provided anonymous secondary data for this team to analyze further. Among 4569 fifth- and sixth-grade students (average 11 years old), girls were more likely than boys to seek sex-related information from teachers, library books, and mothers. In contrast, boys were more likely than girls to obtain information from friends, pornographic comics, and the internet. Logistic regression analysis indicated that gender, age, instructional sources, openness to sexual health knowledge, and perceived and actual levels of knowledge predicted preteens' desire to receive SE earlier in grade school. Girls and older students were significantly more likely to report their preference to receive SE in an earlier grade. We recommend that preteens and their parents be encouraged to collaborate with teachers to participate in school-based SE programming.

Keywords

Child sexual abuse prevention Early timing Learning readiness Preteen sexuality knowledge Sexual health promotion

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MeSH Term

Male
Female
Adolescent
Humans
Child
Sex Education
Hong Kong
Sexual Health
Sexual Behavior
Perception
Journal Article
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Word Cloud

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