tailieunhanh - SEXUAL HEALTH EDUCATION A T SCHOOL AND A T HOME: ATTITUDES AND EXPERIENCES OF NEW BRUNSWICK PARENTS

However, the extent to which parents are actually providing quality SHE to their children is unclear. Respondents rarely identify their parents as a primary source of sexual health information (Ansuini, Fiddler- Woite, & Woite, 1996). Further, in one study, only 61% of students felt that their parents had done a good job providing them with SHE (McKay & Holowaty, 1997). Similarly, McKay et al. (1998) found that 70% of the parents they surveyed felt that most parents do not give children the SHE they need. Although 73% of the parents surveyed by McKay et al. (1998) felt that they had provided adequate SHE for their children, Welshimer and Harris (1994) found that only. | The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality Vol. 11 1 Spring 2002 19 SEXUAL HEALTH EDUCATION AT SCHOOL AND AT HOME ATTITUDES AND EXPERIENCES OF NEW BRUNSWICK PARENTS Angela D. Weaver E. Sandra Byers Heather A. Sears Jacqueline N. Cohen Hilary . Randall University of New Brunswick Fredericton New Brunswick Abstract This study examined the attitudes and experiences of New Brunswick parents regarding sexual health education SHE at school and at home. Over 4200 parents with children in grades K-8 in 30 New Brunswick schools completed surveys. Ninety-four percent of parents agreed that SHE should be provided in school and 95 felt that it should be a shared responsibility between school and home. Almost all parents felt that SHE should begin in elementary 65 or middle school 32 although there was not consensus on what grade level various topics should be introduced. The majority of parents supported the inclusion of a broad range of sexual health topics at some point in the curriculum including topics often considered controversial such as homosexuality and masturbation. Although parents indicated that they wish to be involved in their child s SHE most of them had not discussed any of a range of SHE topics in a lot of detail with their child. Parents also indicated that they want more information from schools about the SHE curriculum about sexuality in general and about communication strategies to assist them in providing education at home. Key words Sexual health education Schools Parents Parental attitudes Acknowledgment We would like to thank the parents who participated in this survey. We would also like to thank Mark Holland and Margaret Layden-Oreto of the New Brunswick Department of Education the Directors of Education and principals of the participating school districts Alexander McKay of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada Tricia Beattie Krista Byers-Heinlein Tammy Harrison Jamie Hart Justin Matchett Shelly Matchett and Jennifer Thurlow. We would