A Research Study on the Sexual Awareness of Teenagers. Their Parents and Teachers in an Urban Area

일부 시 지역 고교생.학부모.교사들의 성의식 조사

The specific purpose of this study was as follows: 1) To identify the level of sexual awareness and demand for sex education of teenagers, their parents and teachers. 2) To investigate the attitude toward and acceptance of heterosexual friendships by teenagers, their parents and teachers. 3) To identify the experience and direction of sex education of parents and teachers. For this purpose, this study selected 341 male and female teenagers at three high schools located in a city, 119 parents with high school students and 243 elementary/middle/high school teachers. The structured questionnaire was distributed to each of them and returned by them. This study was conducted over the period between June 1. 2001 and Aug 31. 2001. A total of 720 questionnaires were distributed to them and 703 were returned. Data analysis was conducted to obtain percentage and frequency using the SAS program. As a result, the following findings were obtained: Parents and teachers showed a similar attitude about sexual awareness, but teenagers showed a different attitude. In terms of the level of feeling of and interest in 'sex', teenagers, parents and teachers were comfortable in accepting it. As for sexual curiosity in puberty, 84.8% of the parents and 95.5% of the teachers responded that it was natural, whereas only 14.7% of teenagers responded that it was natural. But As for the item that 'sex is natural as one of human needs', 3.6% of the teenagers, 16.8% of the parents and only 1.2% of the teachers responded that it was not. As for the item that 'A man has a stronger sexual impulse than a woman', 6.1% of the teenagers, 16.8% of the parents and 17.3% of the teachers responded that it was not. 64.2% of the teenagers and 90.2% of the teachers responded that it was impossible to overcome the sexual impulse, whereas only 8.4% of the parents responded that it was possible. As for the item of masturbation, 64.5% of the teenagers responded that it was possible for male students and not possible for female students. 67.2% of the parents and 91.1% of the teachers responded that it was possible regardless of sex. As for the item of an attitude toward virginal purity, both the parents and teachers showed that virginal purity was important for both man and woman, but teenagers showed a weak awareness of virginal purity. As for the item, 'It is possible to have sexual intercourse with a lover during adolescence', 20.2% of the teenagers, 79% of the parents and 87.7% of the teachers responded that it was impossible. As for the item 'It is necessary to keep premarital virginal purity for a happy married life', 21.1% of the teenagers, 74.8% of the parents and 55.1% of the teachers responded that it was necessary, which shows that teenagers had a different opinion than parents and teachers. In case of pregnancy in adolescence, most of the responding teenagers, parents and teachers chose abortion. As for the item 'female refusal on male sexual approach', respondents accepted female refusal as they did for orders of teachers, parents and adolescents. As for item 'An assaulter is entirely to blame for sexual assault', all of three groups responded in the affirmative.