• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
• /
• v.4
• /
• pp.117-139
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this research lies in presenting logical viability for the measures that curtail access to lewd Internet contents by middle school students amidst the reality in which lewd contents are circulated freely through the Internet, a medium that the middle school students find most easy to access. In order to establish right form of awareness towards sex, this research identified the ways they access the lewd Internet contents, their reaction after the exposure to those contents, their knowledge of sex, their concerns regarding sex and their accessibility to sexual activities in order to conduct a comparative analysis on the relationship between lewd Internet contents and their awareness of sex. First, realities of accessing lewd Internet contents and reactions according to the demographics of middle school students There isa significant difference in the experience of accessing lewd Internet contents in terms of gender. Mostly, male students tend to access the contents more. As for the way they access the lewd Internet contents, both male and female students replied that they access through spam mail of lewd nature. Thus, measures to address this problem are needed urgently. As to when they first accessed the lewd contents, most of the research subjects replied that they accessed either in elementary school period or in the early middle school period. This shows that most of the students got exposed to lewd contents even before they could establish positive, correct awareness of sex. Thus, there is a risk that they may formulate wrong kind of sexual awareness. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop measures through focused sex education. Students are divided into two groups according to the time they spend on the contents averagely: those who spend over one hour and those who spend less than an hour on the lewd contents. If the students spending longer hours are not to be checked and properly guided, it may lead to increasing cases of sexual delinquencies due to their wrongly formed awareness of sex. When the question of existence(non-existence) of guardian was addressed, students with both parents tend to access the lewd Internet contents in a more diverse manner and tend to access more compared to those students from single parent or no-parent families. Accordingly, guardians need to pay attention to how their children are using the Internet. Second, awareness of sex depending on the middle school students' demographics In case of sexual knowledge, middle school students shows relatively high level of knowledge. In particular, female students are found more knowledgeable than male students, and the students in upper years are more knowledgeable as well. As a result, this research recommends that the students in lower years should be guided with more basc and detailed information, while those in upper years need to be taught to form and express their own thoughts and attitudes and to build up independence on this matter. In case of worries about sex, both male and female students don't worry too much about it. However, male students are more concerned about sex than female students in a more diverse ways. As for the differences by academic year, concerns for sex increase, as students get older. Accordingly, sex education that helps establish sound perception of the opposite sex and that focuses on the etiquettes that one must adhere to at the presence of the opposite sex need to be conducted against middle school students. In case of accessibility to sex, male students manifest higher tendency than female students. As for the differences by academic year, those in the first and second years show higher accessibility than those in their third year. In general, younger students tend to be more open-minded toward sex. Accordingly, students in lower academic years need to undergo basic knowledge oriented sex education, whereas those in upper academic years need to undergo discussion centered sex education where they subject to questions regarding their attitude and opinion. Third, relationship between the reactions after the exposure to the lewd Internet contents and their awareness of sex As the frequency of contact with lewd Internet contents increases, awareness of sex increases as well. Thus, the lewd Internet contents contribute to the increase in students' concern for sex as well as increase in accessibility to sex, which eventually become barriers to students' establishment of a healthy perception of sex. Reactions to sex after the exposure to lewd Internet contents and awareness of sex indicate a significant correlation. However, negative correlation is manifested with knowledge of sex. Thus, it is possible to know that the greater access to lewd Internet contents does not necessarily translate into increase in knowledge of sex. However, the study showed there is a correlation between concerns for sex and the level of accessibility to sex. In more detail, the more reactions to the contents they show, the more concerns for sex they have and the more positively they take acceptability to sex. Moreover, it is necessary to develop necessary measures since textbooks today do not include measures needed to address the lewd Internet contents. Given the above findings, it is necessary to continue to complement structural measures in order to prevent easy access of lewd Internet contents by middle school students. Moreover, it is necessary to be considerate of the students so that they themselves can form a healthy Internet culture and grow up within positive framework for the sex education.