A sexual health study of high school students at the 3 high schools in Kitakyushu City

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to clarify the actual sexual behavior and attitudes of high school students in Kitakyushu city, Fukuoka and then to develop effective sex education methods for high school students in this region. METHODS: This study investigated the sexual behavior and attitudes of 1,297 high school students in Kitakyushu by self-administered questionnaire. The differences in their answers by sex, prevalence of sexual intercourse and change in sexual behavior and attitude before and after the sex education lecture were examined. RESULT: 39.3% of the students had had sexual intercourse and 74.1% answered that they might have sex, if it were with a partner whom they loved. However, they did not have enough knowledge about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. This result shows that they did not recognize the risks accompanying sexual intercourse. There are significant differences between male and female students in their sexual attitudes. Male students tend to permit premarital sexual intercourse, unfaithfulness, prostitution, hiring a prostitute and abortion. Male students tend to give more approval to the following opinions: both men and women should agree to sexual contact if the partner wants it; men should take the initiative in sexual contact; women should not talk about sex. Many female students answered that women should make their own decisions to have or not to have sex, however a considerable number of female students answered that for their first intercourse, they just agreed with their partner even though they really did not want to do so. After the sex education lecture, the students have more knowledge about contraception and STDs. However, there is no significant difference in their sexual attitudes before and after the lecture. CONCLUSION: In order to facilitate more desirable and safer sexual behavior among the younger generation, it is not enough to simply give them knowledge about contraception or STDs, etc. To organize more comprehensive sex education, it is also important to pay enough attention to gender problems and other social factors such as family background or regional background, etc.