What One Gets Is Not Always What One Wants—Young Adults’ Perception of Sexuality Education in Poland

Zbigniew Izdebski, Joanna Dec-Pietrowska, Alicja Kozakiewicz and Joanna Mazur
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Zbigniew Izdebski: Department of Biomedical Aspects of Development and Sexology, Faculty of Education, Warsaw University, 00-001 Warsaw, Poland
Joanna Dec-Pietrowska: Department of Humanization of Health Care and Sexology, Collegium Medicum, University of Zielona Góra, 65-046 Zielona Góra, Poland
Alicja Kozakiewicz: Department of Humanization of Health Care and Sexology, Collegium Medicum, University of Zielona Góra, 65-046 Zielona Góra, Poland
Joanna Mazur: Department of Humanization of Health Care and Sexology, Collegium Medicum, University of Zielona Góra, 65-046 Zielona Góra, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: There is a discrepancy between the educational needs and the opportunities to obtain reliable knowledge about sexuality in adolescence. This study aimed to assess the conjunctive influence of family and school in shaping this knowledge. Methods: Data were collected retrospectively within a cross-sectional survey conducted in Poland in 2017 (18–26 yrs; N = 595). The respondents’ experiences in terms of the presence and quality of sexuality education (SE) at school and in conversations with parents about related issues were considered. Results: Of all the respondents, 31.1% had no sexuality education classes in school or rated them as useless, 41.5% never discussed sexuality-related topics with parents and both were true for 17.6%. Puberty and contraception were most frequently discussed with parents, while sexual pleasure and masturbation were discussed least frequently. The diversity of topics taken up with parents and the possibility of discussions with mothers turned out to be the most important factors for shaping adolescents’ knowledge. A relationship with the quality of sexuality education at school was additionally revealed for girls, while a relationship with talking to fathers was revealed for boys. Conclusions: Schools and families should work together to strengthen proper sexual development by meeting adolescents’ needs in the field of their knowledge on human sexuality.

Keywords: adolescents; sexuality; sexuality education; sexual health; parents; gender analysis; Poland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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