Online Discussion about Sexuality Education in Schools

Introduction In an era of strangling state government budgets, wars measured in decades rather than years, and political upheaval in many parts of the world, has the most high profile social debate related to health education--about sexuality education in schools slipped away from Americans' attention? Or, if not due to inattention, has a rapprochement been attained between the abstinence-only/centered/plus sides that are comfortable with their opportunities and level of funding? While not grabbing front page, cover story, and Frontline attention as during the end of last century, the answer to both of those questions is no. Sexuality education in schools continues to be a topic of social and political controversy. In the 1990's, individuals and groups opposed to teaching adolescents about the use of protection and contraception voiced concerns about potential ill-effects of this approach. Support for an exclusive focus on abstinence led to the establishment of federal funding for abstinence education as part of the 1996 Social Security Act. (1) Health and medical professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, (2) American Association for Health Education, (3) American Public Health Association, (4) and the American School Health Association, (5) advocated for more comprehensive sexuality education. Throughout these years the debate remained sharp but abstinence-only funding became, essentially, an established part of the federal budget. More recently, the debate about sexuality education in schools has changed. In May of 2009, President Obama's proposed budget for 2010 vacated funding for abstinence education and replaced it with $185 million for evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention and comprehensive sexuality education programs with an emphasis on disseminating evidence-based programs. (6) Then in October, the Senate Finance Committee voted, 12-11, to restore abstinence education funding to the budget. (7) Subsequent votes in the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives and Senate did not support the Finance Committee's action. But then, remarkably, as part of the political negotiations to pass the healthcare reform bill in the spring of 2010, $250 million of funding for five years of abstinence education was restored. (8) The budget therefore included funding for abstinence only and comprehensive programs. Federal funding for comprehensive, medically-accurate sexuality education programs increased with the implementation of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative and the Personal Responsibility Education Program. Various states also pursued legislation that parallels federal programs supporting comprehensive educational approaches. Convoluted political negotiations will continue into the future and health education specialists will have a vital stake in these discussions. Health education specialists in a variety of settings are involved in the delivery of curriculum-based sexuality education. They may be far removed from the national policy debates but still advocate for evidence-informed sexuality education at the community level. Teaching students and being accountable to parents and administrators in local schools will continue to be a priority. Continuing to build evidence-informed practice is important as health education specialists seek ways to maximize the effectiveness of the sexuality education they designed and delivered. Gauging the attitudes and beliefs of concerned citizens and voters about these issues may help health education professionals position their programs for support. The purpose of this study was two-fold--to analyze college students' perceptions of sexuality education in schools and to consider the unique context of online discussion about this topic and the influence of this format on discourse. A qualitative research design was employed. Data were students' contributions to discussion forums in five sections of an entirely online general education health course at one Midwestern university. …