College students’ suggestions for improving sex education in schools beyond ‘blah blah blah condoms and STDs’

Young people in the USA view the sex education they receive as outdated and insufficient. The prevalence rates of sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy among adolescents further attest to the inadequacy of current sex education paradigms. In order to identify suggestions for the improvement of sex education, we conducted six focus groups with 38 college students at a southwestern US university. Participants discussed the school-based sex education they had received and their suggestions to improve this aspect of education. Participants reported that the sex education they received was awkward, not helpful and often used scare tactics. Six themes about potential improvements emerged including the desire for basic information about sex; coverage of diverse sexual behaviours and identities; more discussion of the social, emotional and relational aspects of sex; sex education earlier and more often; the inclusion of updated and realistic information; and instruction from trained professionals. This study adds to the current body of literature studying ways in which sex education is not meeting the needs of adolescents in the USA. Implications for changes to current sex education practices are discussed.