College Sexuality Education Promotes Future Discussions About Sexuality Between Former Students and Their Children

The study examined whether completion of a college human sexuality course would have long-term effects on students' willingness to discuss sexuality with their children. Fifty-two former students with children aged 5 years or older were surveyed 2½ to 3 years after completion of the course, and their responses were compared with those of a control group of 50 parents surveyed on the first day of the course. Only 10 of the 102 subjects indicated that they had ever had a single meaningful discussion about sex with their parents while growing up. While only 18% of the parents who had not yet had sexuality education had begun discussions with their own children, 86.5% of the sexuality-educated parents had done so (p < .001). Of 34 sexuality-educated parents with children aged 12 years or older, three-fourths or more had discussed menstruation, sexual intercourse and reproduction, birth control, sexually transmitted diseases, homosexuality, and sexual abuse. Masturbation was the only surveyed subject that had not been discussed by a majority of the sexuality-educated parents. The findings indicate that comprehensive college sexuality education may increase the likelihood of discussions about sexuality between educated parents and the next generation of children.