KARSON BRANDENBURG: A survey of public opinion on sex education in Mississippi (led by Dr. Heather Ondercin). In 2011, Mississippi, a state that ranks fourth in the nation for high teen pregnancy rates, passed a law mandating sex education for all public school districts in the abstinence-only or abstinence-plus format. This dissertation describes the background of these two methods and how they are currently being implemented in school districts in Mississippi.
In addition, it looks at how Mississippi parents and leaders feel about sex education in schools as a whole and then more specifically how they feel about the current options for sex education and the delivery of sex education classes. Mississippi parents regarding their opinions about sex education and the things that influence those opinions, including religion.
BACKGROUND
Finally, I will conclude what this study has shown about public opinion about sexuality education in Mississippi. Prior to 2012, Mississippi did not require sex education in the state's public school systems, and when it was taught, abstinence-only was the preferred method (SIECUS, 2011). Mississippi House Bill 999 was passed into law in July 2011, and it required each school district in Mississippi to select a curriculum that taught either abstinence-plus or abstinence-only sex education.
The law required Mississippi school districts to choose either an abstinence-only or abstinence-plus sex education method for appropriately aged children by June 30, 2012. House Bill 999 states that the abstinence-only sex education method will remain the standard for any sex-related education taught in elementary schools. The sex education program in each county is not strongly related to the county's rate of teenage pregnancy.
To assess this relationship, I created a five-point rating system based on the sex education curriculum used in the schools. The correlation was -0.17, meaning there is not much connection between the sex education program and teen pregnancies in the state. There is no evidence-based curriculum for abstinence-only education, meaning that no research has shown that abstinence-based sex education curricula change any of the above behaviors.
This federal funding allows many Mississippi counties with the highest teen pregnancy rates to implement evidence-based abstinence and sex education.
INTERVIEWS
One of the most important questions to be answered when looking at public opinion on sex education in Mississippi was whether the interview subjects felt that sex education was a necessary component of a school's curriculum. This was the first step in understanding how Mississippians felt about sex education, and it needed to be answered before I could delve deeper into their opinions about the specific sex education method in the Oxford school district. Oxford is a rare exception: it was one of the only districts that offered sex education before the law required it,” (S. Johnson, personal communication, February 23, 2015).
Johnson was also concerned about the level of knowledge of both parents and educators in Mississippi about sex education. Cristen Hemmins, a parent of three children in the Oxford School District, said she felt uninformed about sex education options. Parent Kristen Busby agreed, saying she also felt uninformed about the sex education taught in the Oxford School District (K. Busby, personal communication, March 10, 2015).
In addition, subjects who wanted sex education said they thought further revision of the current law was needed so that students would have more information. Respondents with differing opinions about sex education in the classroom agreed that there should be more information for parents about the sex education methods offered, if any methods are to be taught in schools. One of the biggest controversies within the city of Oxford regarding sex education was a 2013 article in the LA Times where Marie Barnard was interviewed about it.
Currently, Hayden says, the Oxford School District teaches abstinence-plus-sex education to high school students, although instruction varies depending on grade level. Sex education is taught to seventh and tenth graders, although not every student is required to take both, or even one, of the sex education classes. This part of the interviews shows that all subjects who want sex education at school want more information to be given to students.
These interviews show that many interviewees did not agree that religious affiliation or a strict interpretation of the Bible should dictate sex education. Most subjects felt that more information should be given to parents or that parents were generally not informed about sex education. This was particularly interesting because the subjects were all people directly involved in sex education or the Oxford School District discussions in 2012.
This indicates that the 2016 discussion of mandatory sexuality education should include voices from parents and educators. More interviews would have led to a more definitive understanding of how Mississippians really feel about sex education.
SURVEY
One of the first things tested was a general knowledge of sex education law in Mississippi. Most respondents got this question right – 77.8 percent said their school district teaches sex education. This implies that a large portion of respondents know that Mississippi requires that sex education be taught, and that those respondents who answered correctly have little knowledge of their children's curricula.
However, for the general Mississippi population, this indicates that nearly a quarter of respondents to this survey are unaware of Mississippi's sex education laws, which is one of the most basic aspects of the remaining survey questions. However, such a dropout of respondents means that a large part of the tested population does not know the basics of sex education in their school districts. The survey additionally checked whether respondents felt they understood what each method of sex education involved.
This should be seen as a problem because this particular method of sex education is self-explanatory in the title. With this information in mind, religion had to be looked at in the survey to see if it influenced opinions about sex education. Then they were asked to what extent they thought their religion influenced their decisions about sex education methods for children.
What this shows is that Protestants had the strongest feelings about their religion, which influenced their decisions about sex education. Conversely, all respondents who said they attend a religious service more than once a week or at least once a week said their religion has a major or major influence on their sex education decisions. This means that abstinence-only is not the preferred method of sex education except for 0.06 percent of respondents.
What this boils down to for more general purposes is the idea that abstinence-based sex education is not widely supported. In addition, respondents who attended once a week or almost every week also wanted abstinence to be taught in sex education classes. This response was completely unexpected, as more than half of Mississippi school districts opted for an abstinence-only sex education curriculum.
What the survey section shows is that across many different categories, a majority of respondents are not knowledgeable about sex education in Mississippi. For the state as a whole, it suggests that the reform of sex education should not be based solely on the state's religious disposition.
CONCLUSION
Furthermore, if religion comes into play in determining what is best for the state, the research can be looked at to see that even the most religious respondents still want more from the current sex education law. Retrieved February 3, 2015, from http://www.mississippifirst.org/education-policy/sex education/evidence-based-curricula/. Why is the teen birth rate in the United States so high and why does it matter? 34;Mississippi Sex Ed Bill attempts to improve state policies and support adolescent health." SIECUS. lt;http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Feature.showFeature&featureid=1992&pagei d= 483&parentid=478> .
Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the US Religion and Adolescent Fertility in the United States. South Delta Ab-O Neshoba County Ab-O. Tunica County Ab+ Union Public Ab-O. Yazoo County Ab-O North Panola Ab+. Chickasaw County Ab+ Copiah County Ab-O. Houston Separate Ab+ Hazlehurst City Ab-O. Leland Ab+ Sunflower County Ab+.
Cleveland Ab+ Pontotoc City Ab-O. Openbare Ab+ Pontotoc County Ab-O. Shaw Ab+ Vicksburg-Warren Ab+. Jefferson County Ab-O Tishomingo County Ab-O. Calhoun County Ab+ Clay County Ab-O. Newton Munisipale Ab+ Adams Ab-O. Covington County Ab+ Lawrence County Ab-O. Lee County Ab-O Gulfport Ab-O. Nettleton Ab-O Long Beach Ab-O. Oos Tallahatchie Ab+ Harrison County Ab+. Jones County Ab-O Amory Ab-O. Laurel Ab+ Monroe County Ab-O. Marion County Ab-O Noord Tippah Ab-O. Walthall County Ab-O Columbus Munisipale Ab+.
Hinds County AHS Ab+ Enterprise Ab-O. Jackson Public Ab+ Quitman Ab-O. Union County Ab-O Hancock County Ab+. Brookhaven Ab-O Madison County Ab-O. MS School for the Arts Ab+ Montgomery County Ab-O. Pearl Public Ab-O Starkville Ab+. After reading the information, which sex education method do you think suits you best?
