Hi everyone. Thank you for joining me today at the graduate students forum. My name is Kate cathodic. I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. And my dissertation research is entitled The new SEC said, how in what teenagers learn about sex and relationships. Before I dive into the project, the scope of the issue and the reason why studying gender-based violence and prevention among teenagers is two-pronged. For purposes of this study, gender-based violence will refer to sexual violence or sexual assault and sexual harassment and also teen dating violence. First of all, research on victimisation and prevention mostly focuses on college age samples, despite the limited amount of quantitative data that we do have that as national surveys showing that sexual violence and teen dating violence is indeed prevalent. Moreover, certain groups are at increased risk for victimization, including females, non-white adolescents, and LGBTQ adolescence. Research also finds that victimization at this point in development has enduring effects on well-being and increases the risk of victimization across the life course. Related to the second, there is currently no nationwide standard for sex ed. As of March 1st this year, 39 states and DC mandate that schools teach sex ed, and, or HIV education. Of those states, 30 plus DC. So that is a little over half of the total seats in our country. Mandate that said Zack said meet certain requirements. So this could include the coverage of topics such as condoms, pregnancy prevention, violence prevention, or healthy and unhealthy relationships. But could also refer to criteria that the sex ed be age appropriate, inclusive, and medically accurate. Second is that there's a serious disconnect between what is currently happening in the United States and what is best for high school students. Assonance only education is ideologically rooted in conservative ideals and fundamentally opposed to comprehensive sex ed. Even though comprehensive sex that does include accidents in its curriculum. The difference is that abstinence only education teachers, nothing else. That is, it is organized around traditional gender roles and the idea that heterosexual pre-marital sex is risky and deviant. There is no information provided to students on consent, pregnancy prevention, safety, and navigating healthy relationships. Whereas abstinence only education is linked to stigmatizing sexuality. Higher teen pregnancy rates, LGBT students feeling unsafe with no empirical proof of positive outcomes for students in terms of building self efficacy, comprehensive sex that is gaining programmatic, theoretical, and empirical support for being a form of violence prevention. Comprehensive sex ed is age appropriate and medically accurate approach to teaching students about the physical and emotional aspects of sex and relationships relative to their biological, emotional and social development. Medical experts, including the CDC, support prevention programming for students in schools and have funded programs to supplement the knowledge gap insects that national polls also find that parents across political parties support sex that in schools. And finally, scholars argue that assonance only education is scientifically and ethically problematic. Comprehensive sex that is linked to prevention because it prepares teenagers with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand their rights related to sexual and reproductive health. Shaping healthy relationships through communication boundaries and consent, and provides a safer space by teaching about stereotypes and inequalities, diversity, gender, and violence prevention. Teenagers today are part of Generation Z, which is the generation born after 1996. They are the most diverse population in terms of race and ethnicity as well as sexual orientation. Teenagers and Gen Z also grew up in a post 9 11 era and are currently growing up in me too and BLM. And they are involved in activism and committed to changing the world for the better. Gen Z or a complex, adaptable, socially responsible group of people that have a lot to say and has strong attitudes on social justice issues. Gen Z also had a lot to say about this particular research topic. The study in entirety asks how do teenagers navigate interpersonal relationships and what roles do media and technology play in teenagers perceptions and knowledge of sexual education? The purpose of this exploratory study is to garner a greater understanding of what teenagers know about sex and relationships, where they learn it from in order to inform prevention strategies. My methods involved first doing a case study approach, gaining rapport with a single public school in the state in response to COVID-19 to protect the safety of myself and the students that we're interested in participating in the study. I received IRB approval to expand my recruitment strategy. And I did this through a virtual format. In addition to converting my interviews to a virtual format using Zoom, I use Mixed recruitment strategies including convenience sampling, snowball sampling, online recruitment. And I also included multiple school types, that is, public schools and private schools. Teenagers were offered $10 and an Amazon gift card to compensate them for their time. The final sample as a convenience sample of 43 participants in grades nine through 12, ages 14 through 18. For reference, 40 percent or so of students in this particular state in which the study took place attend a private school or a parochial school. And most sex that takes place around tenth grade, which is reflected in nearly half of my sample. Also consistent with methodological research and interviewer concordance. Most of my sample is primarily females, white, non-Hispanic, and heterosexual. Although there is some diversity with respect to race, ethnicity, and social sexual orientation. Despite this being a convenience sample and not oversampling. This is also consistent with Gen Z statistics saying that one in six identify as LGBTQ and about one-quarter and my sample identified as LGBT. Teenagers describe the influence of family platonic, and romantic relationships and shaping their understandings of what healthy and unhealthy relationships mean. Nearly half of the sample described having been in a relationship before. In general, females were more forthcoming and describing their relationships. Parents and peers were also strongly influential in shaping their understanding of relationships. Regarding media and technology, the types of media consumed did vary, and technology played a significant role in teenagers lives. Nearly everyone in the sample expressed that they would rather Google something then ask someone. And all but five had a social media platform. Nearly three quarters of respondents describe learning about current events and social justice issues related to sexual violence or dating violence from social media. And as we can see on the side, these are examples of media and technology that influenced teenagers attitudes and understanding of sex and relationships. Teenagers learn about relationships from watching vlogs on YouTube. They learned about social justice issues from Instagram and Twitter. They learned about examples of ideal relationships and the opposite, unhealthy sexual relationships from reality shows and rom coms on Netflix. And also have growing acceptance of sexuality and entrepreneurial attitudes towards sexuality, including sex positive feminist attitudes in *********** and the sex industry from only fans. Teenagers are understudied group in the context of gender-based violence education and prevention. Gen Z, teenagers always want to learn more about politics, social justice issues, sexual and reproductive health, relationships, and violence prevention. While no one describe their high-school teaching and abstinence only model, a couple of did describe it. They're Catholic middle school reflected this curriculum. But the coverage of and memory of comprehensive sex ed topics was fragmented, incomplete, and by no means universal, even across schools in a single state. When asked what would make them feel safe, knowledgeable, and prepared. Teenagers describe wanting to learn comprehensive sex ed topics in school. Even though teenagers learn this elsewhere through their own relationships and through media and technology, they trust school to provide the foundation. Olivia's quote here describes it. The first step is just making it more normalized to talk about, even if the classroom has an awkward place to start, it is a lot safer than suppressing sexuality. Sam's quote here describes the importance of learning about bystander intervention techniques and understanding what sexual harassment is. Anna Lee speaks to the importance of age appropriate education, learning about consent, and understanding that you have the right to only have sex when you are ready. Those are core components of comprehensive sex ed. Finally, Ruby here hits the nail on the head. She is a senior, started in college next year and identifies these topics as prevention things and says, why not talk about it now? This slide just demonstrates implications at multiple levels, including wanting a trusting relationship with parents, involving school personnel, incorporating technology into sex said, most importantly, universal implementation of sex ed and comprehensive topics and normalizing conversations about sex to make it a safer environment for adolescents throughout their life. I'm happy to talk more about these topics in the Q and a. Thank you so much.

The new sex ed: How and what teenagers learn about sex and relationships, Katherine Kafonek

From Huma Rasheed April 15, 2021

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Sexual violence (SV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are pervasive across age groups and victimization in adolescence increases the risk of victimization throughout the life course. Most research on SV and IPV focuses on college- and adult-aged samples, despite national data, including a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that one-quarter of individuals between ages 15 and 19 have experienced abuse. Additional research on victimization and perpetration of SV and IPV concludes that victimization experiences, perpetration, and attitudes supportive of aggressive behavior start earlier, in high school, and risk factors increase likelihood for victimization throughout the life course. Victimization risk is higher for certain groups, such as teenagers who identify as LGBT, females, and non-white individuals. A lack of empirical research on the prevalence of SV and teen dating violence (TDV) at the K-12 level, combined with inconsistent sex ed standards in the United States, presents an opportunity to explore, through teenagers’ own perspectives, best strategies for education and prevention. The research asks 1) what influences teenagers’ navigation of interpersonal relationships?, and 2) What roles do media and technology play in teenagers’ perceptions and knowledge of sexual education? The purpose of the current study is to understand how formal and informal sources of sex ed shape teenagers’ literacy and self-efficacy around healthy sexual behavior and relationships. Through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of 43 high school students, findings reveal that teenagers supplement formal sex ed directly and indirectly through parents, peers, and media/technology. Recommendations for sex educators, parents, and policy are discussed.

Department Name: Sociology and Criminal Justice
Appears In: GSG presents 10th Annual Graduate Students’ Forum

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