Hunt, Cynthia Michelle, Ma May 2021
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HUNT, CYNTHIA MICHELLE, M.A. MAY 2021 SOCIOLOGY “THEY WERE TRYING TO SCARE US”: COLLEGE STUDENTS’ RETROSPECTIVE ACCOUNTS OF SCHOOL BASED SEX EDUCATION (57 pages) Thesis Advisor: Clare L. Stacey In order to gain an understanding of how students perceive the messages they receive in their school-based sex education courses, it is imperative to go to the source and talk with students who have recently taken these courses. This paper explores the curricula, messaging, and environments of middle and high school sex education courses in Ohio through twenty in-depth interviews with undergraduate college students. Three main themes emerge from the data: (1) sex negativity in the messages being communicated to students, (2) unique experiences of LGBTQ+ students, and (3) missing pieces in the curricula that students must fill in on their own. Additionally, fear, shame, and stereotype messaging were common in respondents’ courses, suggesting a culture of sex negativity for developing adolescents. This reality was particularly acute for LGBTQ+ students in the sample. Unable to glean information about sex from the formal curriculum, student respondents sought out other sources of knowledge, such as social media or friends. School-based sex education was found to impact the cultural norms of sex/sexuality which has an effect on students’ interpersonal and intrapsychic sexual scripts. The conclusion discusses the implications of students’ experiences and how policy change, particularly in Ohio, can move toward a more inclusive, sex positive, and thorough school-based sex education for the next generation of students and beyond. “THEY WERE TRYING TO SCARE US”: COLLEGE STUDENTS’ RETROSPECTIVE ACCOUNTS OF SCHOOL BASED SEX EDUCATION A thesis submitted To Kent State University in partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Cynthia Michelle Hunt May 2021 © Copyright All rights reserved Except for previously published material Thesis written by Cynthia Michelle Hunt B.A., The University of Akron, 2018 M.A., Kent State University, 2021 Approved by Clare Stacey, Advisor Clare Stacey Richard Adams, Chair, Department of Sociology Richard Adams Mandy Munro-Stasuik, Interim Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Mandy Munro-Stasiuk TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………………. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………………… vi I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………. 1 II. BACKGROUND…………………………………………………………………... 3 History of Sex Research…………………………………………………………… 3 History of Sex Ed………………………………………………………………….. 4 Funding……………………………………………………………………………. 4 SBSE Curricula……………………………………………………………………. 5 Sex Education in Ohio……………………………………………………………... 6 III. LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………………….. 8 Sexual Scripts………………………………………………………………………. 8 Young Adults and Sexual Socialization……………………………………………. 9 Neoliberalism in SBSE……………………………………………………...…….. 10 Inequality in SBSE………………………………………..……………………….. 12 Sex Negativity………………………………………………………..……………. 14 The Missing Pieces…………………………………………………………...…… 15 IV. METHODS………………………………………………………………………... 17 Research Topic and Justification for Methods……………………………………. 17 Recruitment……………………………………………………………………..… 17 Data Collection…………………………………………...……………………….. 19 Informed Consent, Privacy, and Confidentiality of Data………………………..... 19 Description of Sample…………………………………………………………..… 20 Data Analysis and an Abductive Approach……………………………………….. 20 iv Positionality……………………………………………………………………….. 22 V. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS……………………………………………….…… 23 Sex Negativity…………………………………………………………………….. 23 LGBTQ+ Experiences…………………………………………………………..… 27 The Missing Pieces………………………………………………………………... 29 VI. DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………... 35 Limitations………………………………………………………………………… 37 Future Directions………………………………………………………………….. 38 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………… 39 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………. 40 APPENDICES A. Interview Guide……………………………………………………………………... 48 B. Participant Demographics (Self-Reported)………………………………………….. 50 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis could not have come to be without the generosity, helpfulness, and patience of so many others. I would like to first extend my deepest gratitude to my thesis committee: Dr. Chris Dum and Dr. Molly Merryman, for your willingness to serve on the committee as well as the incredible feedback and excellent energy your presence provided. A special thanks goes to my thesis advisor, Dr. Clare Stacey, for whom I owe this Kent State graduate school experience to: for reviewing an endless number of drafts, providing a wealth of knowledge, and for your belief in a young undergraduate presenting at NEOUSS alone- thank you. Additionally, I would like to thank my mentors, Dr. Susan Fisk and Dr. Greg Gibson, for their infinite positivity and encouragement to get me through it all. Another instrumental group of people that helped me get to this point is my cohort. I feel an overwhelming amount of appreciation for the four others whom I started this journey with. Though our first year was disrupted due to the pandemic, we have remained beacons of support, laughter, and optimism for one another. Others in the department often joke that we are an odd bunch because of our closeness, but I feel so lucky to have been randomly stuck with the most motivated, intelligent, and persevering peers. I would also like to thank my friends and family who humor me by letting me talk about my research, schooling, and grad school happenings- for nodding and smiling even when I am making absolutely no sense. I truly could not have made it this far without their support. Lastly, an exuberant amount of gratefulness is directed towards my partner, Drew. Thank you for letting me practice presentations with you no matter the time of day, for always making me see the upside vi to every situation, for pushing me to challenge myself, and for making this journey so fulfilling. Thank you for it all and more. vii INTRODUCTION Adolescence is a critical time in the development of one’s sexual self (Pearson 2018). Schools are in a unique position in the development of students’ sexual selves as they provide an environment for peer connection as well as being the provider of formal sex education (Smith 2012). However, in the United States, each state decides what type of information will be presented in the courses; large portions of federal funding are directed towards abstinence-only programs (Guttmacher Institute 2020; Elia and Eliason 2010; Donovan 2017). In some cases, the messages that are being conveyed in school-based sex education (SBSE) courses are not always interpreted by students in the way that instructors anticipate, which can create misunderstanding and distrust (Unis 2020). Additionally, many SBSE courses are white- and cishet-centered, which can leave racial, gender, and sexual minorities to navigate their sexual lives with little to no guidance (Hall et al. 2019; Elliott 2014; Haley et al. 2019; Rousseau 2009; Whitten and Sethna 2014). Furthermore, SBSE has the capacity to influence the development of students’ sexual scripts that may endure for years to come (Unis 2020; Smith 2012; Bogle 2008). Research on sexual scripting has influenced social scientific understandings of sexual attitudes and behaviors since the mid-20th century (Simon and Gagnon 1973). Scripting theory provides direction for those wishing to study sexual behavior in specific contexts, as well as how culture and social position influence sexual behaviors and attitudes (Simon and Gagnon 1973; Simon and Gagnon 1984; Garcia 2012; Berntson 2014). However, little research on sexual scripting investigates how SBSE courses impact adolescents’ views of their sexual behaviors and attitudes (Smith 2012). Existing scholarship focuses on the sexual behaviors of college and high 1 school students (Bogle 2008) without examining why they are engaging this way and which sources of information they draw upon to craft their sexual selves. In order to better understand why adolescents and emerging adults engage in, or abstain from, certain sexual practices, we first need to understand how they interpret the information they received in their SBSE courses. This study asks: (1) What role does formal school-based sex education have in influencing the development of students’ sexual scripts, as understood by students themselves? and (2) How do students perceive the impact of their school-based sex education on their sexual behaviors and decisions? 2 BACKGROUND History of Sex Research During the turn of the 20th century, sex research was primarily the task of physicians. While they were the presumed authority on the topic, the information they shared largely concerned sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) (Bullough 1998). Midcentury became a turbulent time for sex research and education as several sex-related research practices targeted marginalized populations around the 1950s-70s including the Tuskegee Syphilis study and the sterilization of Puerto Rican and Indian women without their consent (Shah 2017; Whitten and Sethna 2014; Rousseau 2009; Hill Collins 2005). Aside from these horrific studies, there were advancements in sex research between the 1940s-70s. Alfred Kinsey founded the Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction in 1947 and conducted research on the still-taboo area of sex (Carter-Smith 2019). Though Kinsey was not the first non-physician to conduct sex research, his legacy has endured (Bancroft 2004). He collected data via interviews with volunteers and opened public dialogue about sex (Carter- Smith 2019; Bullough