Youth perspectives on sexual health education: Voices from the YEP study in Toronto

Abstract

The Youth Engagement Project (YEP) is a community-based pilot study in Toronto, Canada that we developed to better understand perspectives about and experiences of sexual health education among socioeconomically marginalized, racialized, and LGBTQ youth. We investigated: 1) what sex-related messages these young people received as they grew up, 2) how those messages affected their perspectives and sexual behaviour, and 3) their recommendations for sexual health education that meets their needs. Engaging youth whose voices are often overlooked due to their low socioeconomic status and their racial, sexual, and religious identities, and using a place-based method, we recruited a total of 47 young people, aged 16–24, and divided them into six groups based on gender and residential neighbourhood. The data was collected through a demographic and sexual practice survey, followed by a series of two focus groups. We conducted thematic analysis, guided by a socio-ecological approach and paying particular attention to participants’ intrapersonal, interpersonal and environmental factors. Our results indicate that participants received inadequate and contradictory sexuality related information from multiple sources. These mixed messages contributed to confusion, misconceptions, distress, and sexual vulnerabilities. Youth expressed their need for more inclusive and relevant sexual health education starting from an early age, more support for parents and teachers to help them talk with children and youth about sexuality, and more youth-driven integrated health promotion programs to allow them to make informed choices. Their voices and perspectives are useful in informing inclusive and youth-centred sexual health education at home, in school and in the community.

Let’s talk about sexual health education: Youth perspectives on their learning experiences in Canada

“…Likewise, and preparedness to address diff erent sexual health-related top-youth (ages 13 and above) in Toronto reported that the sexuics, which may result in teachers only teaching topics they are al health topic they most frequently wanted to learn about was most comfortable with ( Balter et al, 2016 ;Cohen et al, 2004 ;healthy relationships (C ausarano et al, 2010). Y outh in these Toronto-based studies (Causarano et al, 2010;Narushima et al, 2020) also expressed wanting to receive more positive messag es and learn more about sexual pleasure. In another Canadian study, Cormier and O'Sullivan (2018 ) observed that participants (ages 18-21) retrospectively felt dissatisfied that their sexual health education had skipped over sexual pleasure as a topic.…”

“…Research fi ndings have suggested that cess to curricula for diverse learners, such as the ' Tell It Like It Is': youth want their teachers to be trustworthy, non-judgemental, Sexual Health and Wellness Education ( Creative Options Regina and open to discussion ( Hilton, 2003( Hilton, , 2007Kimmel et al, et al, 2018 ). Th is also includes increased access to evidence-based 2013 ; Lester & Allan, 2006 ;Narushima et al, 2020 ;O'Higgins & online learning such as sexandu.ca ( Th e Society of Obstetricians Gabhainn, 2010 ). Th ese fi ndings suggest that select information and Gynaecologists of Canada, 2020 ) and t eenhealthsource.com and a safe, comfortable environment may be missing in the sexual (Pla nned Parenthood Toronto, 2020), as w ell as more community-health education experiences for some.…”

“…Th ese fi ndings suggest that select information and Gynaecologists of Canada, 2020 ) and t eenhealthsource.com and a safe, comfortable environment may be missing in the sexual (Pla nned Parenthood Toronto, 2020), as w ell as more community-health education experiences for some. Notably, youth frequently based education opportunities and programs such as Fostering identify and seek out learning from other sources, such as friends, Open eXpression among Youth ( FO XY, 2020) a nd Teen Talk Youth peers, parents, mass media, and the internet ( Charest et al, 2016 ;Health Education Program ( Sexuality Education Resource Centre Frappier et al, 2008 ;Narushima et al, 2020 ;Byers et al, 2017) MB, 2020. Importantly, these online and community-based ini-despite citing school-based learning as their preferred resource tiatives may be the only available sources of inclusive and com-and main source of information ( Boyce et al, 2003 ; prehensive sexual health and relationship information for some 2003 ; Frappier et al, 2008 ).…”

“…wanting access to more inclusive information that is practically While the importance of online and community-based pro-and culturally relevant, and includes positive messaging about gramming cannot be overstated, the literature suggests a sense of sex and relationships ( e.g., Causarano et al, 2010 ;Cormier & appreciation for receiving sexual health education at school. For O 'Sullivan, 2018 ;Larkin et al, 2017;Martinez & Phillips, 2008; example, a sample of high school students in New Brunswick re- Narushima et al, 2020 ;Flicker et al, 2009 ). Various studies outported a preference for receiving their sexual health education at side of Canada have demonstrated that young people want sexschool ( Byers et al, 2003 ) and a sample of youth (ages 14-17) from ual health education to include more holistic discussions of the Ontario indicated that sexual health education classes in high emotional and relational aspects of sex and sexuality (Astle et school were the most useful source of sexuality-related informa-al., 2020;G owen & Winges-Yanez, 2014;O 'Higgins & Gabhainn, tion (K umar et al, 2013).…”

“…Research has also shown that LGBTQ2S+ youth (ages 14-17) in Canada report more difficulty accessing relevant sexual health in formation compared to their heterosexual peers (Martens et al, 2012). A number of studies have shown that youth feel their ed ucation could be improved by adding inclusive content on di verse sexual behaviours and identities and by directly discussing LGBTQ2S+ issues ( e.g., Astle et al, 2020;Broadbear & Broadbear, 2012;Gowen & Winges-Yanez, 2014;Narushima et al, 2020). Importantly, previous work has demonstrated that the inclu sion of LGBTQ2S+ youth in education has shown favorable outcomes, such as decreased name-calling and increased school safety (Baams et al, 2017).…”