Sex Education Among Asian American College Females: Who is Teaching them and What is Being Taught

Abstract

Many parents are reluctant to educate their Asian American adolescents on sexual health topics because sexuality is taboo in most Asian cultures. A survey was conducted with Chinese, Filipina, Korean, and Vietnamese college females ages 18-25 to assess sources of abstinence and birth control education and age of sexual debut. Parents were the least reported source of sex education for all four ethnic groups, with the majority of respondents reporting school as their source of sex education. Respondents who reported family as their source of abstinence education had a sexual debut of 6months later than those who did not. Females who reported family as their source of birth control education began having sex more than 7months later than those who reported other sources. Disaggregation of data by Asian ethnic groups and examining differences in delivery of sex education among ethnic groups may improve school curricula and sexual health.