Perspectives of Vietnamese students on sex education PDF

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THE PERSPECTIVES OF VIETNAMESE STUDENTS ON SEX EDUCATION

Linh Nguyen – D2 Binh Duong, 2019

Abstract For conventional countries like Vietnam, sex is deemed a very sensitive topic. Therefore, finding a suitable way to address it has always been a challenge and sex education is a controversial issue. Students are the future of the country since their vision impacts the overall development of society, so it’s worth taking their assessment of sex and sexuality education into consideration. Notwithstanding, there has been very little empirical research on the students’ side. The aim of this study was to determine the perception of students on the demand for sex education. To achieve that goal, a sample of 119 students joined the survey to answer a set of 10 questions. The results indicated that students are now highly aware of the pressing need for sex education and spare more progressive thought for sex than the previous generations.

Introduction According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Vietnam is one of the three countries with the largest number of abortions in 2017. About 300000 abortions are documented each year in Vietnam, 60%-70% of which are of people aged 15-19 (Vietnam Family Planning Association, 2017). Vietnam also has around 250000 people infected with HIV/AIDS, roughly 50000 of them are unconscious of their condition. The lack of sex education and knowledge of reproductive health has been accounted for those sex-related social problems. In Vietnam and many developing countries, sex is still considered a taboo so people prefer not to discuss it publicly. As a result, the importance of sex education has always been deliberately neglected. However, in recent years, there has been some effort from educators to change the mindset of society on sex education. People, especially younger generations, have begun to pay attention to their reproductive health and take action to protect themselves against the risks from sexual activities. The more people contemplate on problems relating to sex, the more they realize what a gap there is in Vietnam’s education system. Since students are those who directly benefit from sex-ed, their opinions on this subject carry profound weight. In developed regions such as the US or Europian countries, many researches were conducted on the awareness of students, as well as their demand for sex education. Meanwhile, there has been very little research on such topic here in Vietnam. This study aimed to determine the viewpoints of students on the need for sex education in this particular country.

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Method The purpose of the study is to know what Vietnamese students think about the importance of sex education, as well as the efficiency of the lessons. A group of students currently studying in Ho Chi Minh city and Binh Duong was the main participants of the survey. To be eligible for the study, participants had to be between the age of 15 and 25. The respondents were chosen randomly from 5 universities (4 in Ho Chi Minh, 1 in Binh Duong) and 3 high schools (all in Ho Chi Minh city). The sample constitutes a reasonable representation of the entire region. Permission to conduct the survey was also obtained from the authority of each school. An anonymous questionnaire was made using Google Form, which contained 11 comprehensive questions regarding the aforementioned topic. The questions were designed to maximize interpretability and took the forms of multiple choice, yes-no, rating scale and openended questions. After the Google Form was sent out for 3 days, all data was collected and analyzed.

Results The final analysis was based on 119 respondents, including 51 males (42.9%), together with 68 females (57.1%).

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Figure 1 shows the assessment of students on the necessity for sex education in Vietnam on a scale from 1 to 5; 1 is totally unnecessary and 5 is totally essential. 60.5% saw sex education as indispensable, 22.7% thought it was very important and 14.3% thought it was somewhat important. Only 1 person (0.8%) said that sex-ed was fairly unimportant and 2 others believed it was completely unnecessary.

54.6% of the students said they had received sex education at school, while the rest (45.4%) claimed they had never been officially given lessons on sex in class. For those that had received lessons, their opinions on the quality of the content varied. Figure 2 demonstrates students’ evaluation of the attributes each lesson provided. Those lessons were said to be really beneficial by a quarter of the students. More than half of the respondents (56%) agreed what they learnt from sex-ed was practical in some ways. 12% suggested that the content was not really imperative and the remanding 7% did not recognize its effectiveness at all.

Figure 2: Assessment of sex-ed lessons' content

7% 12%

25%

56%

Really helpful

Quite helpful

Not very necessary

Totally useless

A question was raised whether sex education should be taught as a separate subject, in lieu of merging it with others. 63 of 119 students (52%) answered in favor of this idea, while 45 disagreed with it and 11 ones gave no comment on this proposition.

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Concerning parents’ role in the process of educating children on sexual activities and reproductive health, an enormous 87.4% believed parents should get involved, whereas just 12.6% thought they shouldn’t. Figure 3 depicts the attitudes of parents towards discussing sex with their offspring. Only 3.4% (4 students) said that their parents were very sophisticated, having a sensitive but straightforward approach to the matter. Nearly 38% of the responses indicated that the parents were pretty open: they would answer questions but would not initiate the talk. 42% of the participants claimed their parents were not so enthusiastic when it came to this subject; they would normally try to avoid it if possible. The final 16.8% had parents who viewed sex as a forbidden topic to be put on the table, giving absolutely no discussion whatsoever.

Figure 3: Parents' attitudes toward discussing sex with their children Sex is a prohibited topic at home

Not so enthusiatic

Quite open

Very open, sensitive and sophisticated

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Given the enquiry about the appropriate age for children to start receiving sex education, 59 people, almost 50%, answered that it should start from secondary school when the children are 12. The option that sex-ed should start at primary school (aged 5-11) was chosen by 29.4% of the students. High school, when the students enter 16, was the recommended age by 17.6%. Finally, 4 anwers suggested that kindergarten is the suitable age.

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Students were put in the position of parents to see if they would themselves have conversations with their children on sex-related matters in the future. An overwhelming 71.4% replied with a certain yes, 26.1% a definite no and the remanding 3 students (2.5%) were indecisive and said they might or might not do so.

Discussion The survey was conducted to give an insight into the cognition of students on the urge for sex education in Vietnam. The data collected revealed some key findings. The preponderance of students found it critical to implement instruction and preparation for sexual activities, as well as knowledge of reproductive health. Moreover, participants recommended that this process should begin as early as secondary school, when children are about 12 years old. The respondents’ choice is supported by the statistics from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, since the average age of onset of puberty is 14 for girls and 15 for boys (Survey Assessment of Vietnamese Youth, 2002). However, the research was carried out in 2002 and the average age of puberty has been reported to be earlier in recent years, so the respondents’ ideas might not be applicable, which is the limitation of the study. While the older generation was very conservative and open discussion of sex is frown upon severely, the younger ones are more progressive because they see the problems without proper sex education. This shows a change of attitudes between the older and younger generations of Vietnamese. One interesting discovery was that even though most of the students agreed on the importance of sex education, not all of them thought it should be a separate subject. One person who reckoned sex to be specifically taught justified by saying “sex-ed needs to be emphasized because it’s one indispensable part of life that deserves adequate attention like any other subject”. Those who disagreed claimed that not making sex-ed a subject would exempt students from the pressure of grading and exams. Astonishingly, there were students who could not decide on this matter, which reflects the negligence of some youngsters on this topic. Comparing with developing countries such as England or the Netherlands, where sexuality education is a mandatory subject in public schools, it can be seen that in Vietnam, sex-ed is underestimated by many as a low priority.

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Conclusion The recent years witnessed an optimistic alteration in the cognisance of sex. Although no distinct transformation was to be seen, positive adjustment in people’ attitudes towards sex has been noticed, especially among young people. Vietnamese students are more aware than ever of the pressing need for proper sex education, both at school and at home, from teachers alongside parents. The results of this study can be considered by educators to improve the education system. The Ministry of Education needs to cooperate with the Ministry of Health to come up with the solution to the ongoing situation of inefficient sexuality education. Further research has to be carried out, however, before making any adaptation to the current curriculum.

References

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Appendix 1. 2. 3.

Your gender: Male Female Your year of birth: ______ How necessary is sex education?

(1-5; 1- totally unnecessary, 5- totally essential) 4. Have you received sex education at school? - Yes - No 5. If you have been educated on sex, how was the content of those lessons? - Really helpful. - Somewhat helpful. - Not very necessary. - Totally useless. 6. Should sex-ed be a separate subject? Why? ___________________ 7. What is your parents’ attitude towards sex? - Very open. - Quite open. - Not so enthusiastic. - Sex is a prohibited topic. 8. Should parents talk to children about sex? - Yes - No 9. What age is it appropriate for children to start having sex education? - Kindergarten (under 5). - Primary school (5-11). - Secondary school (12-15). - High school (16-18). 10. If you become a parent, will you share with your children topics relating to sex? - Yes, why not? - No, definitely no! - Not sure.

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