1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«[T]he goal of this study was to compare parents’ attitudes towards sexual health education in the schools, their perceptions of the quality of sexual health education their child/children received, and their opinion on the grade level at which specific sexual health education topics should be introduced to students across five Canadian regions (British Columbia; the Prairie provinces; Ontario; Quebec; and the Atlantic provinces).» (p. 40)

Questions/Hypothèses :
The authors «addressed the following research questions: […] What are the overall levels of support for sexual health education among parents in Canada? […] Are there regional differences in overall levels of support for sexual health education? […] Do parents across the five regions in Canada support the inclusion of a wide range of sexual health education topics? […] At what grade level do parents support specific sexual health education topics being introduced? […] Are there regional differences in when parents prefer sexual health education topics to be introduced (i.e., elementary school vs. high school)? […] How do parents in Canada perceive the quality of the sexual health education that their child/children receive? […] Are there regional differences in the perception of quality of sexual health education in the schools?» (p. 41)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Participants were 2,000 survey respondents who indicated that they were parents or guardians of children attending elementary and/or secondary school in Canada. Approximately half (53.3%) were women (cisgender and transgender), 44.7% were men (cisgender and transgender), and 1.2% reported a range of diverse gender identities including gender queer, non-binary, and multiple gender identities. Most participants were from Quebec (26.9%) or Ontario (39.9%) […].» (p. 41)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

Results show that, on «average, parents in Quebec and Ontario rated the quality of their child’s sexual health education as lower compared to several other regions in Canada […].» (p. 50-51) Additionally, «provinces/territories differ in terms of how much focus is given to sexual health education within health curriculums […]. In Quebec, sexual health outcomes only account for 12% of the province’s health outcomes […]. Parents in Quebec may desire a greater focus and more time spent on sexual health education in the schools than they perceive is currently occurring.» (p. 51) Also, the «majority of parents in [this] study agreed that sexual health education should be provided in the schools.» (p. 51) «Finally, parents differed on when they believe topics should be introduced (i.e., elementary/middle grades [K–Grade 8] vs. high school grades [9–12]) based on their geographic region. Overall, parents in Quebec wanted many topics introduced earlier, compared to parents in other geographic regions. […] Furthermore, Quebec was also the only region where the majority of parents wanted each topic introduced in the elementary grades. Research indicates that people in Quebec have more liberal attitudes towards sexuality compared to people in other parts of Canada […].» (p. 52)