Perceived parental role in sex education

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand perceived parental role in sex education. This involved discovering what are the attitudes, beliefs and concerns that parents have to the imparting of sex education to their children, and how these affect the content of any discussions. For the purpose of this research, five couples-all parents of 14-17 year olds, were interviewed separately. The data was then analyzed by adopting the Interpretative Phenomenological Approach, since this aims to elicit the personal meanings of the participants' experience, and allows for the researcher's interpretations. The strongest theme was that parents put the teen's health and well-being first. In addition to this, the findings suggest that parents are justifiably, most concerned about external influences on their teen's sexuality. Parents felt that their role in sex education was just like any other part of parenthood. However, they recognized that their role was very influential in determining their child's lifestyle.