Where Are We in Terms of Sexual Health Education? An Ontario Perspective.

In the present study, sexual health educators in schools in the catchment area for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario were surveyed to determine whether sexual health education programs were available to youth, whether the structure and content of sexual health education programs followed the guidelines, the instructors' qualifications and level of comfort with the material, and the need for additional resources that could be offered by health care professionals. Survey results showed that only 85% of participating schools had a sexual health education program in place. Only one-third of educators stated they had formal training on the topic of sexual health. Some schools still taught mostly about abstinence or advocated condom use for contraception. The results showed that many of these schools did not follow established Canadian guidelines for sexual health education. Nonetheless, 80% of Canadian adolescents report school as their most valuable source of information on sexuality.