“It should be as important as your basic hygiene”: How Students in Singapore Experience and Understand Sexuality Education

• Název práce v češtině: „Mělo by to být stejně důležité jako vaše základní hygiena“: Jak studenti v Singapuru zažívají a chápou sexuální výchovu.
• Název v anglickém jazyce: “It should be as important as your basic hygiene”: How Students in Singapore Experience and Understand Sexuality Education
• Klíčová slova: Sexual Health, Education, Singapore
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Sexual Health, Education, Singapore
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2021/2022
• Typ práce: bakalářská práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Katedra sociologie (23-KS)
• Vedoucí / školitel: doc. Mgr. Martin Hájek, Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem
• Datum přihlášení: 24.06.2022
• Datum zadání: 24.06.2022
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 13.09.2023 13:00
• Místo konání obhajoby: Areál Jinonice, B228, 228, seminární místnost ISS
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 01.08.2023
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 13.09.2023
• Oponenti: Mgr. Ema Hrešanová, Ph.D.

Seznam odborné literatury

Awang, N., & Oh, T. (2019, October 28). Let’s talk about safe sex: Sex education should go beyond preaching abstinence, say students and experts. Today. Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/lets-talk-about-safe-sex-sex-education-should-go-beyond-preaching-abstinence-say-students
AWARE. (2018, November 23). Many young people unsure of contraceptive use, and feel they can't talk to parents about sexual health [Press release]. Retrieved from https://www.aware.org.sg/2018/11/many-young-people-unsure-of-contraceptive-use-and-feel-they-cant-talk-to-parents-about-sexual-health/
AWARE. (2020, July 1). Only half of parents are comfortable talking to their kids about sex ed, while most prefer school programmes to focus on consent over abstinence: AWARE-Blackbox survey [Press release]. Retrieved from https://www.aware.org.sg/2020/07/parents-comfortable-sex-ed-consent-abstinence-aware-blackbox-survey/
Cheah, W. (2006). College Students’ Perspectives in Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in Malaysia, Singapore, England, and the US: Formative Evaluation Insights and Implications. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 35(3), 219-233. doi:10.1080/17475750601026974
Erramilli, M., Sharma, P., Chung, C., & Sivakumaran, B. (2005). Health literacy, sex education and contraception: The Singapore experience. Studies in Communication Sciences, 5(2), 147-158.
Hu, Y., Wong, M., V, P., Wong, M., Fong, N., Tsai, F., & K, V. (2012). Do Parents Talk to Their Adolescent Children about Sex?—Findings from a Community Survey in Singapore. Annals Academy of Medicine - Singapore, 21(6), 239-246.
Husna, N. (2017, August 15). Why many survivors do not report sexual assault. The Straits Time. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/why-many-survivors-do-not-report-sexual-assault
Ihwani, S., Muhtar, A., Musa, N., Ab Rahim, N., & Rashed, Z. (2015). Sex Education Beyond School: Implications for Practice and Research. Journal of Advanced Review on Scientific Research, 14(1), 12-16.
Sim, Y. (2020, November 4). 172 sexual misconduct cases handled by unis, polys and ITE in past 5 years. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/172-sexual-misconduct-cases-handled-by-unis-polys-and-ite-in-past-5-years
Vongxay, V., Albers, F., Thongmixay, S., Thongsombath, M., & Broerse, J. E. (2019). Sexual and reproductive health literacy of school adolescents in Lao PDR (1160034810 871169162 S. Federici, Ed.). PLoS One, 14(1). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209675
Woo, J. (2019). Sex, rankings and policy change: Policy entrepreneurship in Singapore’s higher education system. Journal of Asian Public Policy, 13(1), 35-48. doi:10.1080/17516234.2019.1688457

Předběžná náplň práce v anglickém jazyce

Singapore has seen a surge of reported voyeurism, molestation and sexual harassment cases. In the past five years, 172 incidents of sexual misconduct, committed by teachers and students, were investigated in tertiary and higher education institutions in Singapore (Sin, 2020). Studies suggest that many incidents go unreported, due to the stigma and the lack of understanding about sexual matters in society (Husna, 2017).

The existing sexual education curriculum in primary and secondary schools are brief and short, with no follow-up lessons. The lessons focus primarily on biological aspects and abstinence, disregarding social issues, rendering it ‘unrelatable’ to some students (Awang & Oh, 2019). Sex is a taboo subject in the South East Asian society. Thus, teachers often feel ill-prepared and uncomfortable to teach and students are awkward and unlikely to approach teachers for advice.

In a study by AWARE (2018), 60% of Singaporean youth did not take precautions to avoid pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). When tested on their knowledge of sexual health, they did not know the answers to more than half of the questions. An example of a misconception was believing that the morning after pill leads to abortion. It highlights their lack of sexual health education and inaccuracies of their knowledge.

The lack of comprehensive and inclusive sex education affects the decisions made by youth in the future. Youth students are not exposed to adequate and reliable sexual health literacy, such as contraception, consent, sexuality and managing curiosity. They grow up in an environment with no open conversations about sex and relationships.

The research problem aims to investigate sexual health literacy of youth in Singapore. To study the different forms and mediums youth use to educate themselves on sexual matters and the variables that may affect how they gain their knowledge, such as gender, race and socioeconomic status.

Merit of Studying the Problem
By studying how the Singaporean youths gain their sexual health literacy and the variables that affect it, we will learn what and how they have learnt what they know. We can better understand what learning modes and education would better help relay and teach sexual health knowledge. Cheah (2006) suggests that employing various approaches and communications to teach STDs is essential, instead of just a single approach, as it may be overwhelming and unsuitable for everyone.

We learn why there have been and continue to be so many sexual misconduct cases between students and teachers in tertiary and higher educational institutions. Is it the lack of proper sexual health literacy in primary and secondary school? Does it stem from a rooted problem, such as, the Asian’s culture of toxic masculinity, the taboo nature of sex, or youth unable to distinguish from what is right and wrong?

The rise of sexual misconduct cases in educational institutions and the fact that 60% of youth choose not to use contraception is worrying. It is more important than ever that students and teachers are equipped with adequate knowledge, for the government to implement new policies and aid educational institutions in improving their existing sexual health curriculum.

Literature Review
The world has seen a rise in reported sexual misconduct cases, and it is attributed to the popularity and awareness of the worldwide movement, #metoo, in 2017. For Singapore, a high-profile case of a student at the National University of Singapore was the catalyst for discourse and change (Woo, 2019). It brought attention to educational institutions' underlying problems on sexual misconduct and the youth's attitudes and knowledge on sexual health literacy.

Sexual Health Literacy
Vongxay et al. (2019) demonstrate how health literacy studies are often referred to as general health knowledge, disease prevention, and maintaining fitness and health. They have identified that another vital form of health literacy is sexual health reproduction literacy, or sexual health literacy (SHL).

With the rise of adolescent pregnancy, contraception resistance and youth being more open about sex and sexuality, the need for SHL is evident. SHL relates to how one copes with sexual health problems (contraception, relationships, STDs) and the current sex education curriculums' effectiveness.

They performed a quantitative cross-sectional analysis of students in Laos through a self-administered questionnaire. Although the results were similar to other studies in other countries, they inferred that the results might not be reliable. As premarital sex is not socially acceptable, researchers had concerns that the students did not answer truthfully. Students indicated many answers as 'I don't know', which implies different meanings. They did not know, or they thought their answers did not meet the requirements of the question. They may also fear that schools were looking at their questionnaires. The data was possibly underrepresented as most were female and did not include youth out of school.

AWARE (2018), a non-profit organisation, has conducted the first survey on SHL in Singapore's youth. The findings did depict the youths lack of SHL. However, the surveys' details are not available publicly and did not explore how they gained this knowledge.

Schools role
Research usually divides sex education into two methods: abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) and comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) (Liew, 2014). Singapore focuses on AOUM, establishing abstinence as the best form of protection in reducing teenage pregnancies and the spread of STDs. The curriculum is catered to hetero norms and the agenda of nuclear families. The stigma of sex and these values align with Singapore's traditional and conservative beliefs (Liew, 2014). Supporting this, students state that the taking point they bring home from the lessons is "have sex and you will get pregnant and contract STDs" (Awang & Oh, 2019).

On the contrary, the students suggested an open discussion and more inclusivity in sex education, including relationships and LGBTQ identities. In 2008, the schools experimented with the CSE approach. The curriculum objectives included 'developing a healthy and positive attitude' and 'be empowered' in students' sexuality issues. It was quick to be shut down and dismissed by the public. The ministry deemed it 'explicit and inappropriate', with an agenda to promote homosexuality and casual sex (Liew, 2014). With that being said, there are no proper observations or studies of what is taught in these lessons, but the conflict between traditional and modern values are evident.

Family matters
While educational institutions are critical for secondary socialisation and education on SHL, studies suggest that families and the community play a large role in educating the youth (Ihwani et al., 2015). Close to 70% of Singapore youth found that parents were not open to talking about sexual matters (AWARE, 2018). Studies showed that only 50% of parents were comfortable talking about sexual education (AWARE, 2020). However, in the same survey, almost 70% of parents believed they were the best sources of information for their children in SHL. The results show an underlying confusion and uncertainty in the importance of discourse in the family and engaging in it.

Another cross-sectional analysis demonstrated that caregivers who were mothers, higher educated or Malay were 1.5 times more likely to discuss sexual matters with their children (Hu et al., 2012). This suggests that we can research sociodemographic characteristics in the SHL of youth. Due to quantification limitations, the study could not analyse why caregivers chose not to talk to children about sexual matters.

Peers and The Internet
Ihwani et al. (2015) found that youth preferred to talk to their peers about sexual issues as they carried similar values. Their peers also had a more significant influence on education. The study also found that the internet is another source that is readily available and accessible and used by the youth; however, it did not identify the type of sources or websites used. A study also found that younger and better-educated women relied on the internet and magazines for sex education (Erramilli, Sharma, Chung, & Sivakumaran, 2005). It demonstrates how mediums used in learning sex education differ according to gender and socioeconomic status. We can further explore other platforms on the internet and other mediums the youth may use in the 21st century.

Research Questions

1. What effect do socioeconomic and sociodemographic categories in youth have on how one learns and obtains SHL? Does it affect its effectiveness and reliability?
2. How do youth gain SHL? What are the different types of medium or sources the youth gain SHL? Does it affect the effectiveness and reliability of it?