CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The Philippines, being a Christian country, finds Sex Education a sensitive topic to discuss with. But,
with the increasing cases of pregnancies, sexually-transmitted diseases, and other forms of sexually-
related violence, the Philippine government raised its vote to integrate and teach sex education in the
curriculum.

After recognizing the vital role of education on the rising incidences of early pregnancy, sexual violence,
and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among youth, a DepEd Order was passed to include
sexuality education in order to mandate the provision of age-appropriate reproductive health education
for adolescents.

The main objective is to elicit baseline information from students on Sex Education and to give a
background on their current sexual knowledge, behaviors, and opinions. 19.15% of the 846
respondents who responded had already tried having sex, the majority with 1-2 sexual partners
(10.99%), and the average age was 16 (6.74%). People who have had sexual experience are ashamed
to purchase contraceptives, and respondents prefer masturbation to vaginal, oral, or anal sex.

The cumulative amount of sexual education knowledge that pupils have acquired is often "poor," and
they have "average" levels of sexual knowledge and sexual opinion. The level of sexual behavior
among those without prior sexual experience is "low," compared to those who have, and who exhibit
"average" behavior. Gender orientation, however, clearly differs from their sexual behavior.

The cumulative amount of knowledge that the students have learned about sex education is typically
"low," and they have "average" levels of sexual knowledge and sexual opinion. The goal of sex
education is to increase and improve young people's capacity to make thoughtful, fulfilling decisions
about their relationships, sexuality, and emotional and physical well-being.

Sexuality education responds to the needs of youngsters and youth not only in terms of their sexual
safety and health, but also as a part of their overall development. Family, society and schools all play
important roles in providing sexuality education for adolescents. Family-based sexuality education is
certainly important, but studies have shown that almost all parents are too embarrassed to explore the
topic of sex or don't know the way to speak about it with their children. Furthermore,
although adolescents absorb much information about sexuality from the media and wider society, the
exactness of such information cannot be guaranteed.

Hence, school-based sexuality education is especially important (Yan, 2005; Liu,

2007).“Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012” also called as the
Reproductive Health (RH) Act presents government funding for contraceptives and sex education
within the public-school curriculum. Supported this curriculum, sex education should be taught to
students starting from ages 10to 19, which is both primary and secondary school. The Act also provides
free or subsidized contraceptives which will be stocked in health centers and will be provided free
for the poor (DOH Philippines, 2011)

Statement of the problem

This study aims to find out the Level of Knowledge of Senior High School Students on Sex Education.

Specifically, this study aims to answer the following:

1. What is the demographic profile of the students in terms of last school attended:

1.1 Public; and

1.2 Private2.

2. What is the level of knowledge of Senior High School students on Sex Education in terms of:

2.1 human body and human development;

2.2 personhood;

2.3 healthy relationships;

2.4 sexuality and sexual behaviors;

2.5 sexual and reproductive health;

2.6 personal safety; and

2.7 gender, culture and human rights.

Significance of the study

This study will be essential to the following individuals who can benefit in the outcome of this study.

To the AIT Senior High Students. This study will be useful to the students by letting them speak up
their views towards sex education in terms of their last school attended

To the AIT community. This study will be beneficiary to the school's community by providing them
information about the level of awareness of SHS students of AIT on Sex Education and help them foster
an environment wherein students will be aware of the advantages of sex education.

To the Teachers. This study will help the teachers encourage and let their students understand the
importance of taking care of their sexual health.

To the researchers of this study. This study will be beneficiary to the researchers by gaining
knowledge about the level of awareness of SHS students of AIT on sex education.

To the future researchers. The results of this study will hopefully provide future researchers with
additional knowledge and guidance to gather information and it may serve as a reference for a bigger
study.

Hypothesis

In this section, the results of the data analysis for this study were presented. The results were presented
according to the hypothesis that guided the study.

Ho1: It states that there is no significant difference in the at-risk sexual behaviour of school-going
adolescents exposed to treatment and those in the control group
Theoretical Framework
Health promotion should be evidence-based, needs driven, subject to evaluation, and ecological in
perspective. How can this be achieved in the context of school-based sex education? Adopting new
behaviors and giving up old habits involves common decision-making, planning, motivational control,
and goal prioritization processes. Consequently, despite the particular nature of sexual behavior,
models of cognitive change applied to other health-related behaviors also apply to the promotion of
safer sex practice. Young people are less likely to have unprotected sexual intercourse if they have
acquired a variety of social skills relevant to dealing with romantic and sexual relationships. Many of
these social skills and the methods employed to facilitate their development are also important to the
promotion of other health behaviors. However, teaching social skills relevant to sexual behavior in
classroom settings requires specialist expertise both in program design and in delivery by teachers or
facilitators. Theory- and evidence-based programs designed to promote such skills and modified on the
basis of effectiveness evaluations are most likely to have an impact on the rate of pregnancies and
sexually transmitted infections among young people. Yet, such programs may not be used in schools
because of policy and cultural constraints. When this is the case, optimally effective health promotion
cannot be delivered. Health promoters should acknowledge these challenges and facilitate the adoption
and implementation of effective sexual health promotion programs by targeting communities and
legislators.

Conceptual Framework
Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study will be delimited to the Level of Knowledge of Senior High School Students of Asian
Institute of Technology towards sex education. Specifically, this study will focus on the student's
awareness level based on the core topics of sex education in terms of their last school attended.

This study will be conducted to the selected senior high students coming from different strands
of Asian Institute of Technology in the academic year 2022-2023.

This study will take place in Asian Institute of Technology of Digos. No more other schools and
other grade levels will be included. The primary data gathering method will be conducted through
survey to determine the level of awareness of the selected respondents.

Definition of Terms

Sex Education. This refers to a high quality teaching and learning about a broad variety of topics
related to sex and sexuality, exploring values and beliefs about those topics and gaining the skills
that are needed to navigate relationships and manage one’s own sexual health. Sex education may
take place in schools, in community settings, or online (PPFA, 2019). Operationally, it refers to as
an essential action to determine the students' belief in promoting sexual and reproductive health
of the senior high school students.

Sex. This refers to having consenting, pleasurable and safe sexual experiences (GW Australia, 1968).
Operationally, it is defined to expand ones knowledge in this certain issue with the intention of
determining the students' belief in promoting sexual and reproductive health of the senior high
school students.
Sexuality. This refers to the sexual feelings and attractions we have towards others and the way
these are expressed (Western Australia, 2017). Operationally, it is defined as one of the important
factors in order to determine the students' belief in promoting sexual and reproductive health of
the senior high school students.

Relationships. It refers to a close friend ship between two people, especially one involving romantic
or sexual feelings (Collins, 2019). Operationally, it is defined as one of the important factors in order
to determine the students' belief in promoting sexual and reproductive health of the senior high
school students.

Sexual Health. It refers to a state of physical, emotional, mental and social wellbeing in relation to
sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a
positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of
having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence
(Geneva, 2002). Operationally, it is defined essentially beneficial especially to the youth, for them
to imbibe more about certain welfare and precautions.

Awareness. It refers to a knowledge that something exists, or understanding of a situation or

subject at the present time based on information or experience (Cambridge Dictionary, 2020).
Operationally, this refers to the variable that will be gathered from the students that will be scaled
and identified based on the contents under sex education.

Contraceptives. It is also known as birth control, is used to prevent pregnancy (Sexandu, 2016).
Operationally, this refers to be more significant for the reason that contraceptives are
advantageous specifically in our study.