A Review of the Effect of Sexual Health Education in Secondary Schools on the Rates of the Teenage Pregnancy - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages... Sociological debates over the effectiveness of sexual health education for teenagers remain intense. A number of qualitative or descriptive studies have analyzed the results of pregnancy prevention research. Yet, descriptive studies have been hampered by their lack of breadth in study selection or by merely mentioning findings of independent programs without trying to combine the literature in a methodical manner (Muuss & Porton, 1998). They were unsuccessful in providing organized methods for synthesizing the findings of various studies and for evaluating and comparing the effect of disparities in study procedures. Another weakness of descriptive studies is that they are not endowed to evaluate the discrepancy within studies of the impact of sexual health education on various subpopulations, like certain age, ethnic, and gender groups (Somers, 2006). Furthermore, descriptive studies often face conflicting, varied, and questionable findings. Meta-analysis could bridge this gap since it enables studies to be methodically assessed and their findings summed up as a general impact (Somers, 2006). This paper reviews the findings on the effect of sexual health education in secondary schools on the rate of teenage pregnancy from a meta-analysis perspective. This paper sums up not only descriptive studies, but also experimental research, carried out in this area, and explores the capability of a meta-analysis to mitigate the weaknesses of these descriptive studies. Operational Definition of Terms The following terms are defined based on their actual meaning and relevance to the issue being studied. (1) Sexual health education- is education about forms of sexual activities, such as sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, etc (Mast, 1986); (2) Adolescent- an intermediary phase of development between formative years and adulthood (Kirby, 1989); (3) Teenage pregnancy- pregnancy by a 13- to 19-year old female (Lickona, 1993); (4) Contraception /Contraceptive- a tool that prevents pregnancy (Somers, 2006); (5) Secondary School- midway between grade school and college that normally provides college-preparatory, vocational, or technical courses (Howard & McCabe, 1990); (6) Risky sexual behavior- engagement in sexual activities which are harmful to one’s physical, emotional, and psychological state (Kirby, 1989); (7) Premarital Sex- is a sexual contact between individuals who are unmarried (Muuss & Porton, 1998); (8) Experiential Model- a framework which is based on experience (Tingle, 2002); (9) Emulators- same as simulator; a training instrument that replicates actual environments or conditions (Somers, 2006); (10) Self-discipline curriculum- is a program that teaches the practice of refusing some or all features of sexual activity for religious, social, legal, psychological, or clinical justifications (Richard, 1989). Review of Related Literature Teenage pregnancy has become a major issue for educators and parents recently. Numerous efforts have been initiated to deal with this issue in order to curb the rate of adolescent pregnancies. This section reviews several of those attempts to determine the impact of sexual health education in secondary schools on the prevalence of teenage pregnancy. The number of adolescents taking part in premarital sex has turned into a point of concern for ...Download file to see next pagesRead More