Teaching Tools for the Classroom

Perceptions of Youth About Sex

Prepared By: Mary Shannon & Doug McCall
Sponsored By: www.sexualityandu.ca

Number of People for this WQ

• An individual student can do all the tasks in this quest. If more than one student does this webquest, all students in the group should read the assigned readings and prepare the assigned reports individually.

Outcomes for this WQ

• realize that many, if not most young people are not regularly having sexual intercourse until their late teen.

Materials for this WQ:

• No specific materials are required for this webquest.

Documents for This WQ

• Class Survey on Sexual Intercourse

Student Tools for this WQ

• Personal Health Journal
• How to Conduct a Class Survey

Evaluation Criteria/Procedure

• Notes on assigned articles using Section 3.1 of Personal Health Journal
• Summary and Commentary

Introduction

The media, popular myths, and even society's sense of humour portray today's youth as regularly having sex.often. But is this true? This webquest will encourage students to examine the facts and decide for themselves.

Task

This short term webquest has two activities. First, taking a class survey to determine their perceptions of the frequency of sexual activity among young people. The second is to read some scientific reports that present the facts. Students are expected to compare the findings of the two activities and to reflect on their meaning in a summary/commentary report.

Process and Steps

(Don't forget to take notes on your activities in this WebQuest. Use Section 3.2 of your Personal Health Journal.)

1. Conduct a mini class survey.

   Conduct a mini-survey of your class on their estimates of how many young people are sexually active. Ask your class to answer the questions in the Class Survey.

2. Read these sources of information to find out at what age young people in Canada, and around the world, actually have sexual intercourse for the first time. Also, read these to see if you can find information as to how many young people in different parts of the world regularly have sexual intercourse with their partners as part of their relationships.
   • Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality article on Sexual Health and Canadian Youth
   • A PBS show on youth sexual behaviours Everybody is Doing It...Not! (Select “Facts about teens and sex”).
   • Health Canada survey of sexual behaviours of Canadian youth (To be released in Spring, 2003)
3. Write a summary and commentary report comparing the results of the class survey with the facts gathered from scientific sources. Do the impressions of your classmates reflect the reality from the studies? If not, why do you think that many people think that most young people are sexually active?

How Your Work will be Evaluated

Your work on this webquest will be evaluated on the basis of your Summary and Commentary Report on the assigned readings for the webquest. This report should include the findings of your class survey.

Conclusions and Extensions

Go on the related webquest Reasons to Wait, which explores the reasons why students should consider delaying their first sexual experience until if fits well with their long term goals and is within a long term and committed relationship.

Want to talk with someone about these issues? Why not call the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or visit their website. Also read these tips on how to use Hotline Information.