Published Paper Details:

Context: Sex education has been one of the highly controversial issues in Indian society. Due to increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS and pregnancies of teenagers, there is a rising need to impart sex education. However, introducing sex education at school level always received mixed response from various segments of Indian society. Data and Methods: We attempt to understand the expectations and experiences of youth regarding sex education in India by analysing the data among the students of Nursing College in Bareilly. We used descriptive methods to analyse the extent of access to Sex Education and socio demographic patterning among College student. Results and Discussions: We found substantial gap between the proportion of youth who perceived sex education to be important and those who actually received it, revealing considerable unmet need for sex education. Students who received sex education were relatively more aware about reproductive health issues than their counterparts. Majority among students, irrespective of their age and sex, favoured introduction of sex education at school level, preferably from standard 8th onwards. The challenge now is to develop a culturally-sensitive sex education curriculum acceptable to all sections of society.