Sex education in secondary schools: An Italian experience

Purpose: To evaluate the impact on Italian teenagers' knowledge and attitud es of an experimental program in sex education. Methods: The program consisted of five workshops in five public secondary s chools in Rome. The impact of the program was evaluated with three question naires designed for this study. A pretest evaluated baseline knowledge, a p osttest measured the gain in knowledge, and a third questionnaire estimated retention of information 4-6 months later. Three hundred seventy-six stude nts attending secondary school participated in the program. Thirteen questi ons were selected for the analysis, and improvement was measured by the dif ference between pretest and posttest scores. Results: Ninety-six percent of the sample was in favor of sex education pro grams in schools. The students had an average 50% gain in the percentage of correct answers following the course. The mean score based on the number o f correct answers to questions showed a baseline value of 5.00, a posttest value of 11.80, and a test value 4-6 months later of 10.7. Results showed s tudents' positive attitude toward school sex education courses, low baselin e knowledge, and a good ability to learn. Conclusions: In Italy there is a need for collaboration between schools and local health services to promote knowledge and prevention in reproductive health among teenagers. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2000.