A survey of rural parents' attitudes toward sexuality education

Although local attitudes and values influence a community's support for sexuality education, educators rarely assess local views in a systematic way. A survey of community parents provides a simple, relatively inexpensive way to assess support for sexuality education and strengthen the school's leadership in implementing an effective curriculum. This paper describes the use of a parent survey for building a comprehensive sexuality education program in a rural community. Most respondents supported sexuality education even for the elementary grades. Compared to a survey conducted 10 years earlier, respondents were significantly less confident of themselves and other parents as sexuality educators. Attitudes varied by demographic characteristics. Using these findings, the paper illustrates how the strategic use of a parent survey can strengthen school-based sexuality education by minimizing potential controversy and building a broader base of active community support and involvement for sexuality education.