About 40% of Japanese teens say sex education at school is useless: survey

Dec 28, 2018 | News On Japan

Dec 28, 2018 (Japan Times) - About 40 percent of those aged between 17 and 19 think sex education at school is useless, an online survey by the Nippon Foundation think tank showed Thursday.

Almost one in four respondents said they have had sex, and three out of four said they were worried about sexually transmitted diseases. Nearly 90 percent feel contraception is necessary, according to the survey.

In the survey conducted in October targeting 800 young people nationwide, 59.1 percent said sex education at school was useful but the remainder said it was of no help.

One female respondent said schools should explain more about the importance of contraception, while a male said the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases should be given more emphasis.

The questionnaire indicated students were dissatisfied with the lack of specifics taught, with one female student saying many teachers were vague in their expressions when teaching about sex.

For a multiple-choice question asking respondents where they got information about sex, 55.8 percent cited websites, followed by friends at 50.2 percent.

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