Angel Parker and Dr. Kristen Brewer are on a mission to empower students to take control of their sexual health through education.

Parker’s passion for sexual health education began when she was a health educator at Planned Parenthood in Greater Ohio, educating patients about STIs and contraceptive options. This her experience inspired her to pursue her health education qualification. After completing her MPH at WKU, Angel took a position as a health educator and school health coordinator for her BRDHD. With this role, Angel was responsible for developing and delivering sexual health education in the region. This combination of experiences made her aware of people’s lack of knowledge and understanding of sexual health and risk reduction.

Similarly, Kristen Brewer was a PhD student in Health Education and taught an undergraduate introductory personal health course. While discussing ways to reduce risk and practice safer sex, she noted discrepancies in students’ knowledge and attitudes based on the type of sexual health education they received in middle school and high school. These gaps created an unequal playing field for students without a comprehensive education as they had little information on how to protect themselves. frustrated, Kristen realized she needed this information before she could enroll in college. This education is necessary before students become sexually active, not after.

Parker and Dr. Brewer’s current project aims to address why these gaps exist in sexual health education. “There is a lot of stigma and offense on the topic of sexual health. One way to improve education is to better understand how to address these issues,” Dr. Brewer said. The overall goal of this project is to gain insight and context into the perceptions and attitudes of students, parents and educators regarding sexual health education, where policies restrict certain aspects of what is taught in schools. “Maybe, but the data show that at-risk youth sexual behavior needs to be addressed.”

In terms of sexual health outcomes, Kentucky generally has a higher rate of sexually transmitted infections than the national average, with a teenage birth rate of 31 per 1,000 births for women ages 15-19. Yes (University of Wisconsin Institute of Public Health, 2022). Narrowing the data to the sexual behavior of young people in Kentucky, the CDC reported that students reported being sexually active (just under 29% of student respondents), and 47% reported using a condom during their last intercourse. about 75% reported not using childbirth. Before the survey, nearly 90% said she had not been tested for STDs in the 12 months (CDC, 2020). These results are not surprising given what Angel and Kristen have seen in their work and research.

“If a comprehensive education is not provided, students are at a disadvantage because they will seek out information through other avenues such as friends, social media and the Internet,” said Parker. I’m here. “And we know that these are not always the most reliable sources of information. There is a desperate need for more informed, comprehensive and non-judgmental sexual health education. We hope that educators will better understand perceptions and attitudes about these topics so that they can develop targeted sexual health education based on the needs of their communities.”