The Internet As A Setting For Sexual Health Development Among Gay Youth
Sex education is predominately being taught in our schools across the nation, with a medley of variations on how to teach the subject. More and more schools are choosing to teach their students about sexual health, risks, and general knowledge and foregoing the idea that abstinence is the only answer. The educational facilities who address the pink elephant in the room should be applauded.
The problem with Sex Ed. is the fact that it revolves around heterosexual relationships. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) youth can feel left out and uninformed as a result of this education. A lack of support and knowledge in other social groups such as peers, families, and communities can lead to youth looking for alternative sources for their sexual health development needs.
Brian Mustanski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UIC and he has developed a five year research plan to discover the positive and negative effects of the Internet on the development of sexual health among GLB youth.
There will be three phases to Mustanski’s research, which according to him has a “Long term goal of projecting Internet resources to meet the sexual needs of GLB youth.” The first phase will conduct research on GLB youth (16-24 years old) and their use of the Internet and its’ relationship to their sexual health via interviews. Interviewees will be asked questions such as which websites they use that they feel help them in their sexual health development, what they perceive as threats or risks in their sexual health, and what knowledge GLB youth desire.
Tags: 24 years, abstinence, brian mustanski, educational facilities, gay youth, general knowledge, glb youth, health, health development, health risks, heterosexual relationships, interviewees, long term goal, negative effects of the internet, pink elephant, relationship, risk, sex ed, sex education, sexual health, sexual needs, social groups