Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-19T22:37:05.826Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4073 Parents of Faith Support School-Based Sex Education: A Louisiana Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2020

Elise Walsh Boos
Affiliation:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Caitlin Canfield
Affiliation:
Louisiana Public Health Institute
Lissane Brown
Affiliation:
Abt Associates
Kristie Bardell
Affiliation:
Louisiana Public Health Institute
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Louisiana state law does not require sex-education (SE) in public schools. Locally and nationally, religious identity and beliefs are often invoked to oppose access to sexual and reproductive healthcare and education. This study aimed to explore support for SE among Louisiana parents, focusing on how religiosity may influence parent support for SE. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Participants included 1,197 Louisiana parents and caregivers of children in grades K-12 who completed a web-based survey. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine associations between covariates and support for SE. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Sixty-eight percent of parents reported that their overall approach to life is based on their religion or faith. Of those parents, 77% agreed that schools should be required to offer SE. In multivariate analysis, parents who reported that their whole approach to life is based on their religion on faith were 26% less likely to support required SE compared to parents whose whole approach to life was not based on their religion; however, this difference was not statistically significant (adjusted OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.44-1.24). Although support for required SE declined as religiosity increased, a strong majority of parents support requiring SE in Louisiana schools, regardless of religiosity. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Contrary to opposition claims, strong support for SE exists among Louisiana parents and caregivers of faith. Parents and leaders of faith may be engaged as partners in advocacy for SE as well as other sexual and reproductive health issues.

Type
Health Equity & Community Engagement
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Association for Clinical and Translational Science 2020