The 23rd annual Seoul Queer Culture Festival is under way at Seoul Plaza in Seoul on July 16, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — A majority of middle school students want to learn about sexual minorities during sex education classes at school, a survey showed Tuesday.
The Korean Women’s Development Institute, a state-run think tank, conducted a survey of 4,065 middle school students, of which only 21.1 percent had learned about sexual minorities during sex education classes at school.
Among the respondents, 77.9 percent said sexual minorities should be included in future sex education classes.
Sorted by gender, female respondents (86.2 percent) felt more need than their male counterparts (70.1 percent) to learn about sexual minorities.
First graders (81.2 percent) felt more need to learn about sexual minorities than second graders (75.3 percent) and third graders (77.4 percent).
Asked about what they would do if they were a sexual minority, 35.4 percent of male students said they would try to get rid of such thoughts, while 24 percent said they would hide it and 21.1 percent said they would talk with their parents.
In response to the same question, 32.3 percent of female students said they would talk with their parents about it, while 25 percent said they would talk with their close friends and 24.9 percent said they would look it up on the internet.
“Unlike male students who wanted to stay in the closet, female students were more willing to talk about their thoughts and feelings with their parents and friends,” the institute said.
If they found out that their friend turned out to be a sexual minority, 51.5 percent said it wouldn’t hinder their friendship.
Sorted by gender, more female respondents (60.6 percent) thought likewise than male respondents (43 percent).
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
