Sexual attitudes and behaviors of school students (grades 6–12) in India

A questionnaire of sexual attitudes and behaviors was given to 890 students (397 girls and 493 boys) aged 10–17 years in a public school in New Delhi, India. Students from Grades 6–12 were randomly selected to respond to the questionnaire that included 99 items pertaining to demographics, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding human sexuality and AIDS. Simple statistical analyses (frequencies, t‐tests, and one‐way analysis of variance) were used to compute the results. There were significant gender differences in response to statements measuring attitudes and behaviors, except that both boys and girls strongly agreed with the statement that “sex is OK only if one is married.” There was a lack of reported sexual activity and experimentation. Most boys and girls reported not being attracted to others, using drugs or alcohol, or having sexual intercourse. There were significant differences in response to statements measuring boys' and girls' attitudes and behaviors between Grades 6–9 and Grades 10–12. These findings are of value to policy planners, educators, and researchers and are especially relevant to calls for a mandatory National Sexuality Education Curriculum. These baseline data will also provide a measure of future progress.