Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Male students know less about sex than females
By Kim Bo-eun
Most male students have had sex more than once, but few show knowledge of pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and other sexual matters, a study showed Friday.
Conducted by a team led by professor Shin Kyung-rim of the Health Science College of Ewha Womans University, the study surveyed 6,000 college students nationwide on knowledge, experience, and attitudes toward sex. It was conducted from May to November last year, as part of a government-funded research project.
According to the study, 50.8 percent of the male respondents said they had experienced sex more than once, sharply contrasting with 19 percent of females.
The research team concluded that the statistical gap results from differences in the sex drives of men and women, and their attitudes toward having sex.
In addition, they observed that male college students are on average older than their female counterparts because they have to serve in the military during college.
Female students have greater knowledge on five out of six areas including: reproduction physiology, psychosexuality, pregnancy, contraception and abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual abuse.
Asked how many times they had sex, most respondents said “More than five times, less than 10 times, irregularly.”
Among sexually experienced students, male students said they mostly used motels and hotels while female students said they had sex at home or at their boyfriend’s house.
On contraception, 57.9 percent responded that they used condoms over other forms of contraception. Coitus interruptus, when a male ejaculates outside his partner’s body, is favored by 13.7 percent of males while 11.7 percent of females use contraceptive pills.
Of the students who have sexual experience, 9.4 percent responded that they had experience of either becoming pregnant or getting their girlfriend pregnant. This figure is lower than 11.6 percent in 2007.
Among them, 78 percent replied they chose abortion.
Most responded that they had received sex education during elementary, middle and high school. But only 20.3 percent said they learned about sex in college.
Approximately a third of the students surveyed (33.6 percent) were found to be willing to take part in lectures about sex.