Background: It is necessary to provide students with health education to develop their ability to apply information from health checkups before graduating from high school. Therefore, education regarding health checkups is provided during health education programs and school health checkups. However, students’ knowledge of screening and recognition of the pros and cons of health checkups have not yet been investigated.

Objective: This study aimed to examine elementary, junior and senior high school students’ knowledge of screening and recognition of the pros and cons of health checkups and identify their differences based on grade and sex.

Methods: In 2019, an anonymous study, using self-administered questionnaires was conducted among 328 fifth-graders in elementary schools; 173 second-graders in junior high schools; and 273 second-graders in senior high schools. The survey assessed “knowledge of screening” (5 questions); and “recognition of the pros and cons of health checkups” (6 questions each).

Results: Students in higher grades exhibited higher scores on the total score of “knowledge of screening”, on “recognition of the cons of health checkups,” and one item on “recognition of the pros of health checkups.” Regarding the cons, elementary school students recognized anxiety of after checkups, whereas junior and senior high school students recognized burden of taking checkups. Girls scored significantly higher on “knowledge of screening” and “recognition of the pros of health checkups,” whereas boys scored significantly higher on “recognition of the cons of health checkups.”

Conclusion: “Knowledge of screening” and “recognition of the pros and cons of health checkups” varied depending on grade and sex. Depending on the circumstances at each school level, it is necessary to provide health education and school health checkups to increase the knowledge of screening and the recognition of the pros of health checkups, and reduce the recognition of the cons of health checkups while considering the difference by sex.

Background: To protect the health and safety of children with intellectual disabilities, who are at high risk of sexual problems, it is crucial that they acquire correct knowledge about sex and develop the judgment to choose appropriate behaviors. We developed a new sex education resource, the Sexual Health (SH) cards, which is meant to enable students to learn from each other through discussion.

Objective: This study is intended to clarify the effectiveness and usefulness of these teaching materials.

Methods: Students learn from the SH cards by looking at the illustrations and themes of the cards and discussing them with each other. The cards are categorized into four themes―body, mind, society, and life―and two aspects―acquiring knowledge and deepening understanding. Teachers were asked to design and deliver lessons using the SH cards. Following the class, a five-question questionnaire was administered to the participating students, and a focus-group interview was conducted with the teaching staff. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and item-by-item correlation coefficients, whereas qualitative data were inductively analyzed. This study was approved by the ethics committee of the researcher’s institution.

Results: Four themes were taught in the two schools, and 151 students (87.3%) responded to the questionnaire. The average scores for each item were as follows: “I was able to speak honestly about my feelings and thoughts”: 4.03±0.93; “I was able to understand that each person has various ideas”: 4.57±0.63; and “I was able to deepen my learning about today’s class theme”: 4.32±0.74. No significant correlation was found between other items and “Today’s lesson was difficult” (3.16±1.28). Teachers were placed into four groups for interview purposes (N=13). The analysis indicated that the teaching materials were effective in fostering open discussions about sexuality and were flexible enough to adapt to different teaching contexts.

Conclusion: The students were able to express their feelings and thoughts, learning while being exposed to diverse values and perspectives. This study suggested the effectiveness and usefulness of the SH cards, demonstrating their potential for fostering active learning in sex education, in contrast to more traditional, one-way teaching methods.