The sexual attitudes and behavior of private and public school students: a comparative study

This study reports the results of a questionnaire and interview-based study designed to test the often-stated claims of college preparatory schools, i.e., "prep schools" that, along with a high-quality education, they also instill a superior system of values than is possible in a public school. Comparisons are made between "preppies" and college-bound public school students in terms of sexual attitudes and behavior as well as with the earlier studies of Kinsey, Pomeroy et al., Sorensen, and Haas. The results indicate that, even when measured by the standards of the schools themselves, preppies rank lower in many areas, especially attitudinal, than their public school counterparts. Despite the enormous amount of faculty energy expended to prevent it, the sexual activity of the prep school student, both in amount and degree of sophistication, is significantly greater than is found in public school students. Further, in terms of sex-related drug use, exploitiveness, female self-image, homophobia and sexism, preppies do not compare favorably with public school students. Hypotheses are advanced to account for the differences detected and suggestions made for future research. It is also suggested that the research technique used in this study has great potential for future study of adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior that, in the past, have been extremely difficult to perform.