COURSE
CODE: PSY 721
COURSE
TITLE: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Abstract
The study is
out to investigate perceived factors influencing adolescent involvement in
sexual activities. The study is carried out using a qualitative research
technique, a focus group discussion precisely. Seven adolescents participated
in the study. It investigated the what adolescents understand about sex, how
they have sex, the various types of sexual activity they are involved in. The
adolescents are involved in sexual activity majorly from the age of
13years.adolescents engage in several types of sexual activities both coital
and non-coital sex. Many adolescents start having sex before they think of
risks involved. The most risk involved is pregnancy, gonorrhoea followed by
syphilis and then HIV-AIDS. Many of the adolescents are motivated to have sex
because of what they watch on TV, red in news papers, listen to in music and what
their mates are doing. Parents are advised to talk about sex to their wards
without making much of a big deal to it. Parents, teachers, and adults around should
be careful about what they display to the viewing of the adolescents.
INTRODUCTION
Knowing why adolescents are
involved in sex is critical to understanding their sexual behavior. For
example, having sex for enhancement (pleasure) motives has been linked to
sexual behaviors that increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections
(STIs) or pregnancy or both. Having sex for intimacy reasons, however, also has
been associated with more frequent sex (Dawson, LH; Shih, MC; de moor, C;
Shrier, L, 2008).
Many people imagine an adolescent as being a
gangly, awkward, and troublesome individual. Researchers shared this view until
quite recently. This period of life (generally considered to run from age ten
to age twenty-five) was seen as a time of "storm and stress." But
what is adolescent development really like? Clearly it is a time of great
change on many levels. Probably most dramatic are the biological changes
associated with puberty. These changes include dramatic shifts in the shape of
the body, increases in hormones, and changes in brain architecture. These
biological shifts are directly linked to changes in sexual interest, cognitive
capacities, and physical capacities. There are also major social changes
associated with the school-linked transitions and with changes in the roles
adolescents are expected to play by all those around them.
In humans, mature sexual
desire usually begins to appear with the onset of puberty. Sexual
expressions can take the form of masturbation or sex with a partner. Sexual
interests among adolescents, adults, can vary greatly. Sexual activity in
general is associated with a number of risks, including sexually transmitted
diseases (including HIV/AIDS) and unwanted pregnancy. This is considered
particularly true for young adolescents, as adolescents' brains are not
neurally mature (several brain regions in the frontal lobe of the cerebral
cortex and in the hypothalamus important for self control, delayed
gratification, and risk analysis and appreciation are not fully mature until
ages 25-30). Partially because of this, most adolescents are deemed less
emotionally mature and are not financially self-sufficient.
Since the onset of sexuality is at puberty
which is apparent at the adolescent stage then it is obvious they will feel
sexual urges. In Nigeria sex is believed to be for married people that are
adults. Adolescents know this too but they have their sexuality triggered by
some factors available in the society, it could be accidental or intentional.
For example TV watching, an adolescent could stomp on a movie and not know a sex
scene is in it, at the same time an adolescent will buy and watch a porno
film.
Adolescent sexuality refers to
sexual feelings, behaviour and development in adolescents
and is a stage of human sexuality. Sexuality and sexual desire usually begins
to intensify along with the onset of puberty. The
expression of sexual desire among adolescents (or anyone, for that matter),
might be influenced by family values and the culture and religion they have
grown up in (or as a backlash to such), social engineering, social control, taboos, and
other kinds of social mores.
In contemporary society,
adolescents also face some risks as their sexuality begins to transform. Whilst
some of these such as emotional distress (fear of abuse or exploitation) and sexually transmitted diseases
(including HIV/AIDS) are not
necessarily inherent to adolescence, others such as pregnancy (through
non-use or failure of contraceptives) are seen as social problems in most
western societies. In terms of sexual identity, while
all sexual orientations found in
adults are also represented among adolescents, statistically the suicide rate amongst LGBT
adolescents is up to four times higher than that of their heterosexual peers.
According to anthropologist Margaret Mead and
psychologist Albert Bandura the turmoil found in adolescence in Western society
has a cultural rather than a physical cause; they reported that societies where
young women engaged in free sexual activity had no such adolescent turmoil.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of carrying out
this study is;
To know the prevalence of
sexual involvement of Nigerian adolescents.
To know the factors that
influences adolescents in involving in sexual activities.
To know often adolescents
are involvement in sexual activities.
To know how informed
adolescents are as regards the risk involved in unsafe sex.
To know the perspective(s)
to address the situation.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objective of this study
is to address some of the limitations of previous research by identifying the
Nigerian adolescent’s reason for involvement in sexual activity and prevalence
since most of adolescent sexuality researches are done abroad which may not be
totally true of Nigerian adolescents.
To know the level of
involvement of Nigerian adolescents in sexual activities.
To bring to the notice of
adolescents and parents on what could possibly trigger the sexuality of the
adolescents and how to help them cope.
To make qualitative
recommendation and intervention program to reduce teenage sexuality and risks
involved in it.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research is to find
answers to the question
Why do adolescents engage in
sexual activity?
What is the population of
adolescents that are engaged in sexual activity?
Which type of sex do
adolescents engage more, the coital or the non- coital?
Is it the male adolescents
that are more engaged in sexual activity or the female adolescents?
What are the events,
phenomenon that trigger adolescents into engaging in sexual activity?
At what age do adolescents
start to engage in sexual activities?
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The research had the
following constraint;
The researcher used very few
participants
The research suffered short
time frame
The researcher focused on
Ibadan alone when adolescents can be found in other parts of Nigeria for more
comprehensive and comparable data.
REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES
Many studies have been
carried out on reasons why adolescents involve themselves in sex. Previous studies' participants ranged from
high school students (Stone & Ingham, 2002), to adolescents presenting to a
medical clinic for STI treatment (Dawson et al., 2008), to college
undergraduates who currently were dating someone (Dawson et al., 2008). Reasons
for having sex were assessed by asking how important each listed reason was in
the respondents' sexual relations (Dawson et al., 2008), how often they
personally had sex for each of a list of reasons (Dawson et al., 2008).
The studies have indicated
that at least four factors may contribute to differences in why adolescents
have sex. They are age, gender, relationship status in quest for intimacy and
motivational level of risk behavior that individuals are motivated to engage in
the behavior to enhance positive affect or reduce negative affect (Dawson et
al., 2008). These gender differences, however, have not been consistently
observed (Dawson et al., 2008). Age has
been associated with different reasons for having sex. Consistent with the need
to establish intimate relationships as part of healthy adolescent development
(Dawson et al., 2008) Similarly, a
longitudinal study of female adolescent clinic patients found that girls who
were 17 or older at first coitus were more likely than younger girls to report
being in love and feeling romantic as reasons for sex (Dawson et al., 2008).
In another research titled
‘watching sex on television predicts adolescent initiation of sexual behavior’
(Collins, Elliot, Berry, Kanouse, Kunkel, Hunter & Miu, 2004). A national
longitudinal survey of 1792 adolescents was carried out within 12-17 years of
age. Participants reported their TV viewing habits and sexual experience and
responded to measures of more than a dozen factors known to be associated with
adolescent sexual initiation. Analysis indicated that adolescents who viewed
more sexual content at baseline were more likely to initiate intercourse and
progress to more advanced non-coital sexual activities during the subsequent
year, controlling for respondent characteristics that might otherwise explain
these relationships. Watching sex on TV predicts and may hasten adolescent
sexual initiation. Collins et el came up with the recommendation that reducing
the amount of sexual content in entertainment programming, reducing adolescent
exposure to this content, or increasing references to and depictions of
possible negative consequences of sexual activity could appreciably delay the
initiation of coital and non-coital activities. Alternatively, parents may be
able to reduce the effects of sexual content by watching TV with their
adolescents and discussing their own beliefs about sex.
Adolescent
sexual behavior, pregnancy and parenthood; a review of research and
interventions by Kristin A. Moore, Brent
C. Miller, Barbara W. Sugland, Donna Ruane Morrison, Dana A. Glei, Connie Blumenthal (2010). Most
young people in the United States begin having sexual intercourse during their
teenage years. Current data suggest that slightly more than half of females and
nearly two-thirds of males have had intercourse by their 18th birthday. In the
last several decades there have been substantial increases in the proportion of
adolescents who report sexual activity at each year of age. Increases have been
greatest among females, especially among young females. Thus, more than twice
as many females ages 14, 15, and 16 are sexually active now, compared with
young women of the same ages just 15 years ago. Moreover, on average, there are
seven years for women and ten years for men between first intercourse and first
marriage. This creates a substantial interval of risk for non-marital
pregnancy.
Initial sexual intercourse
experiences are usually important (and sometimes defining) events in the lives
of young people. Early timing of sexual initiation is important for two
reasons. First, the younger the age of first sexual intercourse, the more
likely that the experience was coercive, and forced sexual intercourse is
related to long lasting negative effects. Secondly, the younger the age of
first sexual intercourse, the greater the risk of unwanted pregnancy and
sexually transmitted infections. This is because those who begin having sex at
young ages are generally exposed to risk for a longer time, are less likely to
use contraception, generally have more sexual partners, and tend to engage in
higher risk sexual behaviors such as alcohol or drug use prior to sexual
intercourse and having multiple concurrent sexual partners. It must be
recognized as well that early intercourse is frequently not voluntary. Among
females, as noted above, the majority of initial sexual experiences that occur
at age 14 or younger are non-voluntary.
Many variables are related
to the timing of first sexual intercourse. On average, males begin having sex
at younger ages than females, and blacks begin at younger ages than whites or
Hispanics. There are also strong effects of developmental characteristics, such
as early puberty and high levels of androgen hormones (i.e., testosterone),
which are associated with increased adolescent sexual behavior. Dating, and
especially early steady dating, provides a context for many adolescent sexual
experiences. Unconventional psychosocial attitudes and behaviors--as reflected
by early use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, school problems, delinquency,
and physical aggression--are associated with earlier onset of adolescent sexual
intercourse. Parents' marital disruption and living with a single parent have
been found to be associated with earlier onset of adolescent sexual behavior.
This finding probably reflects a variety of factors, including lower family
incomes, disadvantaged neighborhoods, lesser supervision, parental modeling,
and more permissive attitudes in single parent families. Similarly, having
sexually active siblings and friends is strongly related to a younger age at
the onset of sexual activity. On the other hand, having better educated
parents, supportive family relationships, parental supervision, sexually
abstinent friends, good school grades and attending church frequently are all
related to later onset of sexual intercourse.
In addition to families and schools,
neighborhoods provide an environment within which adolescents make decisions
related to sexual activity. The effects of the neighborhood environment, such
as the community economic base and labor market conditions for women, account
for a substantial portion of the racial differences among blacks and whites in
the timing of first sexual intercourse. Thus, in one study, the overall risk of
non-marital first intercourse was reported to be 50 percent higher for black
teens than white teens, even controlling for individual and family level
factors such as mothers' education and marital status and respondents'
education and religious affiliation. The addition of contextual variables such
as median family income, female unemployment, and female full-time employment
reduced the racial difference in risk of first non-marital intercourse to 36
percent. Net of individual and family level factors, the only contextual
variable found to be significant was female full-time employment in the
community, which was related to a greater risk of first sex.
The topic of sexuality and
adolescents often makes parents and teenagers uncomfortable. It can be
difficult for some parents to even broach the subject of sexuality, and even
more difficult should the parent suspect their child is sexually promiscuous.
Few parents want to confront the issues of sexual promiscuity or inappropriate
sexual behavior in their children, yet avoiding such behavioral problems can be
as risky as the behaviors themselves. Not only does sexual promiscuity cause
serious health risks to your child, it can damage self-esteem and the emotional
health of a developing adolescent.
Teenagers often partake in
risk-taking behaviors. This seems to be a common theme among adolescents, but
it can become a serious issue in troubled adolescents. Sex may become an
outlet. In this way, sex
becomes a drug, a way to escape feelings and emotional confusion. However, as
with any drug, there is a backlash. Any teenager who is acting out sexually
will begin to feel a diminished sense of value and self-esteem.
In a related research titled
‘Sexual promiscuity among Adolescents’ by Aspen education group (2010) stated
that some cases, sex can be used as a weapon or defense. An adolescent might
see promiscuous sex as a way of showing parents that he or she is
"free," an adult, someone who can "do whatever" they want
to do. Allowing a young person to continue to see sex in such an emotional
immature and self-destructive manner can lead to long-term problems with
intimate relationships, as well as the child's physical health.
HIV and AIDS, sexually
transmitted diseases, and cervical cancer have all been linked to promiscuous
sexual behavior. The threats of sexual promiscuity to an adolescent's health
are enough to warrant an intervention should you suspect your child is acting
out in this way.
"During the past three decades, the level of sexual activity in adolescents in the United States has increased." (Source, American Academy of Pediatrics)
"During the past three decades, the level of sexual activity in adolescents in the United States has increased." (Source, American Academy of Pediatrics)
Among teens each year there
are about 3 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and
approximately 1 million pregnancies. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
infection is the sixth leading cause of death among persons aged 15-24 years in
the United States.
(Source, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA).
(Source, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA).
THEORIES OF ADOLESENCE AND
ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY
So many theories in
developmental psychology explain the developmental stage of an adolescent.
According to Erik Erikson (1968) in his socio-psychological development he
stated that “adolescence is the stage from 10- 20 years of age”. It is the
stage when the individual is in search of identity, if the search is not
achieved then there is identity confusion. The individual is faced with the
finding out who they are, what they are about and where they are going in life
adolescents are confronted with many new roles and adult statuses such as
vocational and romantic. It is a stage of stress and storm. This is the stage individuals find it
difficult to trust people especially adults and most especially their parents,
they never seem to do anything right in the sight of their parents which piss
them off. The adolescents acknowledged that they can be very stubborn because
they feel they are right about some things they do and know what they are
doing. There is physiological, cognitive and biological growth. It is the stage
of puberty when so many sexual characteristics begin to grow. For the girls
there is onset of menstruation, breast enlargement, hips and body curves
growth. As for the boys there is strength in the voice, the penis enlarges,
broader chests amongst others. Most of the behaviors adolescents portray are as
a result of their thought processes.
Jean Piaget’s theory of
cognitive development places adolescents in the fourth stage which is the
formal operational stage. At this stage according to Piaget it is a stage of
abstract, idealistic and logical reasoning. It is the stage of hypothetical
reasoning which is the adolescent’s ability to develop hypotheses, or best
hunches, about ways to solve problems. They then systematically deduce, or
conclude which is the best path to follow to solve the problem. Adolescents at
this stage are of the believe that they are smart and are capable of take
decisions on their own which includes decision about keeping relationship with
the opposite sex, their sexuality and relations with the larger society.
Adolescent sexuality is a concern to researchers that is why Crooks and Bauer
took time to explain the phenomenon.
The adolescent sexuality
theory according to Crooks, Bauer (1999) states that, “cognitive world plays an
important role in our sexuality”. Thoughts and images are extensively involved
in adolescents and adult sexual lives. Adolescents might be attracted to
someone but understands that it is important to inhibit sexual urge until
adulthood, what they think of it, what they have seen of sex and what they have
heard of sex will either make them inhibit or go for sex. Cognitive
interpretation of sex also involves whom they want to have sex with or whom
they are having sex with. Tracing back
to the psychosexual stages of Sigmund Freud, he stated that ‘every individual
from childhood have sexual feelings’. The society expects such sexuality be
expressed at the adulthood stage.
METHODOLOGY
The study was carried out
using a qualitative study technique in investigating the phenomenon, precisely
a focus group discussion. The participants were selected using accidental
sampling technique. This is so because students are in session preparing for
the third term examination compared to the time frame the researcher has.
Participants
The focus group discussion
comprised of a total of seven adolescents. There were four males and three
females. They ranged from 13- 18 years of age with a mean age of 16 years.
Setting and procedure
The research was carried out
in the sitting room of an apartment. The sitting room was used so as to make
the adolescents more comfortable and relaxed. The discussion started with the
researcher introducing herself, telling the essence of the research, what is
needed from the adolescents, their consent for participation and consent to
record their voice. The researcher also assured them of confidentiality of
information and privacy of persons. The participants were asked to introduce
themselves not necessarily mentioning their real names but the type of school-
whether private or public school- and real age was asked. Each participant was
asked the same question. Each participant was given a label of P1 to P7.
THEMES DERIVED
FROM THE FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION
Most of the
points raised here were the opinions of the focus group discussion participants
that were all adolescents.
An
adolescent
Puberty is a period of several
years in which rapid physical growth and psychological changes occur,
culminating in sexual maturity. The average onset of puberty is at 10 or 11 for
girls and age 12 or 13 for boys. Every person's individual timetable for
puberty is influenced primarily by heredity, although environmental factors,
such as diet and exercise, also exert some influence. These factors can also
contribute to precocious puberty and delayed
puberty.
Puberty begins with a surge in
hormone production, which in turn causes a number of physical changes. It is
also the stage of life in which a child develops
secondary sex characteristics (for
example, a deeper voice and larger Adam's apple in boys,
and development of breasts and more
curved and prominent hips in
girls) as his or her hormonal balance shifts strongly towards an adult state.
This is triggered by the pituitary gland, which
secretes a surge of hormonal agents
into the blood stream, initiating a chain reaction. The male and female gonads are subsequently
activated, which puts them into a state of rapid growth and development; the
triggered gonads now commence the mass production of the necessary chemicals. The
testes primarily release testosterone, and the ovaries predominantly
dispense estrogen. The
production of these hormones increases gradually until sexual maturation is
met. Some boys may develop gynecomastia due to an imbalance of sex hormones, tissue
responsiveness or obesity.
‘An
adolescent is a person that developing some hair and for the boys let me say there
is deep voice and removal of sperm’ says one of the participants. According
to another participant she said adolescence stage is ‘the stage between childhood and adulthood’. Others said ‘a person within the age of 13 to 19’, ‘a matured stage of a girl or boy’, ‘there is breast development for the girls’,
‘if u are an adolescent he will see a
sign of maturity’.
All definition
given by the participants seem to conform with the definitions given by
developmental psychologists especially the stage between childhood and
adulthood, the time with which there is physical growth, cognitive development
and biological development.
So many
authors categorise the adolescent stage to be filled with ‘stress and storm’
Erik Erikson (1968) claims in his psychosocial stages of human development that
adolescent stage is the stage with which the adolescent child is in search of
an identity. Confusion could set in if such a search is not productive. The
participants are of the view that being an adolescent is not easy, ‘it is not easy being an adolescent’. As
said by another participant ‘it is a
stage you are more stubborn and angry’, the adolescent are in quest to
explore thereby they get scolded, abused, beating and shouted out which in turn
gets them more darery, angry and revoltful.
Adolescents
want to know things, learn new things which their parents or the society do not
condone at their age or the parents are of the opinion that the adolescent child
is not ripe for such. ‘At this stage we
are more curious because of what we see around’. Adolescents believe they
are old and matured enough to take care of themselves, handle situations and
make their own decisions, ‘adolescent
stage is the stage of maturity’.
Adolescent
sexuality
All the
participants agree to the fact that adolescents engage in sexual activity,
according to one of them he said, ‘yes for
some people’. It is not a new phenomenon that adolescents are engaged
varying forms of sexual activity but what is surprising about it is the rate of
involvement and the population among adolescents involved which is part of the
interest of the researcher. Adolescent stage is the stage in which sexual
properties develop in an individual; the sexual hormones are functional at this
stage. Some adolescents are early maturers while others are late maturers.
Early maturers especially females develop sexual properties early, they become
aware and are cognizant of the change in their body. From the research carried
out by Collins, Elliot, Berry, Kanouse, Kunkel, Hunter & Miu, 2004, it is
revealed that girls keep the knowledge of sex to themselves and talk about it
to their friends while boys explore sex pointing towards males as being more
involved in sex than female adolescent.
Age
of onset
According to
the American Academy of Pediatrics, 36.9 percent of 14-year-olds have had sex -
more than one out of three. Among 12th graders, 66.4 percent have had sex.
In a 2008 study conducted by YouGov for Channel 4, 20% of
14−17-year-olds surveyed revealed that they had their first sexual experience
at 13 or under in the United Kingdom.[46] A 2002 American study found that
those aged 15–44 reported that the average age of first sexual intercourse was
17.0 for males and 17.3 for females.
The age of onsent to
sexual activity varies widely between international jurisdictions, ranging from
12 to 21 years. Quoting the participants from P1
to P7 each of them gave an age bracket of when they first had the knowledge of
sex and presumed age they feel adolescents start having sexual relations.
Though some of them think it is a class thing others thing think its am age
thing. It could be noted that the observations could be a projection of
themselves or from other source like their friends. The age of onset of
knowledge about sex as given by the participants are 13years, 11years, 10years,
10years, 15years, 11years, 4years or 5years. Those that became aware at age 4 years
and 5years were males while those of 15years and 13years were females.
According to
the adolescents some start having sex at the age of 13years and /or at senior
secondary class. Mostly adolescent in senior secondary class 2. From the males
discussion it can be inferred that they most times start earlier than SS2.
Sexual
activities
According to
the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the year 2007, fewer than
half of all US high school students have had sexual intercourse. In that year,
47.8% of US high school students reported that they had ever had sexual
intercourse. This number has shown a downward trend since 1991, when the figure
was 54.1%. According to a survey commissioned by NBC News and People magazine,
the vast majority of 13- to 16-year-olds, 87%, report that they have not had
sexual intercourse, and 73% report having not been sexually intimate at all.
Three quarters of them say they have not because they feel they are too young,
and just as many say they have made a conscious decision not to.
‘when male and female meet together to have
some fun together’, ‘having a contact
with a male and female’, ‘intercourse
between two people boy and girl or male and female’, ‘sex happens between a man and a woman that are married and not anyhow u
shouldn’t have sex when u are not ready’. These are some of the definitions
the participants gave as to what sex is. When asked about the various types of
sex they know that adolescents engage in it became very clear that these
youngsters are deep into knowledge and involvement in sexual activities.
Sexual
activities like masturbation, kissing, romance, coital sex (sex through the
vagina), oral sex, anal sex, lesbianism, and homosexual were mentioned.
Masturbation is said to be the most popular amongst the adolescents as claimed
by the participants. It is common among the females because of fear of getting
pregnant and the shame it brings if their parents and friends are aware they
have start having sex. They claim it is safe and less satisfying.
Coital sex is
quite rampant, the males prefer this. The participants claim that anal sex is
not really common because of reasons that can’t be explained. Oral sex is in
vogue among the adolescents, it is fairly new and all sexually active
adolescents want to practise it. ‘Sex is
sweet is what my friends tell me...’ as said by one of the participants. ‘If someone’s body is moved can lead to sex’
as said by P2 a female.
Event
and factors that encourage sex
Teen sexuality
is influenced by the mass media today more than any other time in history. Internet,
television, music video and sexually explicit lyrics all contribute to
adolescents’ attitudes and behavior concerning sexual activity. Only 9% of the
sex scenes on 1,300 of cable network programming discusses and deals with the
negative consequences of sexual behavior. The Internet and the anonymity
therein allows adolescents real concerns relating to false information on
health issues, sexuality, and sexual violence in the world of intimate sexual
relationships.
In commerce this generation is
seen as an important target. Mobile phones, electronic devices such as the iPod,
contemporary popular music, movies, television
programs, websites, sports, video games and
clothes are heavily marketed and often popular amongst adolescents.
In the past (and still in some
cultures) there were ceremonies that celebrated adulthood, typically occurring
during adolescence. Seijin shiki (literally "adult
ceremony") is a Japanese example of this. Upanayanam is a
coming of age ceremony for males in the Hindu world. In Judaism,
13-year-old boys and 12-year-old girls become Bar or Bat Mitzvah,
respectively, and often have a celebration to mark this coming of age. Among
some denominations of Christianity, the rite or sacrament of Confirmation is received by adolescents and
may be considered the time at which adolescents become members of the church in
their own right (there is also a Confirmation ceremony in some Reform Jewish temples,
although the bar or bat mitzvah ceremony appears to have precedence). In United States, girls
will often have a "sweet sixteen" party to celebrate turning
the aforementioned age, a tradition similar to the quinceañera in Latin culture.
In modern western society, events such as getting your first driver's license,
high school and later on college graduation and first career related job are
thought of as being more significant markers in transition to adulthood.
Before sexual
intercourse could occur something or an event most have staged it. Some claim
that sex occur mostly between a boy and a girl when a girl keeps collecting
gifts from the boy and/ or the female goes to visit the male in his house when
no one is around as said by one of the participants and agreed upon by others, ‘when a girl goes to a boy’s house, when
females are collecting gift from men and the male wants to collect the gift
back and the girl goes to the boys house and he have sex with her’. Another
link to sex is the quest to satisfy one’s boyfriend or girlfriend as the case
may be, ‘like when u are in a
relationship and u want to satisfy your boyfriend and you don’t want him to have
sex with other girls and other girls are doing it’.
Reasons why
adolescents engage in sex as claimed by the participants are ‘some people do it because they want to go
against their parents’, ‘some do it
just as a fun’, ‘to practise what
they see their parents do because they see their parents do it’, ‘due to peer pressure’.
Factors that
were listed to be influencing adolescent sexuality are what may have little or
no control for save only from the home font.
Influence can be attributed to what is
seen on television. There are so many sex related programs and movies. Posters
on the street showcase almost naked women which is free to the viewing to not
only the adolescents but also children and adults. Kissing, romance, smooching
are becoming normal on television even actual sex. ‘Some do because they watch
bad things in television blue films they want to perform what they see’.
Adolescent access to phones is making
the spread of sex easy. Many adolescents take phones to school and showcase it
in class to their peers and friends in the neighbourhood.
Peer influence is also a strong force in
influencing adolescent sexuality. Many of the adolescents got to know of sex
first from their friends. They express what they watched, saw, read or
experienced about sex to their friends.
The print media is also implicated here.
Sex knowledge is gotten from magazines (hint, heart, play boy) novels like the
mills and boon, silhouette amongst others even newspapers. This print display
nude scene, illustrate how a sex activity was carried out to the extent of how
each individual climax.
I don’t know how popular this is but it
was said that some adolescents engage in sex to punish their parents or just to
go against their instructions. ‘Some go out of their way to punish their
parents’.
Another reason is an adolescent with an
hormonal problem still with that it is controllable by reducing the potency of
the hormone medically or simply get the adolescent married. ‘Some have hormonal
problems’.
Sex
risks
Effective contraceptive use
generally requires planning and preparation prior to having sexual intercourse.
This is often a problem for adolescents because young people usually report
that their first sexual intercourse "just happened" and that they
were not planning to have sex at the time. Consequently, condoms, which require
the least amount of advance planning, are used more than any other method of
contraception at first sexual intercourse, but about 35 percent of first
intercourse experiences take place without the use of any contraception at all.
Avoiding pregnancy after the
first (often unplanned) sexual intercourse experience requires consistent use
of an effective contraceptive method. This can be additionally problematic for
adolescents because young adolescents tend to be less deliberative and rational
about sexual decisions than older persons, and they also tend to have sexual
intercourse more sporadically. Consequently, approximately one-fifth of
adolescents report that they did not use any effective contraceptive at their
last intercourse experience. Seven in ten pregnancies to adolescent teens occur
to teens who were not using any method of contraception when they became
pregnant.
A major challenge to
preventing pregnancies is the fact that so many adolescents delay seeking
contraceptive services until some months after they have become sexually
active. The delay between first intercourse and obtaining contraceptive
services has been found to average almost one year in some studies.
Procrastination, not thinking that they could get pregnant or being ambivalent
about sex, contraception and pregnancy and worrying about confidentiality are
the reasons sexually active adolescents most often give for not seeking
contraceptive services sooner. The year after the initiation of sexual
intercourse is a time of high risk for unintended pregnancy, and in one study
about one-third of adolescents made their first visit to a clinic because they
suspected that they already were pregnant. Thus, helping adolescents to plan
for effective contraception (preferably before, but at least soon after
initiating sex) could be an important strategy for reducing unintended
pregnancy.
Adolescents gather
information about sexuality from friends and through the print and electronic
media. Often this information is wrong and unscientific. They have a great
curiocity and concern about the sexuality of their own and of the opposite sex.
Adolescents often have neither access to accurate information on the issues related
to sexuality and sexual health, nor solutions for their problems, due to
socio-cultural barriers.
There is a rising rate of
morbidity associated with sexual ignorance, poor decision making and inadequate
sexuality education.
The studies on the effects
of sex education in schools show that sex and AIDS education often encourages
young people to delay sexual activity and to practice safer sex, once they are
active. This is contrary to the popular belief that teaching young people about
sexuality and contraception encourages sexual experimentation.
In a study of AIDS
prevention programme done by UNICEF of selected Municipal Schools in Bombay
(Mumbai), it was found that students’ queries ranged from sexual intercourse to
marriage and sexual harassment. Many women’s organizations feel that the girls
should not be ignorant about basic facts of life and become victims of sexual
abuse, unwanted pregnancy and deception.
A survey shows that 50% of
the daily clientele of an STD clinic comes from 15 to 25 age group. Children
are not less informed but they are malinformed. Ignorance and misinformation
provide the ideal environment for all sorts of risky behaviour. It is such
behaviour that spreads HIV infection. Aims of Sex Education to adolescents
It is quite astonishing
to know that adolescents in Nigeria are not intelligent as to their sexual
life. Many of them have not learnt through someone’s story so much effort is
put by them so to not the same mistake their friends made. They Also take
caution after months of sexual activeness. ‘Child
birth control’, ‘condoms are used but
still we have many of girls getting pregnant’. ‘I want to say the boys are lucky they don’t get pregnant’. The risks
listed to be involved in adolescent sex are;
There
is high risk of getting pregnant which will in turn affect schooling and gives
the girl a bad face amongst her friends and the community.
HIV-AIDS
is another disease that is finding its way into the adolescent world. ‘I have
hear of a boy that had AIDS, I hear he is 17 years’.
Gonorrhoea
is said to be quite common amongst adolescent. The good thing is that doctors
will not treat a victim except the other person comes too.
RECOMMENDATION
There are so many
sex-related topics adolescents want to talk about but they don’t know if they
can trust their parents not to scold them or have their adult friends keep it a
secret, parents should not make a big deal about sex. They should be able to
talk about it from an early age of seven. One of the focus group discussant
said her mother talked to her about it when she was ten and the point she felt
‘why are you telling me, am not having sex’.
More attention should be
given to boys at teenage age because they are more vulnerable to indiscriminate
sex. Middle adolescent stage should be monitored carefully for both male and
female adolescents.
Parents should not criticize
their children when watching films that could co-incidentally have sex scenes
rather they watch it with the adolescent and explain further what is not clear
through it they should be educated on when to have sex.
How adolescents access the
internet should be monitored. Adolescents sometimes innocently visits site that
are unknowing to them to be sex incisive site.
There are so many cues out
there encouraging our adolescents to want and eventually have sex. These cues
are musical lyrics, romance novel, sex magazines amongst others. Knowledge of
these cues are majorly influenced by peers. They introduce themselves to this
factors causing adolescent involvement in sexual activity. Parents cannot
follow their adolescents to school but they can keep a very close and intimate
relationship with their adolescents so that whenever such things are seen or
told about by their friends they find it easy to come home and tell. By this,
influence risk will be minimized and proper education and caution will be given
to the teenager.
Parenting skills and style
of training adolescent should be learnt because how they were handled will have
to change in order to get the best out of them.
More sex education and
unprotected sex risks should be discussed with the adolescents by
psychologists, doctors and the school teacher. The doctors are important so as
to explain vividly the physiological implication of the diseases.
CONCLUSION
Information: To
provide accurate information about human sexuality, including growth and
development, human reproduction, anatomy and physiology of genital organs,
pregnancy, child birth, parenthood, contraception, abortion, sexual abuse,
HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STD).
Attitude, values and insight:
Opportunity to question, explore and assess their sexual attitudes in order to
develop their own values, increase self-esteem, develop insights concerning
relationships with members of both genders, and understand their obligation and
responsibilities to others.
Relationships and interpersonal
skills: Help them develop skills like communication,
decision making, assertiveness, peer refusal skills and ability to create
satisfactory relationships. Develop capacity for caring, supportive,
non-coercive and mutually pleasurable intimate relationships.
Responsibility: To help
young people exercise responsibility regarding sexual relationships, including
abstinence; resist pressure to prematurely involve in sexual intercourse and
encourage the use of contraception and other health measures.
It may not be
surprising to know that Nigerian adolescents are this exposed to so much of
sexuality, but necessary education and clear analysis of what sex is, who, how
and when it should be performed. The Yoruba belief is that sex is for only the
married and that staying a virgin till the wedding night is respectable,
valuable and modellabe to other members of the society.
DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
How does it
feel being an adolescent?
At what age do
people start having sex?
Do adolescents
engage in sexual activity?
With whom do
they engage in sex?
Like how much
percentage of adolescent engage in sex?
How many type
of sexual activity do you know?
Coital
sex
Non-
coital sex like anal sex, oral sex
Homosexuality
and lesbianism
How do you get
informed about sex?
Are you aware
of the risks involved in unprotected sex?
What are the
measures adolescents take to control for the risks and diseases involved?
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