The Effects Of Sex Education On Adolescents’ Sexual Behavior In Secondary Schools In Thika District, Kenya

ABSTRACT

With the achievement of puberty, the adolescent becomes sexually active and competent. This maturity involves the whole process of physical development, emotional feelings and social conditioning. It may well be for the adolescent a period of turmoil and awkward adjustment, of mystery and exchange of wrong information with other adolescents. Adolescents, therefore, need the best possible preparation to enable them to cope well with their sexual development and avoid the most obvious pitfalls. Proper sex education can correct misconceptions and help achieve the desired sexual behaviour among the adolescents. Most studies in Kenya have generally concentrated on identifying the major sources of sex education for adolescents. It is less clear, however, which sexuality outcomes are influenced by different sources, and which sources have greater general influences on adolescents in Kenya. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of various sources of education about sexual topics (family, peers, media, school and religion) on teens’ sexual knowledge and behaviour among public secondary school students in Thika District. The study used ex-post facto design to determine sources of sex education and its influence on secondary school adolescents’ sexual behaviour. Data analysis was both qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative analysis considered the inferences that were made from the opinions of the respondents. This analysis was then thematically presented in narrative form and where possible tabular form. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequency counts and percentages. These data were further subjected to significance tests using Chi-square test. The study established that the main sources of sex education were peers and the mass media. Parents and school were rated among the lowest with sources of sex education. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher concludes that adolescents in secondary schools in Thika District do not have adequate information about sex. This can be attributed to overreliance on peers for information about sex, and, because information from peers can be unreliable, most of the information that the adolescents have is often misleading. Consequently, most of the sexually active students do not use any form of protection during sexual intercourse, and this exposes them to the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, or getting unwanted pregnancies, which can result to school dropout or health complications as young girls attempt abortion. Other adolescents practice unreliable protection methods such as the withdrawal method due to lack of information. Therefore, the researcher recommends that parents should be sensitized about the whole question of adolescents’ sexuality so that they can be more involved in teaching them about the same; the education system should put into consideration the idea of incorporating sex education into the school curriculum; the community should work hand in hand with community-based organisations and NGOs to educate the adolescents on responsible sex behaviour; the church should play a more active role in educating the adolescents/youth on sex education; and, since most peers prefer getting their information concerning sex from their fellow peers, all the parties should make effort to train the adolescents in order to ensure that they give right information to each other.