Sexual Behaviour and Sex Practices among Secondary School Students in Enugu

Childhood and youth are both periods of accelerated learning, and a time during which young people can acquire the necessary knowledge, attitude, values, and skills that can help them to maintain healthy behaviour, and avoid behaviours that put them or others at risk. Secondary school students represent a sexually active group. Their sexual behaviour will influence the spread of HIV to others at risk. They are also at a vantage stage of development in which they are receptive to information and intervention. Furthermore, schools representstrategic institutions where STI/HIV/AIDS prevention and health promotioneducation should begin.

The prevalence of adolescent STI’s including HIV/AIDS, pregnancy and school dropout rates are high in Nigeria. In response to this, Nigeria’s reproductive health policy focuses on preventing risky sexual behaviours during adolescence. Part of the obstacles to the programme is inadequate and incomplete information on the sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of adolescents and partly because it is not taught in a formal setting. Given the early age at which many young people become sexually active, there should therefore be special emphasis on early information and education of pre adolescents and adolescent boys and girls, both in school and out of school. As adolescents mature and become sexually active, they face serious health risks with regard to STI’s.

Most face these risks with too many sexuality myths, too little factual information, guidance about sexual responsibility and access to health care. In the early days of HIV/ AIDS epidemic, national AIDS programmes and community groups seeking to stem the tide of HIV spread had no choice but to experiment with prevention programmes. The was no way of knowing with certainty what prevention strategies would work best, especially for convincing people to change their sexual or other risk behaviours. After more than a decade and half of experience, what does work is to create a supportive social environment in which people can be informed about the whole range of options for safe sexual behaviour. Read more..............