A survey recently conducted by Family Planning NSW and Myspace.com asked over 1,000 young people, aged between 12 and 24 years old, where they went to find out information about reproductive and sexual health including:

  • body stuff (puberty)
  • how to stop getting pregnant (contraception)
  • sex stuff
  • Relationships

The outcomes of the survey were released to co-inside with International Youth Day (August 12) with some interesting results.

The survey included over 100 questions and the answers showed that teenagers are more likely to turn to doctors, schools and parents for the technical side of sexual health (‘body stuff’, contraception, pregnancy & STI’s), BUT it is their friends and the internet they go to when it comes to the emotional aspects of a relationship (‘sex stuff’, sexual activities and relationship information).

 A male respondent aged 15 years wrote: 
“I don’t know maybe more to do with feelings and emotional attachments after sex as schools only talk about puberty and avoid sex and friend(s) only talk about how it felt physically.”

The Survey found that:
Friends – were the most commonly used source of information for young people with 43% of respondents calling on their mates for information. 
Sexual activities – 50% turned to their friends for information, while only 20% sought advice from schools and parents.
Contraception – 48% of adolescents went to doctors for information. 38% went to friends first.
The Internet – 30% of young people combined the internet with traditional sources for information about sex, and
Schools & Parents – 25% of the respondents turned to these sources for information.

Dr Deborah Bateson, Medical Director for Family Planning NSW said “the results show that young people seem to have an appropriate level of scepticism when it comes to using the internet for sexual health information.”

“We see this kind of information from young people as hugely valuable,” said Dr Bateson. “It certainly has an impact on the way we provide sexual health education and resources to young people, particularly when it comes to safe sex and healthy relationships.

The survey found that although young people are turning to the internet as a source of information, only 21% felt they trusted the information they found and only 16% of adolescents trusted what they saw or read in the media.

On the question of ‘body stuff’ (puberty and body changes) over 50% of respondents said that they talked to their friends, with 45% checking on the internet and about 33% seeking information from parents and schools.

However when it came to medical information about sexual health nearly 50% of young people said they went to a doctor, while 25% of the participants talked to their parents.

One female respondent, aged 13 wrote: 
“I know alot (sic.) from my mum. She tells me everything I want to know and often tells me them if she thinks I should know. We’re really close but sometimes I can’t bring myself to ask some things. I want to know more about pregnancy and because I’m a virgin- how to have sex. I often feel I’ll be really nervous when the time comes and also, the male mind, what emotions they go through.”

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha
Source: Family Planning NSW