Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of knowledge students of senior high schools in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital of Ghana, have on risky sexual behaviours and also to seek for answers on the reasons why students engaged in or will engage in sexual practices. Multistage sampling technique was employed to sample 400 students from the four public senior high schools in the municipality to respond to a researcher-designed instrument. Descriptive statistical analyzes were used in order to analyze the two research questions. The results suggest that majority of the respondents demonstrated moderate to high level of knowledge on sexual risk-taking behaviour (21% and 68% respectively). Moreover, the students indicated expression of love, to make money and to boost once social status as part of the varied reasons that influenced or would influence them to engage in sexual intercourse. The study concludes that the students will protect themselves against contracting sexually transmitted infections (STI), thereby reducing the incidence of HIV and female students might also be involved in multiple-partnered sexual relations.
Highlights
Adolescent sexual risk-taking behaviour has been a major challenge
3.1 Research question 1: What reasons do students of senior high schools in bolgatanga give for engaging in sexual intercourse?. This first research question seeks to find out the reasons why adolescents in senior high schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality engaged in or will engage in sexual intercourse
The study revealed that 51% of the respondents engaged in or will engage in sexual intercourse because of the physical attractiveness of the sexual partners whilst 50% of the students indicated physical and emotional pleasure as the reason that influenced or will influence them to engage in sexual intercourse
Summary
Adolescent sexual risk-taking behaviour has been a major challenge. The global body estimates that about 376 million new infections of the four curable STIs-chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and trichomoniasis- were recorded in 2016 (WHO, 2018). This is supported by trends towards larger numbers of inconsistent condom use with new partners (Choudhary et al, 2015), early sexual debut, multiple sexual partnerships (Gravningen et al, 2012), use of alcohol/drug before sex (O’Hara & Cooper, 2015) and commercial/transactional/paid sex (Choudhary et al, 2015). Plays a critical role in the upbringing of adolescents
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
