Watching sex scenes on TV not a strong cause for teens
having sex
Contrary to common belief, watching scenes of sex on television
or listening to songs with sexual lyrics over the radio here is not
a strong cause for teenagers to have sex.
Neither is factual knowledge on Aids-related information, or
academic performance in school associated to premarital sex,
according to a local study.
The researchers are from the DSC Clinic, the National Healthcare
Group, the National University of Singapore and Singapore General
Hospital.
They found that pornography is the strongest factor for male teens
to want to have sex.
Female teens with a history of sexual abuse are also more likely to
have sex early.
Researchers interviewed 500 sexually active teenagers from the DSC
clinic and 500 non-sexually active counterparts from a general
practitioner clinic between 2006 and 2008.
This study of teens, aged 14 to 19, is the "first rigorous study"
here on factors for premarital sex.
About 95 per cent of the sexually active boys had watched
pornography, compared to 79 per cent of non-sexually active
boys.
And 22.5 per cent of sexually active girls had a history of sexual
abuse, compared to 3 per cent of non-sexually active
girls.
Director for the Singapore Children’s Society, Carol Balhetchet,
agreed with the findings.
She cautioned: "It’s a real concern. (Pornography) may promote
aggressive sexual behaviour and violence to obtain what you
want."
With sexually abused girls, "the language of love has been
miscommunicated by someone they trust and respect," she
added.
To monitor and reduce access to "explicit sexual media",
researchers recommended that Internet Service Providers, parents
and the entertainment industry work together.
They also suggested that parents and healthcare personnel
"communicate openly" with adolescents on sexuality to "help (them)
develop a more critical attitude towards pornography".
For instance, said Dr Balhetchet, by re-visiting websites with
children, parents can teach them to "consequences of visiting such
sites".
Preventing teenagers from accessing pornography "very much involves
parents being active," she said.
They can access the websites children visit, and/or also install
software to keep track of children’s Internet use.
But for those already exposed to pornography, she suggested
counselling: "They need someone to educate them on what they want
to see (pornography) and ... about the dangers
(involved)."
Researchers highlighted young school dropouts, particularly
females, as needing out-of-school care and sex education, while
high-risk groups, such as those who were sexually abused, "should
be identified early, for interventions on life skills and sex
education".
One reason the media could have little impact on premarital sex
could be Singapore’s ban on scenes of explicit sexual intercourse
in public-access movies and TV shows, the study said.
But having characters with HIV/Aids or sexually transmitted
infections (STIs) in the media appears helpful in preventing
premarital sex.
Teenagers who had heard of or seen such characters portrayed in the
media were about four times less likely to have premarital sex.
However, knowing Aids is incurable did not have significant
impact.
As such, researchers called for factual information about HIV and
STIs, together with life-skills education, to be "woven into
television dramas to contextualise sexual risk, so teens can relate
to it."
"The advantage of story-telling is this additional ability to show
and illustrate the ordeals a person has to go through and perhaps,
this curbs the curiosity of teens which then reduces their urge to
engage in high-risk behaviour," said Dr Tan.
While researchers felt "it is not practical to promote sexual
abstinence alone," Dr Balhetchet said sex education should focus on
the "social and emotional component(s)".
Agreeing with the finding that academic performance does not impact
on teenagers having sex, she said, perhaps the Health Promotion
Board’s decision in 2008 to have sex education classes targeted at
normal stream students could be "targeting an age group" rather
than their academic performance.
"All children need sex education," she stressed. While this study
is a "brilliant first step", she believes further studies on
secondary school students could improve sex education
material.
For both genders, other predictors included having dropped out of
school, consuming alcohol, smoking and living in low-cost
housing.
Latest figures from the Ministry of Health show the STI
notification rate for those below 20 more than doubled from 61 per
100,000 population in 2000, to 133 in 2008.
--938Live