Adolescents need accurate and comprehensive education about sexuality in order to practice healthy sexual behaviour as adults. Society has a responsibility to help adolescents understand and accept their evolving sexuality, and to help them make responsible sexual choices. Traditional school curriculum may not afford the necessary information that teens require, however, the offering of frank sex education inschools is often a topic of debate. ’, What'’ and ’, when’, questions are frequently asked. Today, the internet is emerging as a unique and critical site of sexuality education. It offers teens a chance to take control of their sexual learning.
This study investigates sex questions from a web-based forum on adolescent sexeducation and analyzes the m吋or concerns expressed. The total sample are 1263 questions. The study also examines how educators might use the internet to meet the sex-ual education needs of young people in healthy and age-appropriate ways. Analysis ofthe sample reveals eight major themes, in order of teen interest: physical sexual concems, sexual development, masturbation, contraception/ pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender relationships, other sexually related information, and general life adjustment. These eight themes could represent the core content for an adolescent-centered approach to sex education. In terms of the amount of information offered, such a model would sit between the two existing traditional models. It would offer a narrowed focus compared to comprehensive broad-based sex education (which covers all topics regardless of teen interest), but more information than the abstinence-only approach. Findings indicate that questions on physical sexuality, sexual development and risk ofpregnancy are high on the list of concerns that teens have. Questions about sexuallytransmitted diseases, sexual abuse and cultural/societal issues are of less interest to teens.
Following analysis of the sample questions, researchers concluded that a web-based forum for adolescent sex education could be recommended because young people are willing to seek information and request answers to their questions through the anonymous medium of the internet. Considerations and recommendations for the creation of such an online adolescent-centered sex education program are discussed.