A Study of Risky Sexual Behaviour of Adolescents in Selected Public Secondary Schools in Southwest, Nigeria

This study was undertaken to assess risky sexual behaviour of adolescents in public secondary schools in southwest, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed for the selection of respondents for the study. In the first stage, purposive sampling technique was used to select schools whose heads and principals gave consent as well as students who gave assent to participate in the study in the three states namely Ekiti, Ogun and Osun states in Southwest, Nigeria. In the second stage, 30 schools per state were randomly selected. This was done by writing the names of all the schools on a piece of paper, folded up and put in a container then 30 schools were blindly picked from the container meant for each state. In the third stage, 10 students were randomly selected per school per state to give a total number of 300 per state and 900 students across the three selected states in the study area. Results of the study showed that 2.22% of the interviewed students admitted that they had used drugs while 97.78% admitted to the fact that they had never used drugs. Out of those students who claimed to have been involved in drugs, 75% used alcohol, 10% used tobacco, and 15% used cannabis. Also, research results reveal that use of drugs and substances was drastically low in the study Out of the 500 female students that were interviewed on whether they had ever had sexual intercourse, 9.80% claimed to have had sexual intercourse before while 90.20% claimed not to have ever had sexual intercourse. 59.18% claimed to have willingly had their first sexual encounter, 24.49% claimed to have been coerced/enticed to have had their first sexual encounter and 16.33% claimed to have been forced to have had their first sexual encounter. 69.40% claimed to have used contraceptive while 30.60% claimed not to have used contraceptives. With respect to methods of contraception, 55.10% of the female respondents claimed to have used condoms while 44.90% claimed to have used pills. Out of the 5 female respondents that admitted to the use of drugs, 80.00% claimed to use alcohol while 20.00% claimed to use tobacco. In addition, research results show that alcohol was the major substance being used in the study area. Out of the 400 male students that were interviewed on whether they had ever had sexual intercourse, 45.00% claimed to have had sexual intercourse before while 55.00% claimed not to have ever had sexual intercourse. 66.67% claimed to have willingly had their first sexual encounter, 22.22% claimed to have been coerced/enticed to have had their first sexual encounter and 11.11% claimed to have been forced to have had their first sexual encounter. Out of the 15 male respondents that admitted to the use of drugs, 73.33% claimed to use alcohol, 6.67% claimed to use tobacco, and 20.00% claimed to use cannabis. Table 6 shows that 11.11% of the interviewed female respondents who claimed to have had sexual intercourse before claimed to have been raped while 88.89% claimed not to have been raped. 80 male students (44.44%) admitted to have had STD. 62.50% claimed to have been diagnosed of chancroid, 37.50% claimed to have been diagnosed with syphilis. 90.00% claimed to have received treatment. 22.50% claimed to have been diagnosed with STD at the age of 13, 33.75% claimed to have been diagnosed with STD at the age of 15 and 43.75% claimed to have been diagnosed at STD at the age of 16. 120 female students (26.61%) admitted to have had STD. 62.50% claimed to have been diagnosed with chancroid, 37.50% claimed to have been diagnosed with syphilis. 95.83% claimed to have received treatment while 4.17% claimed not to have received treatment. 16.67% claimed to have been diagnosed with STD at the age of 13, 37.50% claimed to have been diagnosed with STD at the age of 15, and 45.83% claimed to have been diagnosed with STD at the age of 16. It can be concluded that youth are still engaging in risky sexual behaviour despite all the educative information and preventive measures availed to them. It is recommended that Youth be enlightened on risky sexual behaviour and their consequences.