A new study found that teenagers would rather have people of their age talk to them about sex education rather than hear it from their teachers. The study was published by the Journal of Sex Research in November and detailed their findings about the study.
The researchers were from University of Hong Kong and University of North Carolina. They first studied 15 pre-existing reviews regarding peer-led sexual health education in more developed countries from 2005 to 2015. According to Taylor & Francis Online, sexual health education is important not only for the development of norms but also for the protection of teens form vulnerabilities.
Peer-led sexual education is said to be one of the most popular strategies and well-trained peer educators are often the people that other teens see as their role models. These peer educators are also those that they talk to about sensitive topics because they trust them and are familiar with them, Broadly reported. The study then evaluated the peer-led sex education programs via attitude, behavior, knowledge, self-efficacy, skills and social norms.
Out of the 15 studies that were examined, 12 saw improvements in sexual health knowledge while 13 saw changes in attitudes. It was also found out by the study that teenagers tend to focus more and take things seriously if they are being led by someone of their age. However, teenagers taking part of peer-led sex education programs must be exposed longer in order to see significant changes in the number of sexual partners, safe sex rate, substance abuse and other factors related to this matter.
One of the authors of the study, Wai Han Sun of the University of Hong Kong, said that the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies are the major public health concerns among teens and explaining sexual health helps them understand about these problems. Sun added, "Effective sexual health education helps youth develop safer sex habits and can also foster positive attitudes."
Peer-led sex education programs are growing in popularity in other countries. Many say that peer-led sex education sessions are more fun and teens could communicate via a familiar language.
