Mass media and the premarital sexual behaviour of the adolescents in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The authors set to investigate the influence of the Mass Media on adolescents' knowledge of and behavior towards sex and sexuality, especially, regarding early sex, the use of contraceptives and condoms. The participants were drawn from five secondary schools in Owerri Municipality, the Capital of Imo State, Nigeria. The simple size included 100 respondents made up of males and females between the ages of 10 and 19 years drawn from simple random sampling. Questionnaire containing semi-structured (close-ended) questions. Interview sessions involving media workers form select radio, television and newspaper houses in Owerri were conducted. Three research questions and one hypothesis were used to straighten the study. Results showed the respondents mean age for first sex is 17.8 years. The findings show that the media did not have very significant influence at 0.05 on adolescents' sexual behavior, especially, as regards, having first sex experience. This result is explained by the fact that most the respondents lived in boarding hostels and may not have access to media, while in school. It was recommended the influence of family members, including parents and peer groups should be given priority attention when adolescent sexual behavior is discussed, especially, in Nigeria where extended family members play a vital role in the socialization of the adolescents.