Teen sexual health – the real story
With community concern about the consequences of teenage binge drinking, the sexualisation of children in advertising and the moral hazards of ‘raunch’ culture, La Trobe University’s ‘Survey of Australian Secondary School Students and Sexual Health’ provides a periodic reality check for the nation.
The fourth such survey, conducted by the Australian Research Centre for Sex Health and Society (ARCSHS) based on the University’s City campus, was released in August. It surveyed around 3,000 year 10 and 12 students from Catholic, Independent and Government schools.
And the reality is, as was noted in widespread media reports, that there are some worrying trends.
Professor Anthony Smith, Deputy Director of the Centre, says Australian school students are not doing badly, but expressed concern about some emerging trends and changes in data since the previous survey in 2002. With the proportion of students reporting they had three or more sexual partners increasing from 20 to 30 per cent, one of these concerns was that ten per cent more young women reported unwanted sex – up from 28 per cent in 2002 to 38 per cent in 2008.
Just under half the students, says Professor Smith, had experienced oral sex. Most reported having oral sex with one partner the previous year, but a considerable proportion, 28 per cent, had oral sex with three or more people – a ten per cent increase on 2002.
Although there was a reduction in alcohol consumption between 2002 and 2008, Professor Smith says students continue to drink considerable amounts of alcohol – 38 per cent reported drinking once a month or less, and 21 per cent either weekly or more frequently.
‘In 2002 approximately two thirds of young women in year 12 reported drinking three or more drinks on any one occasion. This number has increased considerably, to 84 per cent in last year’s survey.’
Alcohol use is of major concern to the researchers, with more young people drinking at levels that expose them to a range of short-term risks as well as some longer-term risks.
Professor Smith says today’s teenagers would score ‘C minus’ for their knowledge of the link between alcohol and drug use and sexual behaviour. This sits beside the significant minority of young people who reported having had sex when they did not want to.
In relation to this, Professor Smith said that two things stood out, particularly for young women.
‘Pressure from their partner to have sex was identified by nearly one in four young women as a reason for having had unwanted sex, and being too drunk at the time was identified by nearly one in five.’
Huge need for youth- friendly health services
Professor Smith says youth cultures are diversifying. ‘Overall we are not seeing broad general trends, but changes that are gender and year-level specific and this must be monitored.
‘Mum still knows best when it comes to giving information and advice, as well as female friends and the internet, but there is a huge need for youth-friendly health services to fill a vital gap in information.’
Professor Smith says knowledge of HIV was still good, but warns that there was a slight decline.
‘On the upside, knowledge about sexually transmissible infections and hepatitis is improving, although a majority of those surveyed believe it is possible to be vaccinated against hepatitis C.’
Some concerns persist over time. ‘For example, the place and meaning of oral sex for young people and the lack of knowledge about the human papillomavirus (HPV), despite the major vaccination campaign against HPV,’ he says.
La Trobe University’s Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society has conducted research for the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNAIDS, Family Health International, the Ford Foundation, AusAID, and other agencies. The Centre won the Victorian Public Health Awards for Research Excellence in 1997, 1999 and 2001.
View the full details of the survey.