WHEN Barangay Luz workers saw Imelda (not her real name) ask for the gender and development focal person, they knew her daughter had run away again. The 15-year-old lived a sheltered life as Imelda and her husband were protective of their only child, a “blue baby” whom Imelda carefully nursed and monitored since infancy.
But unknown to her parents, the teen befriended a neighbor and often met him after school, later cutting classes to consummate their trysts. When the man was caught and jailed for selling prohibited drugs, Imelda’s daughter connived with the man’s mother to visit him in jail, later staying overnight in one of the jail’s kobol, makeshift quarters constructed for “conjugal” visits between the inmates and their wives or girlfriends.
With the assistance of barangay officials and neighbors, Imelda traced her daughter’s whereabouts and brought her home. Imelda has been advised to file charges against the boyfriend, specially since her daughter is still a minor, but she has been prevailed by her daughter not to. In return for not pressing charges, Imelda has extracted her daughter’s promise not to run away again. But after some period elapses, the teener disappears again and Imelda is back at the barangay hall, seeking aid.
While the period between the first date and first sex experienced by adolescents is the best time to equip them with information and services to encourage responsible behavior and avoid risks, sex education services to teens should consider the varying circumstances and factors affecting teens.
Early age at first sex exposes teens to the risk of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Based on the study of pre-coital activities of 2,051 adolescents aged 17–19 in Cebu, which researchers Ushma Upadhyay, Michelle Hindin and Socorro Gultiano conducted for the “International Family Planning Perspectives (IFPP),” the researchers recommended that institutions use different approaches in targeting students and out-of-school youths.
School and pre-coitus
Bound by conventions and norms, schools foster a culture that delays pre-coital behavior, such as kissing and petting, as well as sets in motion a gradual, ordered initiation to sexuality, with most students progressing from having crushes, to admirers, first group date, first boyfriend or girlfriend, single date and then first intercourse.
For in-school youths, there is a considerable amount of time between the reported first crush and first intercourse for both sexes. The researchers found that the gap was even longer for females than for males. Although teens engage early in emotional relationships, several years elapse before many engage in sexual intercourse, with the period significantly shorter for males.
The gender gap is more evident in religious attendance, with significantly more females reporting frequent church attendance than males. Females who attended church frequently were about 40 percent less likely to have had intercourse than females of the same age who did not attend frequently.
Overall, education is a factor minimizing sexual precocity. The IFPP study showed that for each additional year of education, the adolescents’ hazard of initiating intercourse at any given age was reduced by 17 percent.
Out of school and at risk
But the same study underscored that different pre-coital behaviors are exhibited by those who are absent from or have dropped out of school. These out-of-school youths may be more likely to engage in sexual behavior.
While females generally wait longer to have intercourse than males, the social environment significantly influences their choices. Alienated from parents and other authority figures, community youths turn to peers or other adults for emotional and other needs.
Thus, the period of time before pre-coital behavior is shortened, often prematurely initiating community-based adolescent to sexual activity without adequate mental and emotional preparation, such as practicing safe sex.
The research suggested tailoring health programs to reach out to community-based youth and help them make informed choices about their sexuality. This preparation must start earlier for boys, specially since data show that males generally are not limited to having intercourse only with their romantic partners. While most girls limit intercourse to those they are emotionally involved with, there is still a need to educate and prepare them to negotiate for delayed or protected intercourse with their partners.
