The Significant Discrepancy Between Adolescents’ Timing of First Sex and Their Perceived Suitable Age for Sexual Debut: The Case of Kinondoni, Dar Es Salaam
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Swaib Jacob Yarro, Department of Mathematics, Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Transport, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The timing of first sex is one of the variables that expose youngsters to sexual risk behaviours which end in health, psychological problems and academic underachievement. This cross sectional study sought to investigate the age at which students debuted sexual activities and the age they deemed appropriate for initiating sexual intercourse with an interest of measuring the variation between the two. With the aid of a pre tested questionnaire, data were gathered from 407 randomly selected students and processed using SPSS 20. Results Showed that, the age at sexual debut was (M = 15.9, SD = 1.33) with females initiating sex earlier than males; t (130) = 3.72, p = .001. Moreover, students; specifically females had their first sexual experience with much older partners than themselves. The age considered by the same students to be appropriate for sexual debut was (M =20.5, SD = 1.96) yielding a statistically significant discrepancy; t (131) = -13.2, p = 0.001 between ideal and reality. Gender, alcohol use, age group and age at puberty were each associated with variations in the age at sexual debut (p < .05) and they were in addition to sexual experience and relationship status associated with significant variations in the age perceived to be appropriate for sexual debut. In the light of these findings, students initiated sexual activities at tender ages which pose a risk of being infected with STDs. It is therefore suggested that, parents and teachers should work hand in to ensure that adolescents get to know the physical and psychological implications of early sex as well the factors that are likely to influence them negatively.
Sexual Activity, Timing of Sexual Act, Suitable Age, Significant Discrepancy, Students, Adolescents
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