CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1       Background to the Study
Access to effective, broadly based sexual health education is an important contributing factor to the health and well-being of youths’ (Health Canada, 2003; Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, 2004). There has been considerable concern in many countries in the world about the sexual and reproductive health of young people, in part because of their perceived increased vulnerability to the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) (Knode-lule et al., 1997; Preston-Whyte, 1994; Scommegna, 1996; Twa-Twa et al., 1997), the potential risks to their health due to early pregnancy (AbouZahr & Royston, 1991; Barreto et al., 1992; United Nations, 1989), and the negative consequences of early and non-marital childbearing to young people’s life prospects (Hayes, 1987). School-based programes are an essential avenue for providing sexual health education to young people in the society.
However, sex education is considered as a top priority for the educators, public health professionals, and others who are committed to providing high quality sexual health education in schools and other community settings are often asked to explain the rationale, philosophy, and content of providing existing sexual health education programs to avert risky behaviour later in their lifetime. For instance, Isiugo-Abanihe (1994) has shown that more than 38 % of female adolescents in Nigeria, age 15 to 24 years, had initiated sexually activity in 1990, with a mean age of sexual debut less than 17 years. Nearly 60 % of those who had initiated sex had affairs within four weeks of the survey.
Also, the growing concern about the reproductive health of adolescents and young adults derives in part from the sheer size of their cohorts. According to estimates by the National Population Commission (NPC, 1998), about 84 million Nigerians are currently under age 25, or about 63 % of the population; nearly 59 million or about 44 % are under age 15 yet, due to lack of prompt sexual education, many adolescence life had been sent to early grave due to risky sexual behaviour as a result of peer pressure and other factors. The Guidelines of such education are based on the principle that sexual health education should be accessible to all people and that it should be provided in an age appropriate, culturally sensitive manner that is respectful of an individual’s right to make informed choices about sexual and reproductive health.
In addition, adolescents often look to their families as one of several preferred sources of sexual health information (King et al., 1988; McKay & Holowaty, 1997). However, most young people agree that sexual health education should be a shared responsibility between parents and schools (Byers, Sears, Voyer, et al., 2003a; Byers, Sears, Voyer, et al., 2003b). An evidence-based approach combined with a respect for democratic values offers a strong foundation for the development and implementation of high quality sexual health education programs in our schools (McKay, 1998).
            Accordingly, the period of adolescence occupies a unique stage in every person's life. It is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood. Adolescence has been described as a stage among human beings where a lot of physiological as well as anatomical changes take place resulting in reproductive maturity in the adolescents, (Kirby, 1999). Many adolescents manage this transformation successfully while others experience major stress and find themselves engaging in behaviours  such as sexual experimentation, exploration and promiscuity etc. that place their well-being at risk (Adegoke, 2003). Adolescents display sexual behaviours and developmental characteristics that place them at risk for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). A primary source of risk of HIV/AIDS for instance is unprotected /indiscriminate sexual activity (Remafedi, 1999). By the time they are 18, most adolescents in Nigeria are sexually active).
Furthermore, despite increased sexual knowledge, adolescents in Nigeria are poor contraceptive users (Abogunrin, 1999). They are less likely than adults to consistently use condoms or other methods of protection that could reduce their chances of infection (Esere, 2006). Neither specific teaching about contraception nor improving the contraceptive service consistently increases effective contraceptive use by young teenagers. Adolescents having sexual intercourse before age 16 are more likely to take risks by (Kirby, 1999). They have more sexual partners during their lifetime and more partners per year and they start sexual activity earlier in new relationships than those who become sexually active after age 16. (Johnson, 1999)