CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The advancement witness in the world today in education, technology, communication, agriculture, population growth as well as in urbanization cannot be all round blessings as it has its own disadvantages. This confirms the popular saying that ‘‘whatever has an advantage has a disadvantage.’’ Such trend of advancement in areas like technology, transportation, trade, labour and capital mobility, global media and financial system among others according to Tejvan (2013) are factors which have caused globalization.
One dimension of globalization argued by Steger (2009) is cultural globalization which according to Wikipedia refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations. In other words, cultural globalization brings about cultural integration and interdependence which implies that no nation can be indifferent to any other. For us here in Nigeria this is crystal clear as it can be seen in our dressing, greeting, language as well as its negative effects such as decline in religious scruples and the deterioration of moral standards which has led to a state that can best be describe as cultural disintegration.
Few decades ago, virginity of a girl until she is married was rewarded and various taboos were created around premarital sex. This trend has gradually changed as the incidence of adolescents and youth engaging in sexual intercourse is high and may constitute a problem (Isiugo-Abanihe, 1993). This behaviour as opined by Isiugo-Abanihe (1993) is prevalent among students of secondary schools and higher institutions of learning in Nigeria and may be due to various customs and observances as well as other factors such as family background, peer pressure, media influences, globalization, economic situations and education background of parents (Akinleye&Oniogade,1998). This is not to say that our culture before the globalization movement was without shortcomings.
Traditionally, adolescents in most of our culture were not given any information on sexual matters, with discussion of such issues being considered as taboo. Such instructions as were given were traditionally left to a child’s parents and often this was put aside until just before a child’s marriage. Most of the information adolescents have on sexual matters were obtained informally due to the above scenario from friends and media much of which are highly deficient especially during the period following puberty when curiosity of sexual matter is most acute. This curiosity becomes increasingly evident by the increasing incidence of teenage pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents and youth. School desertion is one consequence of teenage pregnancy which according to Montenegro (2000) jeopardizes the education and training of the teenager which in turn perpetuates the cycle of poverty. This is perhaps why Lingram (2003) noted that adolescents are considered to be in a state of crisis.