THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Just three among 262 teenagers interviewed as part of a research study had good knowledge on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) matters.
The research paper “Parental communication on sexual and reproductive health: An adolescent perspective in Kerala” by Prof Sijimol Mathew of Mar Sleeva College of Nursing, Palai, was published in the Asian Journal of Pregnancy and Childbirth recently.
Only 44% of teenagers ever had a discussion with their parents on such matters. Among them, 57.4% said such conversations occurred rarely. Pubertal changes and menarche were the most reported topics of discussion.
Only a quarter of the parents talked to their children about sexual abuse, 16.5% on sexually transmitted diseases like HIV and 10.4% on contraceptives.
“Unlike many other states, Kerala is yet to have a curriculum-based SRH education. Most of the parents are reluctant to discuss sexuality matters with children, making the situation worse,” opined Dr Namitha Subrahmanyam, vice-principal of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church College of Nursing who guided the research.
“When the parents or schools fail to support children, they may depend on their peers, incompetent adults or the internet. This may result in misleading information. There are cases in which children who search for information on internet getting addicted to pornographic content,” she adds.
56.1% of the teenagers did not discuss SRH matters with parents and the most frequently reported reasons for lack of communication were shame, 26%, followed by fear, 7.3% and feeling knowledgeable than their parents, 5%.
Some others felt their parents lacked knowledge and communication ability. Other reasons were the adolescents’ inability to initiate the conversation and discouragement by parents etc.
“The study reveals the need for a change in parenting practice. We need to ensure open and honest communication between parents and their adolescent children on SRH. School and community-level programmes should be conducted for parents to equip them to have discussions on SRH matters with children. Also, curriculum-based sexuality information should be given to children,” Sijimol said.