CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Adolescence is a time of fast physical, mental, and emotional changes as well as the development of individual identity and sexual arousal. Gunnar Dahl RE, Dahl RE, Dahl RE, Dahl RE, Dahl RE, Dahl (2009). Teenagers would be more sensitive to sexual topics as a result of puberty and sex appeal, and they would seek solutions to their questions. As a one-way informant, the media has also engaged teens’ thoughts with sexual concerns and stimulated sexual actions (Refae et al 2007). The growth of sexually transmitted illnesses among young adults, on the other hand, could reflect a lack of understanding about harmful sexual activities among this vulnerable group (Refae et al 2007)
As a result, the requirement of sexual trainings has been advocated and confirmed, owing to its importance in promoting public health and the country’s social and economic prosperity. Peer education is a strategy of encouraging health-promoting behavior change among peers in a community by teaching or sharing health facts, attitudes, and behaviors to groups with comparable social backgrounds. To encourage desired change among peer groups in a specific community, community, charities, government, and non-government players generally support peer education. Peer education is becoming more widely recognized as a successful strategy for addressing sexual behavior issues around the world. It has a lengthy history in human history, dating back to the time of Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC). Peer education is delivered in a variety of settings and scenarios.
Peer education-related projects were created in the 1960s to help disadvantaged young people with their studies (Prevention research evaluation report, 2006). Furthermore, peer education has been employed in health projects in London focused at reducing the prevalence of smoking among young people (Morgan and Eiser, 1990). The same approach was applied in the field of substance abuse in London (Klee and Reid, 1995) to assist young people who were abusing amphetamines and other illegal drugs in quitting.
The African experience reveals that there were societal institutions engaged in youth initiation during the pre-colonial era and even after independence. Adolescents were well-prepared for adulthood thanks to such structures. Boys were initiated at the age of ten. According to Znaniecki (1993), during this process, teenagers were taught about socio-economic activities that they were expected to participate in in their communities, including how to use medicinal plants to treat diseases. Different groups of elders delivered sexuality and reproductive health education. Elderly women, for example, educated girls, whereas elderly men educated males. Today Peer education has become popular in Africa as the HIV/AIDS epidemic has progressed. The pandemic has affected and continues to affect a large number of individuals, with youngsters being the most severely afflicted. As a result, it is employed as a technique of resolving the issue. Peer education activities in Zambia, for example, were diverse and included drama, music, role plays, games, and sports. These types of peer education were adopted because they had a high success rate. The program’s main goal was to assist the hard-to-reach population, particularly youth outside of school settings, who are dealing with high-risk sexual behavior issues such as illegal drug use, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancies, HIV/AIDS, and early sexual intercourse. The initiative was implemented in order to encourage peer-to-peer health promotion. The approach was also implemented to assist young people in managing their sexual behavior. As a result, the goal of this study is to determine the role of peer education programs in raising teenage understanding about sexual issues.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Interpersonal processes such as peer group norms, perceived gender roles resulting in coercive male dominated sexual relationships, lack of communication skills to negotiate condom use, their understanding of love, sex, and relationships, and a lack of positive adult role models all influence HIV risk behavior among young people. A lack of recreational facilities, as well as social conventions such as intergenerational silence about sexual conduct, women’s standing, and the socioeconomic situation, all play a role on a larger scale.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 340 million new instances of treatable STIs occur annually worldwide, with the majority of affected people being between the ages of 15 and 49. (2007). HIV is an example of a disease. Peer education is increasingly being used as an educational intervention agent in many nations to support healthy sexual behavior among the population, particularly among youngsters. Peer education has an important role for many groups in society, especially teenagers, because it is a productive initiative in the fight against harmful sexual conduct, which has the most severe consequences for society. Despite the government’s adoption of peer education, the number of STD infections among Nigeria’s youth is on the rise. This prompted the researcher to investigate the role of peer education programs in raising youth awareness about sexual issues in Nigeria, using the Oshodi/Isolo LGA in Lagos state as a case study.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The primary goal of this study is to determine the role of peer education programs in raising youth understanding about sexual issues. More specifically, the study aims to:
1. Determine the impact of peer education on Isolo High School senior secondary school students’ awareness.
2. Determine the level of sexual awareness in the Oshodi/Isolo LGA.
3. To look at the impact of peer education in moulding young people’s sexual conduct.
4. Propose a remedy to the STI epidemic among Nigerian young adults.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Does peer education have any impact on the consciousness of senior secondary school pupils at Isolo High School?
2. What is the level of sexual awareness among the youth in the Oshodi/Isolo LGA?
3. What role does peer education have in molding young people’s sexual behavior?
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
Ho: Peer education has little influence on Isolo High School senior secondary school pupils’ awareness.
Hello, peer education has an effect on Isolo High School senior secondary school pupils’ awareness.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are some of the reasons why this research is so important:
The discoveries will be a significant weapon in the fight against diseases like HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) like Gonorrhea among young people. The findings will inform peer educators about the program’s strengths and flaws, as well as ways to enhance it.
The study suggests alternate techniques for improving the program and, as a result, raising knowledge about sexual health issues among many young people. As a result, the number of occurrences of sexual behavior problems is likely to decrease dramatically, as many young people will have learned how to manage their sexual behavior through peer education.
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