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A Review of Literature and Projects 2005
II. Male students scored higher than
female students, and medical students
did better than non-medical students,
scoring 60.6% on average. A baseline
survey of 100 students aged 15-17 years
in the State of Melaka found that friends
were the main source of social support
and information, followed by teachers,
magazines (girls only) and the Internet.
On the other hand, family problems were
discussed within the family. When asked
to name information sources for sexual
and reproductive health topics, about
one-third to two-fifths answered “do not
understand the meaning” and a quarter
said “nobody.” Newspapers and
magazines were the primary sources for
information about family planning,
abortion and STI.
The varying, but generally low levels of
knowledge in some areas of sexual and
reproductive health is a cause for
concern. Other disturbing features are
the fact that this appears not to have
improved over time, and that whatever
little and often inaccurate information
they have comes from sources that are
not very reliable (such as from one
another). The fact that young people do
not, as a preference, approach parents
and teachers for information on sexual
relationships needs to be studied
carefully. The reasons could reside in any
number of possible areas, such as
cultural norms, failure of parents/
teachers to communicate, or their own
attitudes and lack of knowledge. This is
relevant because interventions will need
to be guided by the reasons. It is also
significant that large number of
adolescents (73%) expressed the need for
more knowledge, indicating that they
were aware of their own lack of
information. This is a positive finding
that needs to be used optimally in the
formulation of polices, strategies and
activities.
3.2.2. Sexual development
The review could find very little literature
on sexual development. Information was
only found on menarche for girls and wet
dreams for boys. For menarche, the
1994/1995 National Study on
Reproductive Health and Sexuality
showed that the overall mean age at
menarche among the 706 female
respondents (now aged 13-19 years) was
12.6 years. The range was from younger
than 10 years (2.7%) to 14 years (5.4%).
The majority (68.2%) had their first
menstruation at the age of 11 or 12.
When asked about their feelings at first
menstruation, slightly more than half
(54.0%) indicated that they had expected
the event. Of those who had expected
it, 48.2% said they had ”felt afraid.” That
percentage rose to 77.4% for those who
had not expected the onset of
menstruation.
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