The Toronto Teen Survey: What Youth Want to Learn About Sexual Health

1. The Toronto Teen Survey: What Youth Want to Learn About Sexual Health Introduction The aim of the Toronto Teen Survey (TTS) was to gather information on assets, gaps and barriers that exist in sexual health education and services for Toronto’s diverse communities. The project used a community-based participatory research model to collect information from youth and service providers. An important component of the study was to compare what youth have learned about sexual health with what they want to know. Table 2: What Youth Want to Know About STIs and HIV/AIDS Results Methods Members of the TTS Youth Advisory Committee – with support from the project coordinator – facilitated 90 workshops with 1,216 teens from community and service agencies across Toronto. Fifty-four percent of the participants identified as female, 45% as male, and less than 1% as gender and two-spirit. Youth were given a comprehensive list of sexual health topics (birth control, HIV/AIDS, health relationships, STIs, sexual pleasure, sexual violence, sexuality, healthy relationships) and asked to identify what they had learned and what they would like to learn about sexual health. At the end of the workshops, youth participants were invited to write down questions they had about sex and sexuality which were submitted anonymously to the facilitators for the question and answer period. The top three sexual health topics youth have learned about are HIV/AIDS (78%), STIs (71%), and Pregnancy and Birth Control (66%) (see Table 1) although more young women than young men have learned this information. While information about HIV was widely listed as something youth had already learned about, it was also highly ranked as a topic on which both young men and young women wanted more information. Other priority topics identified included: healthy relationships and sexual pleasure (see Figure 1). This differs from what youth are actually learning: less than 30% of the diverse youth populations surveyed reported they have learned about Healthy Relationships and no group included Sexual Pleasure in their list of top three topics learned. LGBTQ youth were the only group to include Sexual Orientation in their priority list. A total of 1,014 questions were submitted by the youth participants. Many of the questions were specific to STIs and HIV/AIDS (see Table 2). Examples of frequently asked questions about STIs & HIV/AIDS:  How do you know if you have an STI?  What’s HIV?  Can you get HIV/STIs from kissing or blowjobs?  Is there any other way to reduce HIV/AIDS besides a condom?  How does HIV spread?  How often should you do an HIV test?  What happens if you are young and get AIDS, do you die faster?  How do you catch AIDS?  Does your penis burn when you pee when you have AIDS?  Are there any signs of having HIV/AIDS, herpes etc?  Why is there AIDS/STIs?  How long does it take for HIV/AIDS to take affect? Background Research shows that Canadian youth lack comprehensive information of risk factors associated with unprotected sexual activity and the knowledge required for their sexual health protection. Despite rising STI rates creating the potential for the spread of HIV among youth, their knowledge about the disease has declined since 1989 (Boyce, 2003). Adolescents are either misinformed or uninformed about sexual health practices and, consequently, HIV/AIDS and other STIs, and unintended pregnancy continue to be issues for many youth. At the same time, youth have critiqued what they describe as the inadequate state of sex education. Most sexual health education programs focus on risks and problems of adolescent sexuality to the exclusion of sexual desire. The emphasis on intercourse as "real sex" limits the possibility for considering other forms of sexual pleasure that could limit HIV risk. There is an urgent need for more effective sexual health education for youth. Figure 1: What Youth Want to Learn About Sexual Health Table 1: What Youth Have Learned About Sexual Health Conclusions Although almost 60% of the youth participants report they have never had sex, over 80% submitted questions for the sexual health question-and-answer period. This provides evidence that youth are interested in sexual health and reproduction information prior to becoming sexually active. The questions provide valuable information for developing curriculum on HIV/AIDS and other sexual health topics. Given the discrepancy between what youth learn about sexual health and what they want to know, engaging youth in peer led discussions may be an effective strategy for developing sexual health curriculum that has real meaning for them. • June Larkin1, Sarah Flicker2, Crystal Layne3, Jason Pole4, Susan Flynn3, Robb Travers5, • Roxana Salehi2, Adrian Guta1, Kristin Mcilroy1, Adinne Schwartz6, Dan Stadnicki2 • University of Toronto, Toronto, ON; 2. York University, Toronto, ON; 3. Planned Parenthood, Toronto, ON; 4. POGO, Toronto, ON; 5. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON; 6. Toronto Public Health, Toronto, ON