Young people's concerns about sex: unsolicited questions to a teenage radio talkback programme over three years

Abstract

This paper describes a novel qualitative study that identified the concerns of young people about sex through a talk‐back segment from 2002 to 2004 on an Australian national radio popular music programme targeting 15–24 year olds. Two hundred and thirty‐one unsolicited callers (150 female and 81 male) went to air over the study period, and 212 (92%) of these asked questions relating to sexuality and sexual health. Content analysis was used to categorise the verbatim data. Four categories were identified: sexual development; sexual and reproductive health, sexual relationship issues and sexual practices. The findings suggest that young people have a wide range of concerns, many of which are very explicit. An important finding was the high proportion of questions related to concerns over relationships. The overall implication for health educators and professionals is that a broader approach to sex education is warranted.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Executive Producers and Assistant Producers of the Hot 30 Countdown, Austereo Network, for the opportunity to talk to their listeners. We are indebted to all those young people who were willing to share their concerns on live radio.