Perception of adolescents towards reproductive health

Increased self-understanding, identity exploration, physical and emotionalchanges, development of intimate relationships outside home, increased dependency onfriends, dilemmas, arguments with parents are all hallmarks of adolescent development.Awareness of ones sexual development, romantic relations with the member of oppositesex, curiosity and experimentation along with inadequate information and the preferencefor unreliable sources of information on puberty and sex, can pose a serious threat to thephysical, emotional and social well being of adolescents. With adults admitting theirembarrassment and unpreparedness to handle the growing sexual interests of theiradolescent child and with the ever increasing number of adolescents who indulge in risktaking behaviours like pre-marital and unprotected intercourse, the need to know andunderstand adolescents and to inculcate a sense of responsibility in them is of utmostimportance. For this, it becomes even more important to know the meaning ofreproductive health and sexuality and also to know the meaning of the aforementionedconcepts as understood by adolescents. This would, in turn, help to explore and knowwhat adolescents perceive of reproductive health, sexuality and related issues. Theseconcepts and the issues related to adolescent sexuality and risk taking and the spheres ofinfluence that affect and shape adolescent sexuality, as discussed in the following pages,form the bases of the present research.