Abstract:
Back ground:-“Youth”, “Adolescents “ and “young people “ are defined by WHO as the age group
between 15-24 years ,10-19 years and 10-24 years respectively. Sexual and reproductive growth and
development is one of the remarkable changes during this period. The health threats for adolescents
today are predominantly behavioral rather than biomedical and more adolescents are involved in
health behaviors with potential for serious consequences. In Ethiopia, Sexual and reproductive health
problems of adolescents are increasing from time to time and this is related with most parents do not
feel happy to discuss about sexual issues with their adolescents and early sexual commencement.
Objective: -The study was conducted to assess the youths‟ communication on Reproductive health
issues and risky sexual behavior among high school students in Aleta Chuko Woreda, SNNPR,
Ethiopia, February,2016.
Methodology:- A cross-sectional survey through self-administer questionnaires and FGD was
conducted from March to April 2016 at Aleta Chuko preparatory and high schools to assess youths‟
communication on SRH issues and risky sexual behavior among school students and their parents.
Result:-A total of 760 adolescents participated in the study. Of these, 425(55.9%) were males and
335(44.1%) were females. Furthermore, about 35% of the respondents were sexually active. School
was mentioned as the most common source of information for sexual and reproductive health. Six
hundred eighty six (90%.3) of the respondents reported that it is important to discuss sexual and
reproductive health with parents.407 (53%) of the students discussed with either of their parents in at
least two topics of SRH. Nevertheless, most of the respondents preferred to discuss SRH issue with
their peers than their parents. In addition, there were low communication between adolescents and
their parents on SRH issues. Both males and females were more comfortable to discuss sexual and
reproductive health issues with similar sex and siblings.
Conclusion:- Hence, based on the findings obtained it is recommended that sexuality education should
be initiated for the students in school for effective communication on SRH
