Research by the ESRI and HSE has found that Irish young people are not getting enough information about sex from their parents.
The study, Growing up in Ireland, analysed how teenagers aged between 13 and 17 years, receive information about sex and relationships.
The study found that by age 13 only 45% of Irish teens have discussed sex and relationships with their parents. By age 17 this figure had increased to just under 60%.
Those teens who discuss sex and relationships with parents are more likely to use contraception. Whereas those who don’t have proper chats with their parents about sex and instead rely on information from friends, are less likely to use contraception the first time they have sex.
Girls are more likely to speak with their mothers about sex and boys with their fathers. But with 60% of male teens saying that they found it difficult or very difficult to speak to their fathers about sex, there’s a big problem with the sex information boys are getting.
Interestingly, young Irish people are not the bunnies we expect them to be. By age 17 only 1 in 3 teens had had sex. And they’re mostly reponsible, even at that young age – 90% of those who had had sexual intercourse reported having used contraception.