GENDER ATTITUDE TOWARDS ADOLESCENT’S PREMARITAL SEX IN SENIOR AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE NEW JUABEN MUNICIPALITY IN GHANA

Abstract

The objective of the study was to assess adolescent’s attitudes towards premarital sex in Senior and Junior High Schools in the New Juaben Municipality in Ghana. A descriptive survey design was chosen for the study. The population of the study consisted of five thousand, one hundred forty-one (5,141) in-school adolescents in Junior and Senior High Schools in New Juaben Municipality. Convenient and random sampling techniques were used to select the study area, schools and respondents for the study. A convenient sampling technique was used to select the New Juaben Municipality. A random sampling method was used to select 250 respondents (students) from two Junior High Schools and two Senior High Schools in New Juaben Municipality. The main instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire. The data collected were statistically analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Both and descriptive statistics and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test were used in the data analysis. Descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution in tabular form in graphical forms, and measures of central tendencies were used to analyse the data.  The study concluded that the positive sexual behaviours of adolescents in Junior and Senior High Schools are evident in their attitude towards premarital sex. Adolescents in Senior High and Junior High Schools in the New Juaben Municipality exhibit a positive attitude towards premarital sex as the majority of them do not see that abstaining from sex would make them sick or look odd in society, neither would it give them problems during intercourse when they finally marry.