When in Doubt About Sexual Health, Teens Turn to Google

What do youth do when they want to know where to get free condoms? They Google it!

Or, according to our recent survey and focus groups with youth aged 13-24, they go to Bing , Yahoo! or Ask.com.

Consider the search for free condoms in context: When asked what topics were important to them, 52 percent of young men and 59 percent of young women surveyed indicated dating and relationships, and 43 percent of young men and 59 percent of young women checked the box marked "health."

Now, fast forward and drill down. When asked for particular health information important to them, young men and young women were equally interested in fitness. Because we all know that six-pack abs are what ultimately helps you get the girl or guy into a relationship ...

However, when it comes to sexual and reproductive health topics, we see significant differences in what young men and young women find important. Females are a little more than three times (45 percent) more interested in issues of birth control and pregnancy, and five times (35 percent) more interested in menstruation. They are also more likely (44 percent) to be concerned about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) than males (33 percent).

These themes varied according to age, race/ethnicity and socio-economic status. But in general, younger teens are more apt to be concerned with their changing bodies as they leave puberty and enter adolescence. At this early stage, younger boys are most interested in learning "how to do it" and have questions about things that seem strange or gross to them, such as oral sex.

This brings us back to sexual education and search engines. If a young person turns to a search engine to find out "how to do it" what do you think they type in? As someone who's been answering health questions for the past 18-plus years (as Alice of Columbia University's GoAsk Alice , then AOL's Delilah and then Yahoo's first blogger, Ask Deb), I can tell you, the questions young people want answered are not phrased clinically. So when they search for health information online, they don't look for keywords or phrases like contraception or nutrition, but ask their very own personal questions in their very own personal ways.

What's your guess for most popular online search done by young people when seeking out health information?

 

 

 

Follow Deb Levine on Twitter: www.twitter.com/debisis

Comments

[Ayla87]

02:16 PM on 06/12/2011

It's not just Google. there's a whole plethora of websites out there dedicated to health and sex ed for teens. One of them that I used to frequent was govteen. Just about one out of three threads created was a twelve year old asking 'is dis n0rmel?'

[3RawBob]

09:54 AM on 06/05/2011

Massachusetts Department of Health new teen sex education website is mariatalks.com
Planned Parenthood is plannedparenthood.org

[Deb Levine]

01:39 PM on 06/06/2011

Thanks for the tips, 3RawBob. The only thing is, how do kids find out about these sites?

[GHarry]

09:51 AM on 06/05/2011

The most dangerous and irresponsible trend has been on the part of local school districts that hire religion-based groups to teach sex "education." Studies show that hiring those groups has led to sharp spikes in both STD's and teen pregnancies, which is not surprising considering that religion-based sex ed tends to be both unrealistic and inaccurate. Any parent who supports "abstinence-based" or "religion-based" sex education should have their head examined.

[Deb Levine]

01:44 PM on 06/06/2011

Yes, GHarry. But it's not the religion that's too blame, it's non-evidence based, medically INaccurate curricula.

Do you know about the school in Clovis, CA?
http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/05/12/2386629/parents-criticize-clovis-sex-ed.html

We need parents to bond together and find out what's going on in their own children's schools, and demand medically-accurate, evidence-based sex education.

[jf12]

08:33 AM on 06/05/2011

Hmm, based on what you say here, my guess 100% has to be "how to get six-pack abs quickly".

[Jen Carl]

12:56 AM on 06/05/2011

I still turn to google occasionally, and I'm almost 24! For the most part I ask my friends, but if these teens' friends are anything like mine were at that age, I am GLAD they are seeking answers from the net instead. I still remember the day I told my dad that my classmates told me you couldn't get pregnant the first time you have sex. I believe his exact words were, "NEVER ASK YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT SEX EVER AGAIN, COME TO ME INSTEAD."

I'm really glad I had parents I was able to trust and talk to about sex. Maybe if we had less shame in this country surrounding sex, and were more open with our children about it, they wouldn't have to turn to out-side sources as much. That being said, I am thankful that teens whose parents don't talk to them. shame them, or are even dishonest with them about sex, are able to find better answers and better support on the internet. Everyone deserves to know how to protect themselves and how to be safe, happy and healthy with sex.