CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Over the years
and all through history it has been observed that opposite sex
attracts, that is, man to woman, young boys to young girls, male child
to female parent (Oedipus complex) and female child to male parent
(Electra complex). This attraction could be for sexual gratification,
sense of identity or a feeling of belonging. Literatures have shown that
these two parties (male and female) have always had a strong connection
that is beyond the ordinary. Something, someone or an idea has drawn
them together.
Premarital sex is generally used in reference to
individuals who are presumed not yet of marriageable age, or between
adults who will presumably marry eventually, but who are engaged in
sexual activity prior to marriage (Lucas, 2000, Ramesh, 2008 and Barbra
et al, 2001).
2
Public opinion polls have consistently shown that
premarital sex is wrong and dangerous to health resulting in abortions,
teenage mothers and sexually transmitted infections (Aaron, 2006; Finer,
2007). Premarital sex is sex before marriage and it is generally found
among the youth. It involves fornication, rape, defilement and incest.
The causes behind it have been established including curiosity among the
youth, proof of manhood, lust, pornography and it adverse effects,
insanity and sex promiscuity as well as moral decadence among the youths
(Choe et al, 2004).
Premarital sex is perceived and seen as a taboo
in many cultures and considered a sin against man and God in most
religion, it has become more commonly accepted by large portions of
populaces in developed countries within the last few decades. The rise
in premarital sex in Africa has resulted from a sexual revolution that
came with western culture (Scott, 2005). A 2014 pew study on global
morality
3
found that premarital sex was considered particularly
unacceptable in “predominantly Muslim nations” such as Indonesia,
Jordan, Pakistan and Egypt, each having over 90% disapproval, whilst
many people within western European nations were the most accepting with
Spain, Germany and France having less than 10% disapproval.
According
to a 2001 UNICEF survey, in 10 out of 12 developed nations with
available data, more than two thirds of young people have had sexual
intercourse while still in their teens. In Denmark, Finland, Germany,
Iceland, Norway, The United Kingdom and The United States, approximately
25% of 15years old an 50% of 17year olds have had sex. This goes a long
way to prove that even before the students gains admission into the
University a hand fill of then are already familiar with the experience
of sexual intercourse an so the trends to continue even at the
University level.
4
Worldwide, rates of sexually transmitted
infections (STIs) among the youth are soaring; one-third of the
340million new STDs each year occur in people under 25 years of age
(Fernandez et al, 2010). There are many behavioral problems among the
adolescents that Nigerian society today has to contend with. Such
problems include truancy, disobedience, drug offences, assault, insult,
stealing, violent demonstrations, Vandalism, examination malpractice,
robbery and secret cult activities (Nnanchi, 2003). Apart from these
widely publicized behavioral problems, heterosexual activities are
listed among types of behavioral problem prevalent in Nigerian secondary
schools. These are variously named in the literature as sex abuse, sex
offences, sexual misconduct, sexual immorality, sexual promiscuity, and
sexual maladjustment (Odoemelamelam, 1996, Adedipe, 2000, Ndu, 2000;
Nnachi, 2003). When this individuals graduates from their secondary
school they do not only graduate with learned behavior and new
5
ideology which they bring in to the University to explore their new gained freedom.
Sexual
intercourse from observation and from the reports and witness of people
who engage in them attest to the fact that it is highly pleasurable,
both during and after the act, and as such an average person would be
attracted to activities that induce pleasure. People engage in
premarital sex, in this case University undergraduates for several
reasons whether out of curiosity, for pleasure sake or a feeling of
achievement etc. The case of premarital sex among undergraduate student
of the University of Benin one can say has been on the increase and is
gradually becoming a part of the norm in our society and the University
communities. In one occasion in my Faculty just outside the entrance I
witness a girl and a boy obviously not married kissing and smooching for
a long period of time in the dark. Here and there within an outside the
University Campus, cases of students caught engaging in
6
sexual
intercourse has been reported among undergraduate students in some
locations of peculiar features. A roommate of mine attest to an incident
where him and his friends caught some students in the act around the
dark corners in his faculty, one thing lead to the other and the case
got to the security department University of Benin.
According to
Abdullahi and Umar (2008), “Sexual behavior among the students in our
University is speculatively very rampant and worrisome. In this contest
it is important to understand why youth engage in risky sexual behavior
and to understand the influencing factors for the behavior. When the
Dean, students’ affairs of the University of Maiduguri whose
responsibility is to regulate the conduct of students issued a circular
to checkmate sex activities amongst students, the students felt that
neither the deanery nor the university authority had jurisdiction over
their sex life. The students, who live in congested rooms and study in a
difficult academic environment, were
7
angry, not for the lack of
facilities in the halls of residence or in the teaching areas, but with
the interference of the university management with their personal life
(Their Activities). In the night of Monday, 28 January, 2002 the
students went on demonstration during which the Dean of student affair
was beaten and sand thrown on him.
From the above, one can see that
matters pertaining to sex and sex activities are held dearly by
students, even when other aspects of their health an even their future
is threatened. They would rather fight for “their personal life”. Taking
out time to meditate on why in this present time the issue of sex has
become an issue of grave concern, one would observe that the media has
somehow succeeded in creating in our subconscious, pictures of sex,
sexual feeling and sexual arousal. Careful observation would reveal the
fact that on almost all television station you turn to there is either a
beautiful damsel who is half naked intentionally showing off her
cleavage, the size of her breast or her hip
8
just to get your
attention to a particular product or service. This is also the case for
the opposite sex who would flaunt his muscle and “six pack” just to sell
underwear’s. Access to the internet (which is actually a great thing)
have heightened this issue of sexual feeling and arousal most especially
among undergraduates who at the click of every link is beckoned to
subscribe to a porn site or watch a pornographic video, or hookup.
Newspaper, Magazines and other book materials are not left out in this
jingle of sex and sexual activities. All of which strengthens and
empowers the individual to engage in premarital sex, where everything
around an individual preaches the pleasure of sex and a desire to
gratify ones id.
A look at all the facts and speculation that has
been built around premarital sex among individuals in the society at
large and among undergraduate students of the University of Benin in
particular, one can conclude that it is a matter that needs to be
addressed and causes
9
carefully assessed to get better
understanding or insight into these causes and possibly provide
alternative activities or suggestions that can help address this issue
for the benefit of the individual, the university community and the
nation at large.
Statement of the problem
This research work is
designed to assess the cause of premarital sex among undergraduate
students of the University of Benin. From my own personal observation, a
walk and a careful survey of the environs of the university community
one would find packs of already used condoms littering the ground, even
though it is not that rampant. It could be possible that these packs was
used as instructional materials or for the primary purpose for which it
was made.
Students lives in community, where they meet people from
different background and as such they are exposed to peer influence and a
desire to meet up with certain standard. All of this and more can
10
lead
to premarital sex which culminates in various problem such as unwanted
pregnancy, exposure to sexually transmitted infections, poor academic
performance, school dropout and a host of others.
All of these
problems associated with premarital sex are preventable or at least the
effect on a large majority of students can be reduced to the barest
minimum. Accessing the causes can help us better understand ways to
prevent and checkmate the occurrence of premarital sex among
undergraduate students of the University of Benin.
Premarital sex,
pose a great threat to the future of the numerous naive students
admitted yearly into the university and also to the name of the school,
because if this act increase various consequences will inevitably follow
and it can grow into becoming a part of the culture among the students,
taking a cue from “arrowing” which means to throw abusive words on
passerby from the flyover just to have fun and make them feel
embarrassed. From this one can see that there is need to carefully
assess
11
the causes of premarital sex among undergraduate students of the University of Benin.
Research questions
In
a view to reaching a meaningful and an objective result/conclusion the
following questions were drawn to guide the research work.
1. Does peer group influence contribute to the occurrence of premarital sex?
2. Do financial gains influence premarital sex?
3. Does curiosity have any effect on premarital sex?
4. Do the media influence the occurrence of premarital sex?
Purpose of the study
The
purpose of this research work is the assessment of the causes of
premarital sex among undergraduate students of the University of
12
Benin. The effect of premarital sex and possible suggestions for preventing or curbing this menace.
This
research work will help school authorities to Identify measures to be
put in place that will help to curb the incidence of premarital sex
among undergraduate students.
If this study is properly utilized, it
can help the school authority and the public in general on better
approach to teaching sex and sex education.
Significance of the study
The
conclusion reached and the result gotten from this research will
provide additional knowledge to past research findings already done on
premarital sex, provide the University of Benin with an arsenal of
knowledge about the causes of premarital sex in her institute and also
would be very beneficial to the numerous student admitted yearly to be
13
better equipped against the pressure and occurrence of premarital sex among undergraduates.
This
study will help to identify how peer influence contributes to
premarital sex, the influence of financial gains on premarital sex, how
curiosity or desire to experiment affects student’s decisions to engage
in sexual intercourse before marriage.
Finally the results of this
study can be used to strategize for better alternatives on educating the
students on sex, and how to go about the unavoidable pressure
associated with sex in the university community.
Scope of the study
This
research study is focused on the prestigious federal university of
Benin located in Egor local government of Edo State, Nigeria. The
research shall be carried out using a descriptive survey research
design. This study is focus on the causes of premarital sex among
undergraduate students with the students of university of Benin as the
main respondents.