A study of social and psychological problems related to puberty among high school students

Abstract

A survey was carried out among teenage students of two high-schools in Kathmandu on the problems they were facing due to changes caused by puberty and their knowledge about the normal puberty changes.
Forty-five percent of the boys and seventy percent of the girls thought that a girl becomes weak as blood is lost from the girl's body during menstruation. 15% of boys and 40% of girls thought that a boy could lose all energy by having nocturnal emissions. 35% of the girls and 30% of the boys thought masturbation was harmful to health. 35% of boys and 60% of the girls felt that boys and girls should sit separately in high school. 45% of the boys and 70% of the girls felt that a girl should not be married once she starts to menstruate.
Fifty percent of the students were frightened and 32.5% of them were very happy by the changes that were taking place in their bodies. 55% of the girls and 50% of the boys were apprehensive when hair started to grow around their private parts. 10% of the
boys and 25% of the girls felt that it was bad for a boy to have a small penis. Only 20% of the boys and 35% of the girls had been informed about the oncoming menstruation or nocturnal emission. 70% of the girls felt that they should be informed about menstruation when they reach the age. 65% of the students were using their friends, 15% sisters and 10% mothers and teachers as their source of information. 60% of the girls and 45% of the boys liked to read magazines dealing with sex. 50% of the girls and 45% of the boys were satisfied with the information. 60% of the students felt that their curriculum should include sex education. 60% of the boys and 65% of the girls were of the opinion that prior information about the changes occuring at puberty would have made puberty easier for them.
Ten percent of the boys and 5% of the girls felt that God creates a baby in the mother after marriage. 15% of the students thought that after adolescence, if a girl wears the under-clothing of a boy, she will get pregnant.