|
|
|
|
|
Julie A. Becker, PhD, MPH, Public Health Consultants, 2534 Swain Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130, 215-763-0754, ja.becker@verizon.net, Clara S. Haignere, PhD, MPH, CHES, Department of Health Studies, Temple University, 301E Vivacqua Hall, Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore, Philadelphia, PA 19122, and Danene Sorace, MPP, Network for Family Life, Rutgers University, 41 Gordon Road, Suite A, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8067.
In a Kaiser Family Foundation poll (2001) more than 40 percent of students who had had sexuality education classes said they needed more information about virtually every topic. When communicating about sexuality, adolescents are turning to the Internet to seek out this information. The web site, “SEX, ETC.” (www.sexetc.org) ,from the Network for Family Life Education of Rutgers University, posts information about sexuality for adolescents. Most of the features on the site are written by and for teens. However, the “ASK THE EXPERT” feature uses adult educators to respond to sexual information questions posed by teens. A pilot content analysis was initiated to examine these questions. This preliminary study also determined the crude percentage of questions with misspellings and slang words. The purpose of this study was threefold to: 1) develop a methodology for performing a larger analysis; 2) analyze all submitted questions in order to assess the number of repeat submissions to the website; 3) discover which topics seemed to have the most questions. Results: A sample of 17,000 questions in 2002 was examined. The number of logins that have submitted two or more questions is about 17%. About two thirds of the questions posed are from females, with the average age range between 15-17. The majority of the questions were directed towards issues related to getting pregnant, oral sex, and having intercourse. Slang is used in about 40% of the questions and misspellings account for 27%.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to
Keywords: Communication Evaluation, Internet
Related Web page: www.sexetc.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Network for Family Life Education of Rutgers University
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.