There is a close correlation between how young people perceive their future options and their chances of engaging in risky sexual behaviour and contracting HIV.

This is one of the key points emerging from a survey among South African youth which shows that although 45% said the opportunities ahead of them were “limitless”, one in five (21%) said their opportunities were “very limited” and 8% said there were “no opportunities at all”.

Chief Executive Officer of loveLife, Dr David Harrison said the close correlation between how people perceived their future options and their chances of engaging in risky behaviour meant that it was important to offer young people hope.

“Young people who are poor, yet have a sense of optimism engage in less risky sexual behaviour. Young people who are poor and feel they’re in a poverty spiral, feel pessimistic. Their response to HIV is that it is something that is almost inevitable. This attitude correlates strongly with risky sexual behaviour,” said Harrison.

“The research shows that even in the presence of poverty, optimism and a sense of hope is a predictor of [safer] sexual behaviour,” he added.

The survey findings are part of a forthcoming report conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Africa Strategic Research Corporation among South African youth aged between 12 to 17 years.  

In addition to the youth survey, parents and guardians of those surveyed were also asked about their experiences relating to open communication about sex and sexuality.

Of the more than 2 000 youth who were interviewed, 63% of them ranked education as the top priority. From a list of concerns, 33% said HIV/AIDS, 30% said teenage pregnancy 30% and in third place was crime at 17%.  

 The survey found that most young South Africans received information about sex from television which was by far the most popular medium. A total of 95% reported watching TV and 67% claimed they watched every day. Listening to the radio drew a response of 92% and 58% of youth tuned in daily.  

Only 10% of youth said they opened a newspaper on a daily basis, although 32% of those surveyed said they read a newspaper once a week or once a fortnight. Just over 40% said they used the Internet, but 59% said they never did.

Among the parents surveyed, 40% said HIV/AIDS was their greatest concern for their child. This was followed by, in descending order, sexual abuse (21%), crime (17%), unemployment (16%) and teenage pregnancy (6%).

However, when it came to open communication between adults and children, the picture was generally bleak.  

Although adults said the topics they most often spoke to their children about were their dreams and aspirations followed by HIV/AIDS, only 42% of parents thought that more open communication about sex and sexuality could help reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS.

Commenting on the demographic breakdown of these figures, Harrison said it was interesting that there were no strong distinctions between parents of different races.

“We are facing a situation where South African parents in general feel uncomfortable talking about sex and they don’t feel that its valuable to talk about sex,” he said.

The report showed that 36% of parents never discussed relationships between men and women with their children.   Close to half (45%) never discussed with their children when they might decide they were ready to have sex and 43% never spoke to their children about dealing with pressure to have sex.

“This is a huge challenge for us,” said Harrison. “How do parents think they are going to counter HIV if they don’t talk about the predictors of sexual behaviour – the nature of relationships and attitudes towards sex – with their children?”

He added that key advice to parents must be that they should talk to their daughters in particular about the pressure to have sex.  

“Girls must be assisted to negotiate sexual limits and to deal more effectively with pressure.

“Although it might sound a bit sexist to put the emphasis on girls, international experience shows that the best results are achieved through empowering girls,” he said. “What’s encouraging is that it can be done.”  

The pivotal cause of the spread of HIV in South Africa, said Harrison, was the prevalence of coercive sex.  

“If we’re talking about changing societal norms, getting boys to understand their   responsibilities is critical. If we’re talking about sustained behaviour change in society as a whole then we must empower girls,” Harrison said.

The survey was also aimed at assessing the initial impact of the national HIV prevention programme, “loveLife”. The Kaiser Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the South African Department of Health and Unicef sponsor the campaign.

More than six out of 10 (62%) of youth South Africans across all demographic groups reported having heard of loveLife. These figures did not vary significantly in terms of class – 58% of youth who described their familes as “poor” or “very poor” knew of loveLife while those who said their families had enough or more than enough to live on numbered 67%. Almost as many rural youth (61%) had heard of loveLife as their urban peers (62%).