For a note on formal sexual education, see Grassel and Bach (1979:p293-5)[1]. Zverina (1997)[2] stated: “As a consequence of the lack of formal education, children and young people get the greater part of their information about sex from peer groups. The most important sources of sex information for the young are parents, books, television, and other mass media sources […]. Data from a 1994 representative sample of 1,719 men and women over age 15 years in the Czech Republic indicated that 45 percent of the men and 35 percent of the women learned about sex from their peers, 26 percent of both sexes from books, 12 percent of men and 21 percent of women from parents, 15 percent and 14 percent respectively from newspapers and magazines, and 12 percent and 9 percent from television, films, and radio (Zverina 1994) [[3]]”. Further, “[t]he sexual games of children are usually played in secret, and ignored if discovered by parents. They are not the objects of special sanctions in most families”. “Same-gender sexual experiences may be a natural part of the sexual play and exploration of children. However, their prevalence does not appear to be high. Only about 10 percent of men and 5 percent of women in the heterosexual population report having had same-gender experiences in childhood and early adolescence. In the population of gay men and lesbians, such experiences are, of course, more common”. First sexual intercourse usually occurs between ages 17 and 18. Criminal law sets the minimum age of consent to sexual intercourse at age 15 for both men and women.
“As a consequence of the lack of formal education, children and young people get the greater part of their information about sex from peer groups. The most important sources of sex information for the young are parents, books, television, and other mass media sources. […] Data from a 1994 representative sample of 1,719 men and women over age 15 years in the Czech Republic indicated that 45 percent of the men and 35 percent of the women learned about sex from their peers, 26 percent of both sexes from books, 12 percent of men and 21 percent of women from parents, 15 percent and 14 percent respectively from newspapers and magazines, and 12 percent and 9 percent from television, films, and radio (Zverina 1994)[[4]]”.
“Criminal law sets the minimum age
of consent to sexual intercourse at age 15 for both men and women. […]In a
representative sample of Czech adults over age 15 years, the average age
reported for first coitus was 18.1 years for men and 18 years for women. […]
(Zverina 1994a) [[5]]. In 1993, a
representative survey of
A
sample of 602 Czech girls (students and apprentices) and 192 Czech boys
(apprentices only), ages 15-18, was examined between 1987-92 to determine the
differences in masturbatory activities and their frequencies[7],
using one-hour structured 78-item interviews. Data on ages 16-18 suggested a
great difference between boys (90.6%) and girls (3.8% and 2.5%). Similar
results from the other countries confirmed the lower rates of masturbation in
adolescent girls. Another national survey[8]
also investigated age of onset of masturbation. According to a later article[9],
the age at the time of first masturbation was lower in men comparing with
that in women (13,97 vs. 16,89 years, p<0,0001; specific data for
ages ≤10, 11-18 at p21). Koznar (1990)[10]
discussed the fact that the prevailing social attitude toward masturbation
remains that of rejection and prohibition, despite the enlightened and
accepting attitudes of some professionals. In a recent study[11],
15 male and 15 female heterosexual adults aged 18-32 years in the
Sak presented empirical data from studies done since 1982 to 1997 [12]. From a summary by Sak:
“The age of the first sexual experience gets constantly lower. From the oldest age group (over 56 years) to the youngest one (15- 18 years) diminished the age for four years, from 19,7 years to 15,8 years. The sexual experience under twelve years appears only rarely. Constant increasing frequency of sexual contacts commences from thirteen years. The most frequent age of the first sexual experience of youth between 15-18 is sixteen years, the age group 19-23 shows approximately the same frequencies in the age 16, 17 and 18 years. The most changes in sexual behavior of society are constated [sic] in the age group 15-18 years. 92% of persons had their first sexual experience already in their 18. 17% of boys and girls in their 14 had the first sexual experience and from fifteen-agers more than the third”[13].
Janssen,
D. F., Growing Up Sexually. Last revised: Dec 2004 |
|
[1] Grassel, H. & Bach, K. R. (1979) Kinder- & Jugendsexualität. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften
[2] Zverina,
J. (1997) The
[3] Zverina,
J. (1994a) Sexual Behavior of Men and
Women in the
[4] [In press?]
[5] Op.cit.
[6] Zverina, J. (1994b) Some Preliminary Results on the Sexual Behavior of 984 Young People (15-29 Years; 485 Men and 499 Women) in Prague: A Representative Sample. Some preliminary data supplied by the author. (In press.)
[7] Raboch, J. et al. (1994) Masturbacni chovani dospivajicich [Masturbation in adolescents], Cesk & Slov Psychia 90,2:97-100
[8] Weiss, P. & Zvěřina, J. (1997) Prevalence sexualniho zneuziti v detstvi v obecne populaci: vysledky narodniho vyzkumu [Prevalence of sexual abuse in childhood in the general population: Results of a national survey], Cesk & Slov Psychia 93,2:66-74
[9] Weiss, P. & Zvěřina, J. (1999) [Masturbational Activity of Czechs: Results of a National Survey], Psychiatrie 3,1:20-2
[10] Koznar, J. (1990) Postoje k masturbaci [Attitudes to masturbation], Psychol a Patopsychol Dietata 25,5:463-9
[11] Supekova, M. & Bianchi, G. (2000) Sexualna vychova a spokojnost sexualne aktivnejsich mladych l’udi (kvalitativny pristup) [Sexual education and satisfaction of sexually more active young people: A qualitative approach], Cesk Psychol 44,1:56-76
[12] Sak, P., Promìny èeské mládeže [Metamorphoses of Czech Youth], See ch. 6 & 8.1+2. The First Sexual Experience / Development of Erotic and Sexual Activities