Jeckoniah, J .N.; Paul, D.
Description:
Remarkable changes have happened in the communication industry due to the rapid growth of the
social networking over the last five years. Adolescent at secondary school level are increasingly
accessing and using these social networks in their daily lives. However, the impacts of their access
to social media into their sexual behaviour remain underreported. This study was set to explore the
relationship between social networks and sexual behaviour. The study was conducted in Morogoro
and involved four secondary schools. The study adopted cross sectional research design. Simple
random sampling and systematic sampling technique were used to select sample 200 students. Data
analysis was done using the Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) where descriptive and
inferential statistics were computed. Index scale was used to gauge students’ sexual behaviour and
F-test was used to compare students’ sexual behaviour and their access to social media. The study
found that students had risky sexual behaviour: have many sexual partners and were not using
condoms consistently. Majority of students have access to social networks and access to social
networks was associated with their sexual behaviour. The study recommends that more education
be given to parents on the effects of their children access to social networks and their undertaking
of risky sexual behaviour so that they can guide and support them on using social networks that
does not expose them to unfavourable sexual contents.