Health, survey on sex and young people: “Gen Z wants fewer taboos and more dialogue”

Webboh Labthe first permanent observatory on Gen Z born from the meeting of Webboh with the research institute Syllaconducted, in collaboration with Farmitalia, a research to outline – through an online smart poll involving 500 young Italians between 14 and 17 years old – a picture of the perceptions, knowledge and doubts of the new generations regarding sexuality and contraception in Italy. The results of the survey highlight how young people are strongly exposed to these issues, thanks also to the numerous information channels available, and how, in general, they would like to experience sexual education, that is, with fewer taboos and greater clarity.

Going into the details of the data collected by Webboh Lab – a note reports – among the sources most consulted by the interviewees, in the first places there are friends (53.4%) and social media (46%); followed by school (43.2%) and the web (40.4%). The family is only in fifth place with 27.6%, while the doctor or the clinic are indicated by just 5.6% of young people. Sexual education at school – it says – is considered a fundamental topic by the very young. They would like it to be treated more, with particular emphasis on some aspects: sexually transmitted diseases (importance score: 8.47 out of 10); relationships, affections and partner consent (score: 8.40 out of 10); contraceptive methods (score: 7.81 out of 10); anatomy of the human body (score: 7.78 out of 10).

Webboh Lab’s smart pool also revealed that the way this issue is addressed could be improved through various initiatives. In addition to a greater school involvement (score 8.36 out of 10), the main activities identified by the interviewees were: counseling services (score 7.87 out of 10); discussions with adults (score 7.59 out of 10); access to reliable online resources (score 7.49 out of 10).

That’s not all. The survey also highlighted how the condom is the contraceptive method most known by Gen Z (98.2%), followed by the contraceptive pill (88.4%). Much more limited knowledge is found, however, for the IUD (49.3%) and coitus interruptus (17%). And again: the concept of emergency contraception is familiar to 44.2% of young people. More specifically, 86% know about the morning-after pill, while only 41.8% know about the 5-day-after pill. The main sources of information for emergency contraception include: web (25.1%); social media (24.4%); school (15.6%); friends (12.4%); family (6.9%).

Furthermore, 23.9% of the young people interviewed admitted to knowing someone who has used the morning-after pill, while only 8.3% know someone who has used the 5-day-after pill. The research – the note concludes – therefore shows a clear need for a more integrated approach to sexual education, involving not only schools, but also counseling services and families.