Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter

Pastors ought to deal with issues of sexuality and HIV/AIDS from the pulpit in a way which furnishes young people with sound information and a strong biblical perspective.

That was one of the recommendations arising from a study conducted last year among evangelical Christian young people of Barbados. The study, entitled 'Survey of Sexual Practices of Evangelical Youth: Barbados 2006', was commissioned by both the Barbados Evangelical Association and the Evangelical Association of the Caribbean.

It covered a range of issues, including virginity, sex before marriage, attitudes to HIV/AIDS, and frequency of sexual intercourse.

For this survey, letters were sent to 413 evangelical pastors on the island, asking them to allow the youth in their congregations to participate in this survey. Those who responded positively sent their youth leaders to a meeting where various issues were discussed and an orientation given about the survey form. These youth leaders in turn took the survey forms back to their respective congregations for the youth they lead to fill out. The survey was developed in collaboration with the World Relief Corporation (U.S.A.), the National HIV/AIDS Commission (Barbados) and Professor Brendon Bain who heads the HIV/AIDS response division of the University of the West Indies.

Equally divided by gender

Four hundred and twenty persons were tabulated of which 233 (55 per cent) were females and 160 (38.1 per cent) males, and 27 (6.4 per cent) represent individuals who did not indicate gender.

Of those who responded to the survey, 371 (88.3 per cent) were unmarried, 46 (10.9 per cent) married, two (0.5 per cent) divorced, and one (0.3 per cent) gave no response on gender. A total of 216 respondents ( 51.4 per cent) were still at school and 295 (70.2 per cent) were still living at home with their parents, 92 (21.9 per cent) were living with other relatives (including spouses), eight (1.9 per cent) with caregivers who were not blood relatives, 22 (5.2 per cent) by themselves and only one (0.3 per cent) male who was living with a girlfriend. Those living by themselves were equally divided by gender.

The respondents' age ranged from 10-49. A total of 228 (54.3 per cent) were between the age of 10 and 19, 70 individuals (16.7 per cent) were between 20 and 25, and 116 persons (27.6 per cent) were over the age of 25.

Almost a quarter of the total sample, 24.8 per cent ( 25.7 per cent females and 25 per cent males) said most of their friends were virgins. Furthermore, 68.9 per cent (68.9 per cent females and 70.9 per cent males) said they would prefer to marry a virgin. The survey, however, reveals that marrying a virgin rather than being a virgin on one's wedding night is a well-entrenched mindset among respondents.

Should matters of sexuality be discussed at church at all? Yes, said 78.3 per cent of respondents; 14 per cent said no; and, 7.4 per cent were unsure.

Comparatively, 39.7 per cent said their pastor rarely (nine per cent) or never (30.7 per cent) talked about sex. The respondents made the point that only 27.2 per cent of youth leaders do talk about sex. Hence, youth leadership fares worse than pastors in talking about sex.

A little over a quarter (26.5 per cent) of those surveyed felt that it was impossible for persons their age to do without sex until marriage. Only 13.5 per cent felt that it would be impossible for them to do the same. A further 21.2 per cent said once a person starts having sex, he/she cannot stop.

Where attitudes towards persons living with HIV were concerned, 86.9 per cent of those surveyed said they would welcome a person with the HIV infection to their church, but 83.1 per cent reported they would welcome someone with AIDS.

One per cent of the respondents in the survey reported that they were already HIV-positive. The report sought to gauge church attendance of these HIV-positive persons for the month preceding the actual filling out of the questionnaire. Of those reporting that they are already infected with HIV, 25 per cent attended church 16 times in the previous month, 25 per cent said eight times, 25 per cent said four times and 25 per cent no time.

Eighty-five per cent of respondents said they had never heard someone confess to a congregation, " I have AIDS." Additionally, 10.2 per cent said they would not want to visit a person with AIDS.

Youth have had sex

Almost 20 per cent (19.5 per cent) said they were unsure they would visit a person with AIDS.

The survey showed that 21.7 per cent of evangelical youth have had sex by the time they attain 17 years of age and that 26.3 per cent of all respondents reported being currently sexually active outside of a marital context.

One hundred and forty-five persons responded to questions relating to the number of sex partners they have had in a lifetime. These 145 persons average five sex partners each. When broken down by gender, the survey showed the females averaged 3.7 partners while the males averaged seven partners. In other words, the young men in the Church who are sexually active average twice the number of partners when compared with young women.

The survey concludes with the recommendation that pastors and youth leaders (including Sunday school teachers) need to be trained to deal with sexuality in a holistic manner as they seek to promote biblical discipleship.

Another recommendation is that youth and children's ministries should be reviewed in light of the findings and where necessary changes implemented without delay.

Read the full report at http://jamaica-gleaner .com/pages/mindandspirt/index.html Send feedback on Mind&Spirit to mark.dawes@gleanerjm.com.