A new survery shows that Australian teenagers are now utilizing cyberspace for sex education as opposed to the awkward talk from parents regarding the "birds and bees".

The survey was done by Durex, a popular condom maker, and the results received from the survey shows a different side of sex education for Australian teenagers. Here is a summary of the survey results:

  • 1 in 4 Australians (younger than 25 years old) consider school sex education lessons as inadequate
  • 50% of the respondents get information about sex from the Internet (discussion forums and social networking sites)
  • 36% of the respondents get information about sex from friends and peers
  • 57% admitted not enjoying their first sex encounters
  • 15% of the respondents do not use a condom

Desiree Spierings, the director for Sexual Health Australia, acknowledges the power that Internet and social media has as a source of information for teenagers. He remarked that "using social media is a new trend. You hear they ask for tips and advice on social networks and also they read blogs so they might not necessarily be professional sites they are getting their information from."

Sex Education in NSW usually starts from primary school under the personal development, health and physical education syllabus (PDHPE). Despite starting early, some people are saying that there should be more effort for sex education so that people, particularly teenagers should not result to finding information through the web.

There is also a growing alarm for sexually transmitted disease particularly with the young population. The government had identified young people as priority target under the second national sexually transmissible infections strategy. The government also disclosed that 50% of teens are sexually active by the age of 16. Reports even show that chlamydia rates for teenagers between 16 - 19 years old are rising. This trend implies that the information about "safe sex" is not fully communicated to this age group.