Abstention

Abstention is the most reliable way of avoiding HIV/AIDS. Only approximately 20% of learners at Sapler schools and approximately 26% of learners at other schools thought it was acceptable for schoolboys and schoolgirls to have sex.

However, a much larger number reported that in fact they engaged in sexual activity. Learners were given the opportunity at several different points in the questionnaire to indicate if they have sex and there was some inconsistency in their responses, but typically only around a third of learners at any point indicated that they abstained from sex. 

There was a consistently larger proportion of learners at Sapler schools who indicated that they abstained. An attempt was made to reconcile the various figures, resulting in the following proportions of learners who engage in or abstain from sex.

Of those who engage in sex, almost half report that they have stopped having sex, but it must be assumed that this question was taken to mean not that they now completely abstain but that at some point they did.

It is sometimes argued that masturbation provides a safe sexual outlet and can thus help learners to abstain from other forms of sexual activity. 

However, there is clearly a considerable amount of uncertainty among learners about the effects of masturbation, with only 47% of learners at Sapler schools and 44% at other schools being certain that masturbation will not lead to madness.

Interestingly, when boys (who masturbate more frequently than girls do) are taken separately even more confusion is evident about the effects of masturbation, with up to 21% at non-Sapler schools believing that it can cause madness.

Given this lack of knowledge, it is not surprising that only 42% of learners at Sapler schools and 39% of learners at other schools agreed or strongly agreed that it is acceptable for boys to masturbate.