The Level of Reproductive Health Dissemination Among Female Secondary Students in Salfit Governorate

This study aimed to recognize the level of knowledge among high school female students regarding reproductive health, and identify the girls' attitudes toward some of the related issues such as early marriage, endogamy, family planning, in addition to recognizing the basic sources of the students' knowledge regarding these issues. To achieve this, the study's tool (questionnaire) was designed to suit the objectives of the study itself. The questionnaire consisted of several questions that were divided into three parts. The first one aimed to recognize the demographic back ground of the female students and their parents, while the second part aimed to identify the level of knowledge among these students regarding reproductive health. The third part sought to determine the most prominent sources from which female students draw information about reproductive health and other related issues. The Study was conducted on a sample that consisted of high school female students (Grade 11 and 12) in governmental high schools in Salfit Governorate. The sample was chosen using the stratified random method and was representative of these students according to the size and type of the locality. The sample's size was 520 female students with margin error of ±4.3%. The Descriptive Approach and the Analytic Approach were used in this study due to their suitability to the study's objectives. After collecting the data, it was entered into the SPSS software. Following that, the results were analyzed by using the required statistical processors. The study came up with a number of results including the fact that the variables of class, specialization, mother's work status and number of sisters all had an influence on the girls' knowledge of reproductive health. Both the variables of specialization and the girl's age affected the girls' knowledge of adulthood and the accompanying physiological changes. Also, the variables of locality population size, class, specialization, the girl's age and the father's profession had affected the girls' knowledge of family planning. In addition to this, the variables of specialization, the mother's age at first marriage, the mother's work status, the number of sisters, the total number of the family members, the girl's order among her family members, the family's income had all affected the girls' knowledge of sexually-transmitted diseases. However, the study's variables did not have any impact on the girls' knowledge of early marriage. The researcher recommended raising the girls' awareness regarding reproductive health in early age since the well-educated girls will be more positive than non-educated girls. Being unaware of issue related to reproductive health will leave the girl vulnerable to risks and health problems which she might not be able to deal with in the future. In addition, the researcher emphasized the necessity of offering girls pieces of advise by their parents in the first place, and through school curricula and seminars which would help in educating them on the different subjects related to reproductive health.