Among sexually active central Island youths, 41 per cent indicated they used withdrawal as a way to prevent pregnancy, and 11 per cent said it was the only method they used to prevent pregnancy.
These numbers come from a B.C. adolescent health report released last month. The survey was conducted by the McCreary Centre Society, with funding from the B.C. government, and was completed by approximately 38,500 youths between 12-19 in 59 of B.C’s 60 school districts. The Central Vancouver Island report looked at survey results from the Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Qualicum, Pacific Rim, and Cowichan Valley school districts.
The survey found that withdrawal was the second most popular form of contraception for youths on the mid Island, after condoms which were used 55 per cent of the time. Following this was birth control pills, 37 per cent of the time, and IUDs, nine per cent.
The rate of youths who reported withdrawal as the only method they used to prevent pregnancy has more than doubled since 2013, when it was only five per cent.
Jennifer Gibson, coordinator of education services with the Island Sexual Health Society, believes contributing factors may include method accessibility, an education gap during COVID-19, and unreliable information through online sources.
"When students went home they weren't receiving sexual health education or they were receiving sexual health education not in the same way where they would have been able to see the different methods of contraception in the classroom, which typically happens, where we show things like IUDs or we show implants or we show how to use condoms properly," she said.
According to the survey, youths in central Vancouver Island were less sexually active than in previous years, dropping from 26 per cent in 2018 to 22 per cent in 2023, but that percentage was still higher than the provincial average.
Gibson said Island Sexual Health would never recommend withdrawal as a primary method of birth control. In addition to being an especially unreliable method of contraception among youths, it does nothing to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections.
"If you look up the statistics it will say about 78 per cent effective. What does that mean? It means in a group of 100 users who are using that primarily as their method over the course of a year, 78 would not have an unintentional pregnancy, 22 would," she said. "However, when you look at adolescents we have to look at their fertility rates are higher than older people, they may be having sex more frequently and their ovulatory cycles may not be as predictable as older people."
For the first time in the survey's history, McCreary Centre Society asked youths about their views on the sexual health education they received at school, and 85 per cent of mid Island youths reported receiving sex ed at school, above the 80 per cent provincial average. This includes 50 per cent who found it helpful and 35 per cent who didn't.
Gibson said the 85 per cent is "certainly substantial" but it should ideally be 100 per cent.
"When we're talking about sexual health education, unfortunately a lot of times it's done in a single session, so if a student for whatever reason was away that day they might have not received it. Ideally, we should be educating it like we would do any other topic, across the year through different lenses, not just a single session. It's very important we move away from 'the talk,' this idea of one session that covers all the topics."
One message Gibson would like to get out to families in the area is to have conversations about sexuality beyond the risks for STIs and pregnancy, that include sexual orientations, gender identities and local resources.
"Just know what kind of services are available for youths and make sure they are aware where [the services] are at and anything that happens in a doctor's office, unless it's a disclosure of harm, is confidential. I think that's another barrier that prevents youths from going to access birth and bleed control is the fear of confidentiality. They're worried maybe they're not having conversations with their families about this yet and maybe they're worried about their families finding out, which prevents them from going."
Island Sexual Health has a free youth text line for sexual health related questions at 250-812-9374. Questions can be asked anonymously and will be answered within 24 hours.
