Abstract
Objective: Identify doubts and fears about sexuality and to analyze the adolescents perception about the theme. Methods: Descriptive, qualitative research with adolescents from the 6th to the 9th grade of elementary school, through a self-administered questionnaire with open questions about doubts and fears about the theme. Results: 38 adolescents participated, most of them female, with an average age of 13 years. The main doubts about sexuality turned to the terms “doubts”, “disease” and “AIDS”. As for the adolescents fears regarding their sexuality, the terms “disease”, “getting pregnant” and “fear” were frequently mentioned in the responses. It was possible to observe that affective and social issues permeate the universe of sexuality experienced by them. Conclusion: It was observed that the fear of contracting STIs and early pregnancy, as well as doubts about the issues surrounding sexuality, are very present among adolescents. The need for more effective practice of sex education in the school context is understood with the participation of reference adults, in a transversal way, so that adolescents can adopt safe and healthy behaviors, strengthening empowerment and directly impacting the reduction of STIs indicators and early pregnancy, which are situations that interfere with the quality of life of adolescents.
