M.A. / Today's adolescents are more sexurally active than those of previous generations, hence the high incident of early childbearing in most societies worldwide. In South Africa the problem seems to be widespread as it occurs among all cultural and ethnic groups, in rural, as well as in the urban arears, with teenage births constituiting 12% of the country's births. Among lower socio-economic groups, teenage childbearing in South Africa has been precipitated by years of disrupted schooling which has not only affected education, but sexual behaviour as well. In rural Venda, adolescent childbearing could be symtomatic of a breakdown of social order. Sex education has always been of pivotal concern in the development of a Muvenda girl. Upon reaching menarche, the girls would undergo the compulsory pubescence ritual. vhusha. Vhusha does not seem to be surviving the influence of modernization. This is evident from the poor attendance of this ritual, which is being abandoned without being replaced. There is therefore a need to develop a modern culture-friendly psychoeducationa prom-amme for the prevention of teenage pregnancy in rural Venda. This study is aimed at developing such a programme, and furthermore evaluate its effectiveness. The field experiment Before and After control (Pretest-Posttest) design has been used. The experimental intervention (a programme titled: VHUSHA), comprised sexual knowledge, sexual attitudes and career guidance. A questionnaire was used as a measuring instrument for the variables: sexual knowledge, sexual attitudes and future career goals awareness. At posttest, the experimental group showed a significant improvement with regard to sexual attitudes and future career goals awareness in comparison to the control group. VHUSHA has therefore been effective in this regard. Findings of this study showed no significant difference between the two groups with regard to sexual knowledge. This minimal improvement was primarily attributed to the researcher's being part of a culture that lacks openness in communicating sexual knowledge.

M.Cur. / The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the role of significantothers in sex education of the Vha-Venda youth and to describe principles of managing sex education of the youth by community nurses. The researcher's view was that if sexuality education of the youth was done effectively, the youth might acquire the necessary knowledge of sex that would help them to deal with the social, physical and emotional demands of sexuality as they occur. This could reduce the high level of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases among the youth. An exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was followed to achieve the aim of this study. Data was obtained from the youth, parents, guardians community nurses through focus group interviews. The main categories that emerged from the process of data analysis are as follows: The content of sex information given to the youth, the role of significant others in sex education of the youth, strategies that are used in providing sex education to the youth and obstacles in providing sex education to the youth. The results of this study show that the content of sexuality information given to the youth is not adequate. The role of significant others in sexuality education of the youth was found to be educating, guiding, advising and listening to the youth when talking about sexuality issues. Mothers and teachers were identified to be the people mostly involved in sexuality education of the youth. The study also revealed that sexuality' education of the Vha-Venda Youth is started very late in a child's life. Non effective strategies of providing sexuality information are used by parents and guardians. All three groups of respondents identified common obstacles in providing sexuality education of the youth. The results of this study and literature control were used as the basis for description of principles of managing sexuality education of the youth effectively by the community nurses . Recommendations ensuing from this study are that community nurses should involve themselves in assessment of need for help and assist the youth and parents, particularly mothers and teachers according to their needs. Nursing curricula should include guidelines on sexuality education and facilitation of parent's role as primary sexuality educators of their own children. The findings of this study can be considered for designing in-service education programs for community nurses and the curriculum for the training of community nurses in under and post graduate level. Further research needs to be done to assess if the principles described in this study are effective in managing sexuality education of the youths.