BMC Public Health 2007, 7:354 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/7/354 A crucial question that emerges in this study is whether the Internet is actually an appropriate way to reach adoles- cent girls in Owerri and probably in other urban cities in Nigeria? This question arises in view of the fact that the study suggests that most of the study participants do not primarily use the Internet for reproductive health infor- mation. The list of the study participants who have sought on-line information on various topics does not show that even 50% of respondents indicated seeking online infor- mation on any of these topics (Table 4). As in all communities, the number of channels available might limit the utility of televisions and radios, just as tel- ephone might not provide visual and other accoutrements necessary to enhance engagement and interactivity. But the Internet gives the girl a high degree of interactivity, offers an anonymous, non-punitive, confidential and eas- ily accessible space to find sensitive information. Moreo- ver, the commercial based services often guarantee security and privacy of information; are cheap, available and accessible, and the skill required to use the service is no more difficult to acquire. Using the Internet for information seeking is also however fraught with many dangers and could be counterproduc- tive for youth when unguided. First, adolescents are still at stages in life when they require guidance regarding the choices they make about their health. An unguided reli- ance on the Net denies parents and other care givers the opportunity to vet and control the information their daughters receive from the chaotic nature of information content of the Internet. Furthermore, an unguided reli- ance on the Net for health information sidelines parents and teachers and other care givers who sometimes possess skills that are more suitable, both in curriculum and in local content, for adolescent education. However, Internet, especially when located in the home, could create a new role for care providers, parents and teachers in informing and counseling as well as guiding young people's information choices. But the low use of home Internet for information reported here might mean that parents and adults have not incorporated the Internet as a strategy for adolescent health education. Adequate enlightenment is required to break information and com- munication gaps that exist between parents and children regarding using the Internet for reproductive health issues. Information professionals and other practitioners should accord the Internet a higher place as a health information resource, which however requires a guided access when youth people use it. As the technology continues to spread to the rural communities, it seems logical to suggest that pro-health Web sites addressing different health needs of the youth who are the major patrons of the cybercafés should be developed and enforced. This is because the youth have some good levels of access and interest but not necessarily confidence, and favourable perceptions regarding the Internet as a source of health information. A crucial issue in these regards would be an expression of consciousness by the relevant government agencies and non-government organisations regarding design and implementation of appropriate community portals that address issues. Designers and content providers might also consider exploiting the current deep and fast penetrating and versa- tile Web 2.0 technologies which are more youth-friendly by incorporating reproductive health information in blogs, wikkis, podcasts, and other web 2 facilities, which are now ubiquitous in the Internet [27]. A crucial question regarding why the out-of-school youth express a relatively high preference for the Internet as a source of information about their health needs to be addressed. Out-of-school girls might want to be in active control of their behav- iours, and would often want to choose what they consider as useful to them more than the in-school. Although the adolescent girls actually reported awareness that other sources of information exist, the out-of-school use the Internet mainly because of its privacy. The initia- tive of the out-of-school adolescents to link gratification of their personal needs with the media is based on the assumption that the media user is able to make accurate decision regarding what site, select the information and then use it. This may explain why the out-of-school ado- lescents assume that they are sufficiently knowledgeable about what they needs. Herein then also lies the difficulty of deploying the Internet for the purpose of availing ado- lescent reproductive heath information. In addition to consisting aspects that individual youth can go explore on their own, there are other aspects of the Internet that require the intervention of experts and senior members of the family and society. Adolescents are at the early stages of their development, and may, from time to time, require human expert guidance regarding their reproductive health life. It becomes very necessary to know what the out-of-school adolescents who inquire about their repro- ductive health from the Internet do with the information they obtain. Does such information lead them to make further inquiries from health personnel, parents or senior ones and other sources? Or does it lead them to devise pri- vate means of helping themselves when they find them- selves in trouble? Finally, this study raises some methodological questions. For instance, the specific sources of information referred to as "the Internet" are not defined, thus taking for granted the possibility that not all the respondents might be skillful in surfing the web for reproductive health infor- Page 11 of 13 (page number not for citation purposes)