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Gender education and the effects on children
Sex education in this contemporary world
Sex education in this contemporary world
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Teenager sexuality refers to sexual feelings, behavior and development in adolescence. It is a stage of human sexuality which is often a vital aspect of teenagers’ lives. Some people believe that sex is essential in every teenage life while other think that it is far better to avoid it till marriage. Studies show that teens are becoming sexually active at younger ages than ever before. This development raises moral, social and health issues as well as considerable controversy. Why this sudden transformation on sexual behavior has happened? What are the major problems and consequences that derive from teenagers’ sexual behavior? Is there a way we could assist to aware this teens about this issue?
There are many influences for the increase of teenager sexual activity. We will be talking about tree important reasons; puberty, media effect, curiosity and experience.
The first justification for this phenomenal is puberty, which is today beginning much earlier than before. A statistic report indicates that in 2007 the average of female attains puberty at around 12.6 years of age, in opposition to an average of 16.5 in 1840. Therefore, there is a big difference of a girl’s behavior in 1840 than a girl’s behavior in 2007. Thus, Female teenagers are becoming more mature and are interfering adult’s world at a very young age, which will put them more at risk of having sex. This is applied for boys as well, as they enter the phase of puberty; their hormones drive them to a need for a sexual relationship in order to satisfy them.
Some teenagers believe that having sex is something natural and usual. It is proven by the growing concern about young people's exposure to sexual content through different product of media. Well, media is obviously ...
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...ot the case in some other parts of the world., teenage pregnancy in developing countries are a result of a marriage and they are supported by their family and not criticized by the society such as in the eastern societies mostly.
Supporters have found solutions in order to warn teenagers about their sexual relations such as sex education: an education on issues involving human sexuality. Most observers agree that sex education programs can help delay the beginning of sexual activity and prevent teenage pregnancy. However, there is huge divergence about what type of sex education is best for adolescents. Supporters believe that giving teens facts about contraception will only make them more likely to have sexual interaction. They also mention that abstinence is the only definite method of preventing pregnancy and STDs and believe that a program that strongly promotes
"Teenage Sexual Behavior." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 24 Jan. 2011.
The primary argument which most advocates for abstinence only education have is that sex before marriage is immoral, not appropriate and that abstinence is the only completely effective method of preventing teen pregnancy and STI contraction. These advocates also emphasize that condoms are not a sure-fire way of preventing pregnancy and STI contraction. Many of the proponents for abstinence-only education believe that educating youth with information concerning sex and contraception will embolden them to become to begin or increase sexual activity. Such advocates accredit the lowering of teenage pregnancy to abstinence only education (Collins, Alagira, and Summers 12-13).
Today’s young Americans face strong peer pressure to be sexually active and engage themselves in risky behaviors (Merino 100-109). Anyone deciding to have sex must first think about all the risks involved. Kekla Magoon, author of Sex Education in Schools, says that “half of all teens aged 15 to 19 years old in the United States have had sex” (Magoon 64-65). It is currently not required by federal law for schools to teach Sex education and those few schools that do teach Sex education have the decision to determine how much information is allowed. Advocates from both sides of the Sex education debate agree that teens need positive influences in order to make practical decisions (Magoon 88-89). Opponents of Abstinence-only education believe it fails because it does not prepare teens for all the risks of sex (Magoon 64-65).
From experience, many teenage girls find the need to feel wanted. When they get lonely they want some kind of attention any way they can get it. Some turn to violence or drugs, but more commonly they turn to some kind of sexual action. Another reason teens start to have sex at such a young age is obviously puberty. Their starting to have changes in their hormones and their body is starting to develop more. Children are getting younger and younger when they start to be involved in sexual activity. In the year 2012, over 4,500 births among girls was aged 15 through 19, which means that over 10 babies were born every day (“Teen
McKay, Alexander. "U.S. teenagers' sexual behaviours became more cautious between 1991 and 2005." Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality 15.2 (2006): 115-116. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Feb. 2011.
Watching television programs with a high level of sexual content can shape the patterns of sexual behavior of a teenager. According to Brown (Brown, Greenberg, & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1993) many teenagers are not able to receive useful information about sex from their parents, this is the reason they usually use the alternative way to find this information through the media. A Kaiser Family research from 1996 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1996; 1998) shows that a quarter of all the young people have told that they have learned a lot about pregnancy from television shows and 40 percent of them have gotten ideas how to talk about sexual issues. In these modern times media is holding the power to influence the audience and most of all the youngest audience which is developing their view about sex.
Research Questions and/or Hypotheses The research question and basis of the study can be summarized as whether or not the exposure to sexual concepts through the media have significant influences on the sexual practices of teenagers. Similarly, it is proposed that, if proven to be accurate, media can be used in similar formats to encourage safe sex and preventative sexual health practices. The use of focus groups, journal writings, room tours, and interviews allowed teens the opportunity to discuss sexuality which was operationalized as teen views on love, sex, and relationships. Steele, 1999, p. 334.
Adolescence is a transition which has no fixed time limits. However, the changes that occur at this time are so significant that it is useful to talk about adolescence as a distinct period of human life cycle. This period ranges from biological changes to changes in behavior and social status, thus making it difficult to specify its limits exactly (Damon, 2008). Adolescence begins with puberty, i.e. a series of physiological changes that lead to full development of the sexual organs and the ability to breed and sex. The time interval that elapses begins at 11 to 12 years and extends to 18 to 20. However we cannot associate to a 13 with one 18 years. Let us talk about early adolescence between 11 to 14 years, which coincides with puberty, and after a second period of youth, or late adolescence between 15-20 years. Its extension to adulthood depends on social, cultural, environmental as well as personal adaptation.
Three million teenagers will contract a sexually transmitted disease and one in three women will become pregnant before they are twenty years old. Teens are contracting sexually transmitted diseases and getting pregnant at an alarming rate causing the government, schools, and parents to scratch their heads. America is the country with the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world. Many are wondering what can be done to stop this. A debate has been going on about whether abstinence only education is doing any good for high school students in America. Abstinence only education teaches teenagers to abstain from all sexual acts until they are married. It does not teach about pregnancy or the different types of contraceptives that are available to prevent pregnancy. On the other hand, there is safe sex education. Safe sex education teaches teenagers facts about intercourse they need to know, acknowledges the potential consequences or risks of sexual behavior, and helps them make better decisions to protect themselves and their bodies.
“The media may be especially important for young people as they are developing their own sexual beliefs and patterns of behavior and as parents and schools remain reluctant to discuss sexual topics (p.26)”.
Even though young people are stereotyped as being more negative when it comes to the issue of gender, not all teenagers are that concerned with it. The author states more teenagers are looking at the outcome of having sex and thinking about the STD issue. Another issue is gender when it comes to parties and drugs. It seems that more and more girls are not getting the necessary understandings of the risks of sex, therefore having it at a younger age. While males are having sex for reasons just to try it out, or because they think they are cool.
Some of the most controversial issues in society have historically revolved around matters relating to gender and sexuality. As gender plays an integral part in how we function in society, we quickly learn what is expected of us through our gender roles at a young age and our sexual scripts as we get older. We are expected to conform to our respective gender roles of femininity or masculinity depending on the sex we were assigned at birth. We learn that certain characteristics and expressions are attributed to each gender but are never taught that gender is fluid but instead it is binary. We also become subjected to assumptions of our sexual desires and attraction based on our sex and our gender and are expected not to deviate from it. We become
Sexual intercourse is something all animals are biologically programmed to do to pass on favorable genes to the next generation and ensure the survival of the species. Humans are no exception to this, but human sexuality is much more complex than just reproduction. We are rational and social beings with emotions, beliefs and behaviors that are influenced by both biological and cultural factors. Sexual behaviors are entangled in the web of all of these things, making human relationships extremely complicated and easily altered by internal and external forces and motivations. For example, the widespread assumptions about sex drive, or libido, between males and females have become almost solely cultural phenomena. In movies, TV shows, music, and
...ions on Two Decades of Research on Teen Sexual Behavior and Pregnancy."The Journal of school health 69.3 (1999): 89-94. ProQuest.Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
Sex education in our schools has been a hot topic of debate for decades. The main point in question has been whether to utilize comprehensive sex education or abstinence-only curriculum to educate our youth. The popularity of abstinence-only curriculum over the last couple of decades has grown largely due to the United States government passing a law to give funding to states that teach the abstinence-only approach to sex education. But not teaching our children about sex and sexuality is not giving them the information they need to make well educated decisions. Sex education in our schools should teach more than just abstinence-only because these programs are not proven to prevent teens from having sex. Children need to be educated on how to prevent contracting sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies and be given the knowledge to understand the changes to their bodies during puberty. According to the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Kindergarten-12th Grade from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), comprehensive sex education “should be appropriate to age, developmental level, and cultural background of students and respect the diversity of values and beliefs represented in the community” (SIECUS).