Your book extensively discusses several risk factors in adolescent sexuality. Describe 3 of them.
There are a few risk factors in adolescent sexuality which include; not emotionally prepared, social economic status and family factors (pg. 199). I think the majority of adolescents are not emotionally prepared to be sexually active. Early sexual activity is linked to risky behaviors such as drug use, delinquency, school related problems (pg.199). Early engagement in sexual intercourse is associated with high-risk sexual factors such as forceful sex, pregnancy, and date violence (pg.199). With all this included adolescents are never prepared for the actual consequences of sex like pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. Adults are barley
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prepared for these consequence but we are defiantly more stapled financial and emotionally. Adolescents have so much on their plate as is it some more than others and when I think about teens and sex the first think I think of is that they are not emotionally prepared. The book mentions social economic status impacts adolescents’ sexual activity. The percentage of sexually active young adolescents is higher in low income areas of inner cities (pg.200). This actually surprised me but at the same time with a lot of the youth I mentor I am able to see why this actually makes sense. I think this factor plays into effect, not because the thought of free resources, medical assistance, and financial assistance comes to mind intentionally in those with a lower social economic status but looking at the bigger picture these resources are offered more towards them then those with more wealth. I think education plays into factor to those who can afford to live in a better educated area as well, they are encouraged more to focus on education. Which in this family support also plays a role. Those with lower social economic status tend to lack family support the way wealthier families do. Family connectedness predicts sexual and reproductive health outcomes for youth. Parent adolescent communication about sex, parental monitoring, and partner connectedness help produce healthy sexual outcomes (pg.200). Family strengths in childhood were protective against early initiation of sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy. Sexual risk taking behaviors are more likely to occur in girls living in single parent homes (pg.200). Having older sexually active siblings or pregnant teen sisters place adolescent’s girls at higher risk for pregnancy. Family support I think plays a huge role in adolescent development not only in cognitive development, and self-identity but I think it impact adolescent development as a whole. 2. Describe the 3 reasons given in your book as to why other countries have lower adolescent pregnancy rates than the United States. The US seems to be more conservative in a sense granted we have come out of our shell a lot but I think sex is still an awkward conversation especially between and adult and a child. The book gives three reason why other countries have lower teen pregnancy; childbearing regarded as adult activity, clear messages about sexual behavior, and access to family planning services (pg. 208). Other countries emphasized that childbearing is for adults who are completed education, become employed and independent from parents and are in stable relationship (pg. 208). In the US I feel we encourage to have stability before a child but I don’t think we emphasize it or try to prepare our kids for real life expectations for adults. In other countries there is a clear messages about sexual behavior, they are more accepting of teens having sex. In the US we tend to frown upon sex in teens but we don’t face the reality it is happening. As a mother and a Christian women I would love for my teens to practice abstinence but reality they don’t, society and media don’t encourage that, and the pressure of sex has got more intense so I think it is a good idea to acquire what other countries are doing. Other countries expectation is strong that young people who are having sex will take precautions to protect themselves and their partners from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (pg. 208). Other countries have sex education programs that provide more comprehensive information about prevention then US. The US has this education but if it is anything like how it was when I was in school, these classes and programs are a joke. In the US there are places like Planned Parenthood that assist in family planning services but I think they still make it hard for teens to feel open to these resources (pg. 208). Other countries provide access to family planning services that are more accepting of teenage sexual relationships, and teens have easier access to reproductive health services. Contraceptive are available for free or at low cost for all teens. Many of the places here in the US you have to quality for subsidized assistance and even then birth control is too expensive for a teen. 3. Describe the four recommendations in your book regarding reducing adolescent pregnancy. Which gender receives most attention in pregnancy prevention? John conger offered 4 recommendations for reducing the high rate of adolescent pregnancy (pg.
211). Sex education and family planning, access to contraceptive methods, life option approach, and broad community involvement and support. In sex education and family planning Conger suggest a Baby doll that engages in realistic responses and adolescents the opportunity to experience the responsibility of being a parent (pg. 211). It increased ages of when students wanted to have children and produced greater interest in career and educational planning. Conger discusses access to contraceptive methods and how this can be fulfilled through adolescent clinics that providehigh quality health services (pg. 212). I think in the US we frown so much in teen sexual activity that we make it hard for an adolescent to go to the resources they have. Conger discusses that the Major reason for success for pregnancy prevention efforts in other developed nations is the broad community involvement and support adolescents have in sexual activity (pg. 212). I don’t think we should encourage teens to have sex but I do think we need to encourage them to be open if they choose to have sex. I also think we need to teach them to be responsible especially since there is a huge percentage in teen pregnancy. Life option approach motivate adolescents to reduce their pregnancy risk, this will come only when adolescents look to the future and see that they have an opportunity to become self-sufficient and …show more content…
successful (pg.212). 4. Using the research cited in your book to support your argument, should we provide sex education and what should it consist of? In the US adolescent pregnancy rates are eight times as high then in the Netherlands (pg.
208). In 2011 34% of sexually active adolescents in the US had not used a condom the last time they had sexual intercourse (pg. 206). In 2006 27% of US teen pregnancy ended in abortion (pg. 210) twice as much high then Germany (Advocated for youth). With these stats I do think sexual education should be provided. If we can lower our percentages even by a small portion why not try? I don’t believe that we can argue that the US does not have the resources because we do. In school sex education is required at least it was the last time I checked it was. But when I attended school it was a joke, other countries emphasized that childbearing is for adults who completed education, become employed and independent from parents and are in stable relationship (pg. 208). I feel the US does not do this enough, I think if we do provide sex education we have to encourage students to look into the future. We need to be open about sex and not make it an awkward conversation. We need to make contraception’s an easy access for teens. Yes there are free clinics but I don’t know very many teenagers at age 15 that have a car to go to the clinic to get condoms. When I took sex education in school we learned about what sexually transmitted infections were but we were not given access to contraceptives, it was not encouraged or emphasized to avoid pregnancy and that class was our only resource given by the
teacher. So three things that I think could make a big difference in providing sex education is; one provide contraception, two offer and make other resources accessible, three encourage students to look into the future and not in the moment.
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).
The birth rate among teens in the United States has declined 9% from 2009 to 2010, a historic low among all racial and ethnic groups, with the least being born in 2010; and in 2011 the number of babies born to adolescents aged 15-19 years of age was 329,797 (“Birth Rates for U.S.”, 2012). Although the decline in unwanted and unplanned teen births is on the rise the United States continues to be among the highest of industrialized countries facing this problem. This is a prevailing social concern because of the health risks to these young mothers as well as their babies. Teens at higher risk of becoming pregnant are raised at or below the poverty level by single parents; live in environments that cause high levels of stress (i.e., divorce, sexual psychological and physical abuse); are influenced by peers or family members that are sexually active; and lack parental guidance that would direct them to be responsible and self-controlled.
encompasses sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy, body image, and gender roles.” Sex education discusses important aspects of reproduction, sexuality, and just growing up in general in a physical and emotional sense. One would have to wonder though; does sex education actually serve its purpose? Does it enlighten teens enough about sex and the consequences, to the point where you can actually tell the difference between those who are sexually educated and those who are not? According to a study done bye Coyle (1999) sex education no matter where, at home or in school, and no matter the program does indeed help decrease the amount of teens having unsafe sex. Based on information from that same study about 3 million teenagers a year get an STD, and roughly 10% of adolescent females ages 15-19 get pregnant every year unintentionally. In an article from The Alan Guttmacher Institute (1999) there has been a 20% drop in female pregnancies between n 1990 and 1997 and the drop has continued, they have stated that the reason for this i...
...pe of sex education have the highest birth rates among teens. . Also indisputable is the increase economic drain in treating teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease in a country already overwhelmed by debt. In my opinion I firmly believe preventative education is a must, the statistics speak for themselves school age teenagers are sexually active. Which makes it a social responsibility to assist them in understanding the means to minimize the risk that entails. "sticking our head in the sand" and saying it does not exists is simply socially irresponsible.
Not only expecting the reader to share the same idea that comprehensive sex education is the more beneficial alternative, the authors also believe the reader considers the rate of teenage pregnancy in our country as a bad thing and that there needs to be some sort of action to decrease it. To assume that the reader believes teen pregnancy is bad is a safe assumption to make. Culturally, in the United States, teen pregnancy is not the norm. Although it may be safe to assume that teen pregnancy itself is bad, it is not as safe to assume that abstinence-only education is completely ineffective. Like the authors sated, there could be a lot of opposition to teaching middle school and high school students how to properly use contraception. Many people reason that showing students how to safely and knowledgably prevent pregnancies and STDs will only increase sexual behavior among teenagers (1). In addition to the warrants the authors make, the backing used to support their assumption that abstinence-only education is not effective is in the form of national data on the public opinion of adults that support comprehensive sex education programs. 82% of adults, ages 18 to 83, support comprehensive sex education while only 36% support abstinence-only education (8). The authors’ backing for this warrant is credible knowing that it comes from a sophisticated
However, Advocates for Youth Researchers studied the National Survey of Family Growth to determine the impact of sexuality education on youth sexual risk-taking for young people ages 15-19, and found that teens who received comprehensive sex education were 50 percent less likely to experience pregnancy than those who received abstinence-only education (Kohler et al 2008). Proving that comprehensive programs do not increase teen pregnancy, but rather have the potential to significantly decrease it. Although teen pregnancy in the U.S has declined in recent years, the teen birth rate remains higher than in most other developed countries at 26.5 per 1,000 in youths aged 15-19 (CDC 2013). This illustrates the need for action. Comprehensive sexuality education will teach these teens the how to prevent pregnancy and could potentially lower these numbers. Empowering teens with pregnancy knowledge is only one of the many benefits of comprehensive sexuality education, but providing life-saving information to teens about STD’s is vitally important as
I believe it is very important for teenagers to be educated about sex and the consequences that could follow. My school has speakers that come in a talk to us about subject once a year, but some schools don’t have any education about this. If kids don’t know how to protect themselves, and don’t know what their options are, then they may end up getting pregnant and possibly having an abortion. If we can get it so every school has at least one time a year where they get taught ab...
In the United States, there is a rising problem that is not going anywhere anytime soon, that is if we, as citizens, don 't change it. This problem is causing billions of dollars and people 's futures all because schools would rather teach ignorance than the truth. What’s the problem? Sex education. Although sex education may not seem like a rising conflict, it is actually one of the top controversial topics in our country regarding education. According to Brigid McKeon, “Each year, U.S. teens experience as many as 850,000 pregnancies, and youth under age 25 experience about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs)” (McKeon). This number is so unbelievable to any sane person, but somehow schools still won 't take the initiative to teach realistic sex education. Sex education can be taught in two different procedures- comprehensive or abstinence only. The difference between the two methods is that comprehensive sex education teaches abstinence as a secondary choice, so that teens who decide not to wait are well educated on how to keep themselves protected. Comprehensive sex education should be required in every single public school because it is the most effective method on how to keep teenagers well informed and prepared.
Written by a member of the associate press in Washington, This article as the title suggests, discusses how one out of three American schools do not even bother to teach anything about contraception and the prevention of pregnancy, whereas they are taught that abstinence is the only way to prevent pregnancy. Talks of birth control, pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases are left out except to talk about its shortcomings. The people who promote abstinence teachings are mainly the conservative and religious groups. The abstinence only programs seem to be most prevalent in the southern states and seem to be not very common in the northeast and there is a mandate by the American government saying that fifteen states require schools to teach abstinence until marriage while thirteen states require lessons about contraception and abstinence combined. These groups say that if abstinence is taught, a message saying that pre-marital sex is acceptable in society and wouldn’t be considered deviant. The remaining two thirds of schools in the United States, which educate with both abstinence and contraception according to the article teach that abstinence is the preferred option but do go on to talk about how to prevent pregnancies if one does decide to engage in sexual intercourse. The newspaper article goes on to say that most American citizens are in support of programs that promote both abstinence and contraception taught together but it is still important for society to send teens a message that abstinence is the most conventional method. Sixty six percent of teenagers said that they have had sex by the time they graduated from high school. This goes to show that teenagers have been exposed to more sex in their everyday lives and sex before marriage is considered harmless by today’s society as opposed to what the norm was twenty years
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.
Aggleton shows teens the truth about sex instead of something seen as romantic and a risk, and they seeing themselves as people who are experimenting with new things. However, to others it is not a sign of romance but a risk that keeps haunting teenagers with AIDS and pregnancy. Even though young people are stereotyped as being more negative when it comes to the issue of sex, 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 sex 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. So the problem is teens are having sex for the wrong reasons without looking into the consequences.
Sex education should begin at home,and there should be a mandatory program in schools that supports a strong message of abstaining from sexual activity in addition to informing students of the risks posed by engaging in sexual activity. In the United States there is the highest pregnancy rate in the world (“Relationship Under Construction”). The implementation across the nation of a comprehensive Abstinence-Plus program teaching: abstinence, health risks, birth control, teen pregnancy, and providing students with information and birth control is exactly what is needed ( “Benefits of Teen
Sex Education Should be Taught in Schools Comprehensive sex-ed should be required in all schools is because it teaches young adults about safe sex. There is research stating that teenagers and young adults are ignorant to the ways and meanings of safe sex. Abstinence only sex-ed is insufficient when it comes to teaching youth about STD’s and the harms of having unsafe sex. Dr. Ted Feinberg, assistant executive director of the National Association of School Psychologists states that schools aren’t teaching sex ed which is making teenagers ignorant and we need to help them (Masland, 2013). Also, the writers at the Philadelphia Inquirer write, “The abstinence-only message has proven costly and ineffective.
The issue of sex education in schools is going to be there for many years to come. The problem is that people want answers that can’t be talked about until more research is done on the effects of sex education. Parents, teachers, schools and students all have on common goal and that is to find a way to accurately discuss sex education in schools. There are problems with that because of all of the arguments surrounding the issue and all the problems with trying to come to a conclusion about it. Since the teen pregnancy rates have more than double and STD cases are the highest among teens we obviously see a need for it, but don’t know how to go about it. Once we research the long term effects of sex education and then come to agreement on what should be taught in schools the sex education problem in America will diminish. We need to break down the educational borders and try to look at all the perspectives to reach the common goal.
“Forty-one percent of teens ages 18-19 said they know nothing about condoms, and seventy-five percent said they know nothing about the contraceptive pill” (Facts on American Teens). Even if schools taught just abstinence it still would not be enough. “In 2007, a study showed that abstinence only programs have no beneficial impact on the sexual behavior of young people” (Facts on American Teens). Sex education is not taken as seriously as it should be in schools, it is treated like it is not a big deal. Schools should require a sex education class that specifically teaches students about sex and goes into depth of all the possible consequences because of the high pregnancy, abortion, and virus rates.