Introduction
Teenage sex is a topic relevant to both parents and kids, likewise. When teens approach puberty, they experience numerous changes in their bodies, ranging from an overflow of emotions resulting from developing hormonal activity to peer pressure from older members of their age group (Bukatko, 2008). Some feel the embarrassment for experiencing their body change, while some take the change positively. It matters how well their guardians address these abrupt changes. If the parent addresses the issue by informing their kids of things and changes they should expect, the child receives the changes knowingly, and therefore a positive development is experienced. The paper shall look at how these changes manifest themselves.
Puberty as a precursor to teenage sex
Puberty is a step that almost everyone passes through before they reach the age of twenty-five. However, some may not experience it until thirty, but such a case should rarely occur. When a teenager reaches this stage, hormones make them aware of emotional attachment and attraction to the opposite gender counterparts. The emotions overflow and cause some teenagers to react as a result of the attraction.
Some confront the subject of their attraction and offer a sign of invitation or express their desires, leading to a sequence of emotional messaging forms, and eventually to physical contact (Wilson, 2009). Teenage sex is regarded as premature youth behavior since the participants are usually not aware of the full implications of their actions. They only head into it to fulfill their selfish desires. The girl usually carries the larger portion of the burden of consequences that might arise out of the sexual encounter.
This long period of emotional instability may last for around three to six years, usually rounding up at eighteen. That is part of the reason why some under eighteen-year-olds are still regarded as children.
Culture and Geography as a contextual element of teenage behavior
One’s geographical disposition sets the context for which their behavior approaches sexual indulgence. For people situated in rural regions, like in the countryside, their adolescent children lack moral guidance as there is little authoritative influence. Media and information are emphasized in urban areas to harmonize the legal tendencies of the citizens. Culture sets the basis for which such sexual tendencies exhibited by teenagers develop in society (Bukatko, 2008). Taking an example of societies that encourage early marriages for their children, the practice of teenagers having sexual contact is deemed appropriate. It is encouraged so they can set the foundation of marriage.
Various attitudes and values that are emphasized in childhood and adolescent development
Certain factors are considered when we address the issue of teenage sex. The morals we teach kids and the values they learn from their future opinions and ideas about teenagers engaging in sex before maturity. Media plays a big role in decaying the right teenage behavior when we see nudity and sexually explicit content being aired openly on daytime television. Fashion sets the trend with which the teenagers wear and express themselves.
Advocating for miniature clothes as fashion sense is primarily responsible for irresponsible dressing cultures when kids leave home for school or the mall. We need to improve our social values by advocating for more concealing wear, but not necessarily constricting clothes. Health implications fall into action when such unsupervised teens engage in sex without using protection. Undesirable illnesses have resulted from such teenage sexuality, and lives have been lost from innocent curiosity. It gets worse with age; during the early ages, sexually transmitted diseases were not so prevalent since street escorts services were a little less available than current times.
Television had less nudity and more educational programs on air during the day. Morals were instilled by parents more strictly where kids were not allowed to stay up late watching television. Times have changed, and teens can easily access pornographic content from the mall and on the internet. This concern has not just begun to bother societies; it is an old issue, dealt with in many generations. Teenagers engage in sexuality due to cultural, religious, biological, and societal influences (Wilson, 2009).
Sex Education in schools
The concern has grown in schools and colleges worldwide, with most emphasis being made in schools in the United States. Federal Governments have found a biased interest in an abstinence-only type of education. Some liberal societies see sex in the teen years as a rite to adulthood, while conservatives maintain that sex should be reserved for adults. The issue is discussed in classrooms and boardrooms, with 93 percent of Americans supporting sex education (Hoff and Greene, 2000).
It is believed that teens should receive information from school councilors regarding almost all issues pertaining to sex education. They should be allowed to choose what information to take in, rather than having a biased opinion from their guardian (Hoff and Greene, 2000). This opens their minds to an honest approach towards sexual encounters, and they get to take responsibility for their own health, knowing full well what might result from engaging in it.
Pros and cons of sex education in schools
Lack of strong morals and scientific knowledge has played a part in the experienced increases in teenage sex indulgence. It is becoming prevalent that sex education is not working, looking at the figures; sex education is taught in almost 30% of American schools, yet there is an increasing trend in teenage pregnancies in the US. It doubles that of any other Western industrialized country, while the rate of teenage HIV infections is the highest compared to any other age group (Hoff and Greene, 2000).
Teens tend to believe that oral and anal intercourse is not real sex. In this judgment, they fail to consider the health implications, although they may have had sex education as a course. It goes to say that sex education not only goes to the point of teaching them the scientific basis of the action, but it also opens their minds up to adult behavior (Tina Hoff & Liberty Greene, 2000). The topic, however, does not consider all people in its context. It disregards teens that choose to remain single for the rest of their lives, gays and lesbians alike; it fails to reveal to them what to expect in later years after marriage.
Though the results prove that some of the approaches to the various forms of sexual contact may have failed, the figures are against the odds. Sex education should continue, but it should be altered to include medically accurate information regarding sex education (Bukatko, 2008). If introduced from an early age, such programs might inform young kids what to avoid when engaging in a relationship. It should be effective in avoiding teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
Conclusion
Previous methods have so far failed in their educative effect, including abstinence-only and basic sex education. I agree with the proposal for comprehensive education with medical expertise in the area. This method had been introduced in my time. We probably would have experienced a change in the prevalent sexual infections in our youths today, with dropping figures of unwanted pregnancies. Sex education requires more support and intervention by medical experts to include their expertise in preventive methods.
References
Bukatko, D. (2008). Childhood and Adolescent Dvelopment: A Chronological Approach. Mason: Cengage Learning.
Hoff, T. & Greene, L. (2000). Sex Education In America. Princeton Survey Research. California: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Wilson, D. (2009). Sexuality Education inTexas Public Schools. Texas Freedom Network Education Fund. Dallas: Ryan Valentine.