Unprotected Teen Sex Issue

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to measure the ratio of the teenagers involved in insecure sexual activities and their consequences in society. The role of a welfare organization supporting the youth in this regard has also been elaborated in the present study. The need for the help of the Ad Council to the voluntary welfare organization’s campaign is also part of the paper. Since sexual activities contain sociological significance, the inappropriate performance of those all comes under the fold of social problems. Before embarking upon the topic under study, it would be appropriate to define some concepts applied in the present study:

1. Teenager: A teenager is a person whose age is between 13 and 19 years. Teenage is considered the most thrilling period of life when a man has the least care of the consequences of his actions and deeds.
2. Sexual activities: Sexual activities refer to the physical contact between two or more persons belonging to the same as well as the opposite gender, where intercourse may also take place between them. These physical contacts may be oral, vaginal, and anal, as well as sex with the animals too.
3. Contraceptives: Contraceptives simply means a method, material, or device which is used as a preventive measure to control pregnancy. Contraceptives may be in the form of condoms, loop, pills, capsules, and others.
4. Non Profit Organization: A nonprofit organization refers to a private organization, which is set up for welfare purposes and works voluntarily to help individuals suffering from any type of socioeconomic problem. It also includes NGOs and other welfare societies, unions, and associations.
5. The Ad Council: The Ad Council means the Advertising Council of the USA, which also serves as a nonprofit organization and provides the voluntary and welfare associations with public service announcements based on the funds and aids from different sponsors during their course of performing social welfare programs and campaigns. It enjoys a respectable status in respect of benefiting public welfare unions and institutions.

Introduction

It has aptly been said that an individual is the product of society, and all his needs and requirements are fulfilled by living in a social setup and interacting with other individuals and groups. Sex is a social phenomenon and holds imperative importance on the one hand and the only source of reproduction on the other. The institution of marriage is the universal one and exists in every society, from the most primitive to the most modern one, which offers the individuals a systematic way of fulfilling their sexual desires and an opportunity to reproduce as well. There was a time when people used to be got married at an early age, mostly at the prime of their youth, but traditions have taken a drastic alteration, and social norms, mores, and conventions experienced their new forms, especially during the contemporary era. “In pre-1960 American society, the age at marriage and the age entry into a sexual union were essentially the same. But times have changed, and now we recognize a distinction between the two events.” It is a fact beyond doubt that people have always been involved in extramarital sexual relationships since ever. The researches reveal that the percentage of young people and teenagers engaged in extramarital sex has always been the highest among all the social strata. “Looking into the researches conducted recently on the topic of sexual activities, it becomes obvious that teenagers are the stratum most involved in such activities other than the wedding lock. The main reason behind this includes a great passion for sex, as well as an overwhelming majority of them, is leading a single life” (Zaidi, 2002:31).

There was a time when people were least concerned in respect of the consequences of safety during sexual activity. The inclusion and introduction of fatal and contagious diseases, especially HIV and AIDS, has aroused people’s apprehensions regarding using contraceptives and other safe methods while doing sexual intercourse. In addition, an increase in the number of illegitimate children and illegal pregnancies among the teenage girls in access have created anxiety among the masses at large. The nature of these relationships includes heterosexual, homosexual, oral, sadism, masochism, and bestiality, etc. The boys and girls of this age group are not only developing relations between themselves but also neglect the outcomes of such activities that may cause serious dangers to their health on the one hand and can create social problems on the other. Though the government is extremely interested in combating this threat and has devised many plans and schemes to tackle it, yet there is an urgent need of creating awareness among the youth regarding sexual activities and their consequences. Moreover, the instructions to avoid the dangers and harms of such acts must be conveyed properly and in a systematic way, so that the problems of the youth’s health as well as social disturbances as a result of their unawareness can be evaded or at least mitigated to some extent. Since the government looks unable to embark upon the massive problem in a comprehensive way, there come forward few organizations, which are determined to save the nation from such an unpleasant situation of unsafe and insecure sex and create awareness among them. “The STEP” is one of the most prominent non profit organizations among them.

The name of the STEP does not need any introduction because of the services it has provided, and the effort it has made for the cause of youth is really remarkable and admirable. The STEP (established in December, 1996) is a non-profitable organization interested in bringing prosperity in the society by rescuing it from the cruel clutches of fast spreading contagious diseases and their impact on society. It is determined to add its share, at the state level, in the struggle to vanish away the financial adversities and miseries especially those of the lower classes, so that they can also become the active and useful part of society by leading a life in a proper and respectable way, instead of getting involved in any type of mean and degrading activities like beggary, theft, robbery, prostitution, drug-trafficking and others due to their emotional collapse. I have been working at this organization as the Country Manager for the last two years and have organized different offices at all the important cities of the state of California. The reformatory program launched by the STEP includes the following:

1. Policy formulation with regard to inaugurating awareness-providing institutes, for the youth, all over the state of California, to teach the young generation all regarding sexual activities.
2. Arrange programs, lectures, seminars and symposia for creating awareness regarding the significance of sex education among the people all over the state.
3. Launch a comprehensive program in private sector, of motivating the people on the basis of awareness, which may indirectly help the government in its campaign against this rapidly growing social problem as a result of perversion.
4. Boost the morale of the teenagers that will surely pave the way towards improving the quality of the life of general public.
5. Devise a scheme, in a proper way, to save the teenagers, which is supportive and beneficial for this useful stratum of the society to save them from undergoing utter disappointment and inferiority complexes due to not having any solution of their problems created as a result of their negligence and lack of knowledge.
6. Protect the female population from the cruelty and discrimination, inflicted upon them, because of illegitimate pregnancies and prejudiced attitude of the male members of their society.
7. Block the way of the teenagers towards getting involved in any type of criminal activities on not finding any solution of health and emotional disturbances.
8. Teach and guide the youth, without any discrimination of caste, creed, class, community, gender, region, race and district.
9. Serve as a supporting hand for the rescue of the people suffering from any distress or turmoil at the eve jeopardising social condition.
10. Perform something great and extra-ordinary to purify the society from the social evils like beggary, theft, embezzlement, drug-addiction, prostitution and other such nefarious activities that are exercised due to lack of awareness, resources and opportunities.
11. Allocate and apply the best of our abilities and energies into the vast field of social welfare that may be beneficial in respect of bringing prosperity in the society.

The STEP has drawn a comprehensive plan of offering the deserving youth interest-free loans on the one hand, and free of cost skill-learning programmes on the other to enable them earn their livelihood in a systematic and glorious way after suffering from HIV, AIDS and mental retardation. The scheme will also be helpful, though indirectly, in discouraging the social evils and criminal activities really an infamous blur on the very face of our society. There is an essential need of unconditional and unabated support of the well to do individuals, associations and especially the Ad Council to lend a hand to the STEP in order to eradicate this social problem with an iron hand. The points above-mentioned emphatically prove the very fact that the STEP requires the assistance of an urgent and comprehensive ad campaign not only to spread the awareness among the youth having sex without condoms, regarding consequences of insecure sex, but also work for rehabilitating the teenagers suffering from mental retardation, emotional setbacks, physical diseases, unwanted pregnancies and others. The advertising campaign launched and commenced by the Ad Council may play decisive role in spreading the message of the STEP all over the state. It will surely bring prosperity and happiness in society making it healthy and satisfied.

Bibliography

1. John R. Weeks. (1995) POPULATION: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues Seventh Edition. Wadsworth Publishing Company Belmont, California.
2. M. H. Zaidi (2002) Biological, Psychological and Sociological Causes of Deviant Behavior: A research work conducted keeping in view the pervert behavior of youth.
3. Wikipedia Encyclopedia. Web.