Adolescents: A Feminist Perspective Study

Studies show that the national average for an adolescent’s first sexual intercourse encounter is seventeen years old. Despite this number being very close to the average age in other industrialized countries, the United States holds a higher percentage of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) contraction than those countries (Harper et al, 2010, p. 125). It’s becoming evident that while a majority of the nation’s youth is sexually active, they are not doing so with the appropriate knowledge to keep themselves and others healthy.

Barr et al. (2014) study reported in the study that sexual education taught only by the teachers would be effective in preventing teen pregnancy. The teachers would have to be competent, skillful and content on the subject of sex with the student. The National Teacher Preparation Standards for Sexuality Education is an unexpected effort but with years to come the program will become active (Barr et al., 2014). The results of the study indicated that by letting teachers teach teens about sex education decreased teenage pregnancy (Barr et al.,

Teens end up getting sexually transmitted diseases because they are unaware of the consequences of unprotected sex. No abstinence-only program affected the incidence of unprotected vaginal sex (The Australian). Annually 3 million teenagers contract STDs from their partner (Robert Rector). Teens who have early sex not only suffer from STDs, they also have emotional and physical damage. Research shows that young people who become sexually

number one method to prevent STDs, many on the adolescents in this study “perceived sex as normal and abstinence as unlikely” (Akers, A., et al., 2012, p. 92).

Gabster, Mohammed, Arteaga, Castillero, Majica, Dyamondy, Varela, and Pascale (2016), found that sixty six out of eighty high school students who had a Sexually Transmitted Disease reported inconsistent condom usage during sex. Form the current research found in learning more about information within Meeker’s (2007) book I have found her information regarding Sexually Transmitted Diseases to still be relevant to current research regarding teenagers and the STD epidemic.

The United States has an alarmingly high rate of sexually transmitted infections among ages fifteen through twenty-five especially among states that teach abstinence only opposed to comprehensive sexual education. It holds the highest rate in sexually transmitted infections in youth in all developed countries. This is a frightening and atrocious crisis that is preventable if given the right tools at the right age. Many youth are in harm’s way due to inaccurate information, . Many youth believe oral and anal sex is not a form of sex believing they cannot be infected by any sexually transmitted infections when engaging in these acts. This is not only wrong but can put themselves at higher risk for sexually transmitted disease. Sexually transmitted

Sexual intercourse is considered to be between two people that love each other very much. It is romanticized in movies and books, and is alluded to everywhere. As the age for sexual experimentation grow lower many question whether or not have sexual education in our school systems. Many argue that by educating the children at younger ages about sex, it promote the early experimentation. Also that it is not the school 's job to teach about sexualatity and that what they would teach would be against their religion, beliefs, or values, but should promote abstinence. Others argue that the experimental rate is grong and if teens will have sex it is better to educate them on how to be safe. They also arguer that sex is everywhere and children will learn about sex in some way shape or form, whether it be from friends, family, or the media.

The more frequent occurrence of STDs in the younger generations are also based upon the multiple barriers in retrieving the benefits in STD prevention services which includes the lack of health insurance or inability to pay, no transportation, embarrassment of the services in the facilities, and worries of discretion. (STDs) According to the US Department of Health and Human Service, twenty five percent of sexually active adolescents have already obtained an STD. (Parillo) The severity of the issue is approached with the control strategies and educational strategies. In which these educational strategies are more effective when it involves a big health educational program that is provided to our minors. The young populations that are particularly affected by STDs are the young women with a low income for it is easier for a female to receive an STD compared to men. And with those women having a low income, they are not able to access the services that are being provided to them. Today, four in ten sexually active adolescent girls have obtained an STD that can cause infertility and death; also two thirds of adolescent boys have HIV diagnoses.

Half of all new cases of STDs annually are in young men and women between the ages of fifteen and twenty four. Adolescents not only need to learn the importance of practicing safe sex, but also how to be confident. Teaching of this subject could be improved, as mentioned earlier, by beginning to teach STD prevention at an earlier age. Young people are beginning to have sex and younger ages and healthy habits are easier to establish than changing bad habits as stated in the article**. The teaching will be adjusted based on what the individual members of the group want and need to learn. Providing multiple methods of teaching strategies will result in effective leaning. We can immediately evaluate if they audience has learned the material taught during the session and if they can demonstrate skill shown, but only time and follow-up evaluations will show if the group practices STD prevention in the

Understanding the high rates of STD’s among young people is most generally through understanding the relationships of the adolescents. When being researched, it was found that many adolescents had trouble with negotiating the use of condoms. There was an obvious

In the United States every year there are 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (CDC, 2011). One half of those cases are in adolescents and young adults, which cover the ages 15-24 years old (CDC, 2011). Even though this age range only represents 25% of those who are sexually experienced in the United States, they make up an astonishing number of STI cases, which shows how high the prevalence is of STIs in this population (CDC, 2011). In just sexually active female adolescents alone, there are one in four diagnosed with an STI (CDC, 2014).

Not only is the curriculum centered around teaching teens how to be morally right and healthy adults, but abstinence is the only way to protect adolescents from contracting an STD. Comprehensive programs teach adolescents how to have sex by explaining why condoms are necessary and how to use them, but this teaching tool is wrong because there is always a risk of catching an STD when engaging in sex. There is not one condom out there that is a hundred percent accurate at stopping the spread of an STD, but they also offer little protection from herpes and human papillomavirus (Heritage). Therefore, it should not be taught as an option to teens who already have a mentality that they are invisible. STD numbers are drastically increasing in the

Author Louise L. Hay once stated, “no person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for 'we ' are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace, harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives”. If we could all uphold these words of wisdom, it sure would make dealing with aggressive people in our world a lot easier. As we are all aware of, teenagers can be very egocentristic and feel the whole world is either against them or watching their every move. Female adolescents can especially have these feelings and are far more hurt by words than actions. In a recent survey done by the Journal of School Health, it indicated that between 10% and 17% of middle and high school adolescents report some form of maltreatment by their peers (Eisenberg et al., 2003), and 23% of female victims report being intimidated by other girls (Fekkes et al., 2005). These statistics are likely to be higher, due to the fact that most victims are reluctant to speak out and against indirect aggression.

More than a million adolescents are affected by sexually transmitted diseases—yet unsafe sex is on the rise. Over half of adolescents in China, Estonia, Kenya, Korea, Norway, and Thailand claim to have had unprotected sex with a new partner at least once, while in Australia, Chile,

Many societies, including in Malaysia, disapprove of premarital sex. As a result, young people have limited or no access to education and information on reproductive sexual health care. Modern contraceptive use among adolescents is generally low, and decreases with economic status. Fewer than 5% of the poorest young use modern contraception. Young women consistently report less contraceptive usage than men, evidence of their unequal power in negotiating safer sex or restrictions on their access to services (such as lack of information, shame, laws, health provider attitudes and practices, or social