Close Friends In African Adolescent Behavior: Article Analysis

Traditionally, young men and women preferred friends of their own sex and engaged in sex-specific activities with them. Male friendships centered on shared activities such as sports, cars, and contests (sometimes fighting with words, not weapons). Women’s friendships were more intimate and emotional, involving self-disclosing talk about health, romances, and relatives (p.437)

When two teens value similar things and are able to bond over things, the teens are more likely to have a better relationship, Finding friends that teens like and share similar values with is not easy too. This is the stage where teens start to figure out what they want and who they want to have a relationship with, which is why teens spend a lot of time handling relationships. Another reason why teens spend most of their time learning how to handle relationships is because all teens are at least a little racist. In the movie “Remember the Titans.” Gerry’s girlfriend Emma says “look at them Gerry, They hate us’ (Emma is referring to the black people and in that scene when Emma says that the white people are screaming and being violent). Emma says that the black people do not like the white people, but the black people never said that. Emma is the one who actually does not like the black people, but she does not say that because she does not want to look like the villain in the situation. It is the white people who were being violent and making a lot of noise in front of T.C Williams’ high

Without friends life is lonely and isolated. Friends are important to share enjoyable activities with, companions with whom to share worries, people to rescue you in difficulty and to be comforted at times of stress. Additionally friendships have enormous developmental implications (Murray 2009). It helps the socialising process. Also, it promotes the natural move towards “greater independence” in adolescence (Murray 2009). It does this because when you depend on someone for so long you start to branch off on our own and stop depending on others like you used to. Adolescent friendships also provide a connection to others who are at the same stage (Murray 2009).

Cultural dating techniques and sexual practices among youth has changed drastically over the decades. From a postmodernist perspective, this is largely due to society, the morals, values and lessons that are taught in our social institutions. Dating practices have become less formal which is now considered the new norm, “we have moved into a “late-modern society” that is increasing anomic (or less normed) in certain respects” (Cote & Allahar, 2006, p. 28). There is no more ‘traditional roles’ of dating or even clear guidelines. How girls are supposed to behave is constantly changing and reinforced by various authority figures, society and our educational institutions. Dating and sexual practices have gone from the relationship first then, sexual activity, to sexual activity and then commitment. Media and society are now telling females to explore their sexuality before settling down except continue to look down upon the females who do so. Males continue to be taught to have multiple sexual partners and look for a female partner whom has only had very few sexual partners if any. Not only has institutions and other influences taken away the standards from dating, they are sending mixed messages. Encouraging females to have the best of the

Many of my friends in high school came from single parent fatherless homes like mine. A lot of us, especially my female friends, were looking for a filler of the void our father’s left in us. I found mine at the age of fifteen in a twenty year old named Jay. My mother never spoke to me about the dangers of unprotected sex. Most of what I learned about sex was taught through cable television and my friends. This was a dangerous way to learn about something as important as sex. There have been several studies that have indicated that living with only one parent, especially fatherless homes, is an indicator of early sexual behavior in adolescent African American females (Hogan and Kitagawa, 1985). From a daughter’s point

Friendship means different things to different people in different cultures. Friendship is also different from other kinds of relationship such as love, family and professional. The influential power on people’s behaviour, style, ideas and life is dominant and remarkable and therefore worthwhile for scientific investigation. This essay will compare and contrast the academic research of three dominant and pioneer scientists on the development psychology discipline and especially in the field of children’s expectations and children’s understanding of friendship. It will

Akers, Borrero, Corbie-Smith, and Schwarz (2010) discussed the results of a study completed on African American family discussions with their adolescent children regarding family planning and contraception. The authors found this study important due to the extremely high rates of pregnancy in black adolescents, and suggests one of the solutions to this issue would be the communication between the parents are the children (Akers, Borrero, Corbie-Smith, & Schwarz, 2010).

This article is highly relevant to class discussion in terms of solving the teen pregnancy/sexual risk behavior epidemic within the African American community. As discussed in class, teen pregnancy is one of the chronic social issues of the African American society. The article gives statistical information in regards to narrowing down some specific reasons why this epidemic is occurring.

Young people have to work through a broad range of issues as they move from childhood to adulthood. They may have to deal with changes to their bodies and their feelings and they may be thinking about having their first relationship or having sex. Young people may also be exploring their identities in terms of their sexuality or gender identity. They may want more independence from their families, and their friends may play a more important part in their lives. Some may also want to experiment with alcohol and other drugs. Although growing up can be an exciting time, it can also be confusing and challenging. Research shows confident young people who feel supported by their families and friends are more likely to safely negotiate issues like

Balaji, A. B., Oster, A. M., Viall, A. H., Heffelfinger, J. D., Mena, L. A., & Toledo, C. A. (2012). Role flexing: How community, religion, and family shape the experiences of young black men who have sex with men. AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 26(12), 73-737.

Differences in childhoods can impact individual’s communication with each other in relationships. At a young age, children tend to play with other children that seem to be of the same gender as them. Both groups of genders have different ways of building a friendship. Tannen says that, “Little girls create and maintain friendships by exchanging secrets” (276). It is important to girls to share secretive things to get closer to one another and to get a mutual understanding. Unlike boys whose bonds are, “based less on talking, more on doing things together” (Tannen 276). Boys do not talk a lot unless the need to prove something. While girls are comfortable about talking about their feelings, boys feel uncomfortable because it is not something they discuss much.

Children used to actually talk to their real life friends. For today’s teenagers and preteens, the give and take of friendship seems to be conducted increasingly in the abbreviated snatches of cell phones texts, or through social networking sites like Face book. The question on researcher’s minds is whether the quality of their interactions is being diminished without the intimacy and emotional give and take of regular, extended face-to face time. The ease of electronic communication may be making teens less interested in face-to-face conversations, which lead to bad consequences. People who study relationships believe that good friendships that we develop as a child show us how to have healthy and lasting adult relationships. (4)

Relationships formed by two ethnicities can create a union between different cultures such as Asian, Hispanic, African American, American, and many others. One factor that comes from these relationships is children. Adolescents, whether they are involved in or are the product of mixed race couples, are negatively affected by interracial relationships. In result of these relationships, those adolescents face social, emotional, and cultural issues. Those issues include receiving social backlash from those around them, experiencing an identity crisis, and receiving neglect from their families.

Friends with benefits relationships are relatively new, but an increasingly popular phenomenon in our society. Defining this type of relationship can be complicated as there is no unique definition. For the most part, friends with benefits relationships adds a sexual component into a pre-existing friendship. However, every person has their own views about how they would define this kind of engagement. Despite the absence of a clear definition, friends with benefits is a controversial issue that often sparks strong emotions. There are so many factors that can dictate how these relationships start and end. The label “friends with benefits” is a commonly used label by the younger generation and it has become popular among older folks nowadays. So, shouldn’t any friendship have its own benefits? However, the phrase is used in a different context, one more convenient and less conventional. Again, it’s when either two friends or acquaintances, and in some cases past lovers, agree to variations of an open relationship. Both people are not necessarily in a committed relationship but they may practice things a relationships consists of like having casual sex and going on dates. With this, it is less likely for emotional bonds to form that a more romantic and consistent relationship would induce. Adolescents who especially engage in this type of relationship find this to be a good opportunity for sexual experimentation. Friends with benefits allows those who are unsure of commitment

At the non-profit organization known as RAND Corporation researchers performed three surveys on about 2,000 teens between the ages of 12 to 17 from 2001 to 2004. The results were published in the November edition of the journal Paediatrics, in the publication they focused on 700 participants nationwide who had engaged in sexual intercourse by the third survey. (Landau E, 2008, November 03) The researchers determined that even with the other related factors such as demographics and risk-taking behaviours put into play the connection between television sexual content and teen pregnancy still remained. (Landau E, 2008, November 03) In another survey published in Paediatrics more than 1,000 public middle school students in North Carolina were surveyed at the ages of 12-14 years old and were surveyed again two years later at the ages of 14-16 years old. They measured the students exposure to sexual content in television, movies, music and magazines and were divided into five equal-sized groups ranging from the lowest exposure to the highest exposure. The research showed that white teenagers even after taking into account other factors known to reduce the likelihood of teen sex, like parental disapproval of sex at that age and getting good grades, still increased. In fact each increase in grouping of sexual media exposure increased the likelihood of them being involved in teen sex by