The Potential Link Between Teen 's Sexual Behavior And Peers

Create a brief report to explain the issues affecting young people in relation to sexual health and risk of pregnancy, including peer pressure, consensual relationships, and readiness for sexual activity, contraception, sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy options, including how age, maturity, ethnicity,

In the last decade or so, however, the growing awareness of the dangers of AIDS does appear to have contributed to a decline in the rates of sexual intercourse among teens. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that between 1991 and 2005 the percentage of teenagers who are sexually active dropped from 57.4 percent to 46.3 percent among males and from 50.8 percent to 44.9 percent among females. The rates of pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted disease among teens have actually dropped even faster than the rate of sexual activity. So it appears that, in addition to postponing sex, teens are also becoming more responsible in their sexual activities. For example, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 87.5 percent of teens were either abstinent or used condoms. Of course, that means that 12.5 percent of teens were still having unprotected sex, but that is a significant improvement over past decades. Similarly, although the rate of teen pregnancy has declined, more than 11 percent of the babies born in the United States

Sexuality and sex in America is a complicated subject in that there is little consensus on the topic of sex in, and the American media sends many mixed messages regarding sex and sexuality to everyone, not just to adolescents. Americans are aware of sex primarily through advertising (print media, commercials, etc.) as sex is used to sell anything and everything. The media also bombards Americans with sexuality and sex on television and in films. The sexuality of teenagers is not a straightforward issue in America either. Many parents do not discuss sex or sexuality with their children. There have been ongoing debates as to whether sexuality should be taught as part of school curricula because there are such a great deal of adolescents participating in reckless and/or dangerous sexual behaviors, largely because they are grossly uneducated about sex. The paper will reference the film Juno and other texts as a meditation on the relationship between adolescent sexuality and the media.

This age group is generally in an age of exploration of self-identity and fulfillment, instability, and optimism of the future (Munsey, 2006). This is also the time when most people complete their undergraduate degree, and many studies on emerging adults can be applied to college students. An individual age 12-18 is generally defined as an adolescent. For the purposes of this literature review, young adults will be defined as those ages 13-25. In a little over a decade, the choices made will influence the individual for the rest of their lives, and is often referred to as the crucial years for this reason. During these years, the brain is particularly impressionable, making sexual media a concern for

Metzler, Carol W. “The Social Context for Risky Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents.” Journal of Behavior

The first risk factor is contextual factor, such as socioeconomic status and poverty, family and peer factors. The study showed that the percentage of sexually active young adolescents is higher in low-income areas of inner cities (Morrison-Beedy & others, 2013). A recent study revealed that neighborhood poverty concentrations predicted 15- to 17-year-old girls’ and boys’ sexual initiation (Cubbin & others, 2010). Children from low-income families are more likely to fall into the bad habits because they are lack of discipline from parents who are busy making a live. The second one is family factors. The family connectedness and parent-adolescent communication about sexuality can predict the sexual outcome. A study shows that sexual risk-taking behavior was more likely to occur in girls living in single-parent homes (Hipwell & others, 2011).

Adolescence is a time in a person’s life for them to discover and grow with who they are; during this time, learning about sex and sexuality are major topics for the adolescents, as well as their parents, to confabulate and embrace who they are. Adolescents should discover their sexual preference and further their education about themselves, along with their parents. If adolescents are not taught about sexuality and being sexually active, it can lead to either good consequences or bad consequences, it depends on the individual. They need to be taught about the risks and benefits about being sexually active, and how to emotionally and physically handle it.

These students are from the graduating classes of 1950, 1975, and 2000. In detail, the participants are eighty-three students, “…from the class of 1950 (48 female, 35 males, 92 from the class of 1975 (54 females, 38 males), and 67 from the class of 2000 (40 females, 27 males)” (Caron & Moskey, 2002, p. 517). The instrument that the authors used to conduct the study was a 26-question survey, “…designed by Jany Rademakers from the Netherlands Institute for Social Sexological Research” (Caron & Moskey, 2002, p. 517). The survey was sent out and the response was completely anonymous and voluntary. In the survey, “Respondents were asked to reflect on their sexual attitudes and experiences while in high school…16 questions asked about sexual attitudes and beliefs, while 8 questions asked about sexual experiences while in high school” (Caron & Moskey, 2002, p. 517). Additionally, “To test for significant differences, chi-square analysis was performed as a function of time (1950 versus 1975 versus 2000)” (Caron & Moskey, 2002, p.

Today’s society is corrupted with misrepresentations of how an intimate relationship should appear. Media often portrays intercourse as something to be taken lightly and that negative consequences are a rare occurrence. What is the effect of the misrepresentation of sex in the media on teenage sexuality? Christina Grant (2003) provides a careful evaluation of this question in “Teens, Sex and the Media: Is there a Connection?” leaning slightly towards the argument that sex in the media has a negative impact on adolescents. In “Teenage Sex and the Media,” Victor Strasburger (2012) adopts an assertive approach to this question, explaining why he believes that media should change the way it presents sexuality. Although both authors are credible, Grant writes for a set audience of potential researchers whereas Strasburger’s audience consists of parents, educators and adolescents. The reader is made aware of the intended audience through the differing format and language used by the authors. While Strasburger targets a wider audience, he is closed-minded in comparison to Grant, who leaves room for interpretation of arguments.

In today’s society, teenagers are becoming sexually active at an earlier age. Consequently, sixty-six percent of American high school students have reported partaking in this activity by their senior year – sex (Masland) (SC#8). Because of this promiscuous behavior among teens, there have been alarming rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and even unintentional pregnancies (Masland) (BE#3). In the United States, high schools usually decide whether or not to implement sexual education as a course (Sexuality) (BE#9). While schools may encourage abstinence of sex until marriage, most teenagers will need to know safe sexual practices before they are married. If the teenager is not informed on how to keep themselves and their partner safe during sex, major consequences could ensue. If high schools required a course about sexual education, teenagers would know the implications and consequences of engaging in unsafe

The media thereby had affecting the lives of many and especially in the lives of adolescents, often to the erroneous instruction that they have at home about sexuality, “Children quickly pick up on parental attitudes that reflect discomfort with the topic. They can easily get the message that

There is a great debate on whether or not mass media has an influence on teenage pregnancy. A study done by the RAND Corporation shows that teens are twice as likely to have sex or engage in sexual acts if they see similar sexual behavior in the media. Many objects in the media that involve sex target teens. Reality TV shows and teen dramas often portray the "cool kids" as the ones who are having sex (Chandra).Today’s teens are highly influenced by what they see in the media and this can change their behavior and choices. Some will argue that the media doesn’t influence teenagers, but how can we be sure of that? Today, the media portray teen pregnancy in movies, television shows, magazines, music, news reports, and books. The problems

Conjointly, teen magazines have gained much popularity amongst youngsters by providing them with a plethora of information about romantic relationships, fashion trends, friendships and sex-related topics (Joshi, 2012). Explicit details on sexual activities and the losing of virginity were often discussed in such magazines (Kopacz, 2006). An analysis of the top four teen magazines has established that dating and sex were prominent features of the articles published (Kaiser Family Foundation cited in Johnson, 2015). For example, sexual wanting occurred in magazines like Seventeen, CosmoGirl!, United States Edition and Teen and encouraged girls to look more sexually attractive for boys (Joshi, 2012). On the other hand, male youths were found to be actively looking for sexual contents from magazines like Playgirl or Playboy, Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness which subsequently had an increased influence on their romantic and pre-coital sexual behaviours (Bleakley et al. 2011). Thus, adolescents’

Health is a significant characteristic of human right that individuals require to handle with caution. Exactly how healthy individuals are trained and know the effect of behaviors, which can jeopardies, the health of an individual, create less pressure and easy work for their caregiver to deal with and aids in the health promotion. Current studies illustrate the individual’s well-being is significantly affected by the parents, families and friends practices. For example, a juvenile can be exposed or engaging in sex at the early stage of life, through his/her parents, friends, or colleagues without knowing the consequence of the health

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