In the United States more than 40% of women become pregnant before they are twenty years old, and 50% of teenage pregnancies occur within the first six months of their initial intercourse experience (Dangal, 2006). Certain behaviors teenagers display act as predictors to early sexual activity: early dating, alcohol use, dropping out of school, lack of family and community support and relationships, a victim of sexual abuse, and having a mother who was nineteen years old or younger when she birthed her first child (Dangal).…
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the average teenager engages in sexual intercourse by the age of seventeen, but do not marry until the mid-twenties (citation). This means that young adults are at an increased risk for unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections for nearly ten years or longer. The numbers of students engaging in sexual activity of ages thirteen to twenty-four continues to grow each year, as does the number of unplanned pregnancies and HIV infections due to not being fully educated about the risks. Today, the duty of educating students and teenagers about sexual intercourse and the risks involved is left to the government and public school system. Abstinence education programs in public…
Teens did not know their own bodies. There were little factual resources that teenagers can depend. Few choices left for them, teenagers were guided along high risk actions. Abstinence was the approved option by parents, as it teaches teens to not be sexually active but not on protection or STDS. Another path is exploration on their own means. Exploration was dangerous, because teenagers were unaware of the consequences. Both options plunged teens’ health into a abyss. Then around 1980s, media started to reach towards the topic of sexual activity in teenagers. Many teen movies brushed against the topic about sexual activity and gave more positive responses than usual. Now, there is a rapid increase in sexual activity amongst teens. Due to this rise of sexually active teens, sexual health programs in high schools need to be updated to accommodate this change. High schools need to avoid only abstinence learning and implemented new programs for…
The increase of teenage pregnancy has placed a burden upon the argument for non-abstinent-only education. As indicated by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, every year an estimated 850,000 teenagers become pregnant. These statistics also conclude that more than one-third of girls will become pregnant before the age of twenty, and that 78 percent of these pregnancies are unintended. Comprehensive sex education helps delay sexual intercourse between teens by offering them the tools they need to avoid unintended pregnancy.(Berne 91) “Research done by Douglas Kirby for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy shows that programs that provide teenagers with comprehensive sex education that includes a discussion of…
In the United States, teenage pregnancy has become a common occurrence with three out of ten girls getting pregnant before the age of twenty (Dooley, 2010). Most young teenagers feel as if conception will never come from their scandalous deeds but, in fact, it happens more often than what we think. What is causing teenagers to experiment in consensual sexual activity at such a young age? A sample survey was given to eighth graders in New York community both sexual active and those who abstained. Researchers found that these teenagers engaged in sexual activity due to having used marijuana and being drunk (Little and Rankin, 2001). Another finding is teenagers think consensual sex is a “social craze;” for instance, boys initiate sex to become popular and/or raise their social status and girls have sex to “attain approval” (Little and Rankin, 2001). The survey brings to light that sex education is not the only thing necessary to combat teen pregnancy, but also alcohol and drug abuse education.…
The problem addressed within the article is teenage pregnancy. Recent statistics has shown a decline in birth rates of teenagers of all ages. The decline is due to the effects of program interventions in a school-based teen pregnancy program which changes teen’s attitudes towards sexuality. The decline has been pronounced for all racial and ethnic groups with Black teenagers with the most dramatic decline. Also, the decline in teen birth rates justifies the continued local and national efforts to reduce risky sexual behaviors of teenagers. The current rate in the United States remains higher than that for any other industrialized country. The authors concluded that the reason for the higher rates of teenage pregnancy in the U.S. is due to the infrequent use of contraceptive methods. The importance to educate those on ways to prevent teenage pregnancy has become vital to the decline (Thomas & Dimitrov, 2007).…
Teenage parenthood is by no means a new social phenomenon. Historically, women have tended to childbearing during their teens and early twenties. During the past two decades the United States teenage birthrate has actually declined (Polit,et al., 1982). Of the 29 million young people between the ages 12 and 18, approximately 12 million have had sexual intercourse (Guttmacher Institute,…
What with internet, access and television young children and teenagers are exposed to many different things one of them is sex. This sparks curiosity, which leads to them going to go research it to find out more. The answers they find will add to their curiosity, which then leads to them wanting to experience sex. Many young teenagers are having unprotected sex. According to Laura Meckler, twenty-five percent of parents, and forty percent of teens are uncomfortable with talking about sex (Meckler, Teen Birth Rates Decline). This then leads to unwanted pregnancies and STDs. Girls don’t want to speak to their parents because they feel uncomfortable about the topic and do not want them to know about their sex life because they feel their parents would try and stop them because they don’t believe it is right for a young girl to be having sex but it is their decision and they have the right to it. If a girl wants access to birth control it is her decision and if she doesn’t want her parents to know it’s a private matter. Teenagers should be allowed to make their own decisions and if they make a mistake, they must learn from…
Sexual behavior and activity has become more predominate within the community of young people. There are many reasons or explanations to why this is so, but where does the solution come to perspective. The influence of engaging in sexual behavior is widely spread though media and music. This particular prepared paper will educate adolescents on the theoretical and practical ethics of sexual behaviors. Adolescents and teens need to have more education on sexual behavior and consequences that follows it. The question is should sexual behavior in teens be promoted because there are Consequences that follow such as pregnancy and STD's and Influences on sexual behavior in movies, music, and peer pressure . The proposed questions are, is it ok for adolescents to engage in sexual activities utilizing the proper protection? What are the consequences of participating in unprotected sex? Should sexual activity between young people be encouraged? These are a view questions that will be taken into consideration within the discussion of our paper.…
Graham A (2002) cites that conception rate in girls aged between 13 and 16 is about 1 percent and approximately a half of the pregnancies are terminated. The scholar further presents that in overall 1/3 of all teenage pregnancies are terminated. There is overwhelming evidence from research conducted pointing to the need to administer contraception methods of teenagers. Recent studies have indicted that 18.7 percent teenage woman as well as 27.6 percent of teenage men had sexual intercourse before reaching the…
Sex, or the lack there of, will always be a topic among teens. Teens date, and teens have relationships. Most of these relationships will inevitably come to a point where one must chose whether to seize the moment and have sex with their partner, or they will set standards ahead of time saying they will not have sex until marriage. Every teen is either on one side of the fence or the other; they either will have premarital sex, or they will abstain. These two stances shed light on why sex is out of control today, what the world thinks about sex, and what religion says about sexual immorality. The facts are evident: teens have sex. It seems almost impossible to calculate the number of teens who are actually having premarital sex, because, of course, they don't wish to confess. Some teens though, have no choice but to confess because their actions lead to severe consequences such as pregnancy. Forty-three Percent of adolescent women become pregnant at least once before age 20 (Internet 1). That fact alone concludes that the choice of waiting for sex is in close running with the choice of not waiting. In the United States alone, more than 2,800 adolescents become pregnant each day. 1,300 of these girls give birth, 1,100 have abortions, and 400 have miscarriages (Internet 1). These astounding facts prove that sex may be considered out of control among teens today. In the olden days, around the Victorian period, sex was far from the topic that it is today. Also, during this time premarital sex was unthinkable. What happened between then and now that caused such an uproar? The world says that sex has become out of control because it was hushed for so long. But, for the last 20 years, sex has most defiantly not been hushed. If hushing up had been the cause of the trouble, ventilation would have set it right. But it has not (Lewis 92). As the world talks more and more about sex, and as the consequences of pregnancy Page 1 decrease through birth control methods, the issue…
In this generation, teenagers are constantly exposed to sexual content by modern media which can influence adolescence. Things like music, films, social media, religion, family background and social life/friends can leave an impact on teenagers and their choices. At the age of sixteen (the legal age for consent), the brain has not yet been developed to understand the consequences of their actions. The Advocates for Youth community put together statistics coming from different sources explaining the topic. They found that “Six percent of all U.S. high school students had sexual intercourse before age 13”. “Thirty-nine percent of all sexually active U.S. high school students did not use a condom at last intercourse”. These statistics all link up to the legal age of sexual activity in Australia which is…
An analysis provided by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, shows that almost 80 percent of high school students have experimented with alcohol and more than half used drugs. This analysis also shows a dramatic increase of 15-year-olds practicing sex. A survey conducted in 1970 reveals that less than 5 percent of 15-year-old girls and in 1972, 20 percent of 15-year-old boys, had practiced sex. CASA's analysis reveals that in 1997, 38 percent of 15-year-old girls and 45 percent of 15-year-old boys practice sex. Among the analysis findings 63 percent of teen who used alcohol have practiced sex compared to 26 percent of those who never drank. Among teens that consume drugs, 72 percent practiced sex to 36 percent who have never used drugs.…
When somebody hears the title I Am Legend they normally think of the movie starring Will Smith. What some people don't know is there is actually a book associated with the movie. Both the movie and book are about a virus that spread through the city and killed off the only people that didn't turn into what they called “the infected”. The protagonist of the story, Robert Neville, lives his life as one of the only survivors left. Although there are many imilarities the book and the movie also have many differences.…
School routinely made us listen to teachers and speakers tell us why sex was a bad thing. Now, if you're a Christian proponent of the "no premarital sex" stance, I've probably just triggered you to say, "We don't think that sex is bad! We think that it's beautiful; that's why we want to save it until marriage."Sadly, this argument is purely subjective. There is no more objective beauty in sex. Furthermore, if something is beautiful, why restrain it? If sex is so beautiful, why not encourage people to practice it for enjoyment, as long as they do so safely and with someone they trust? Why such enormous restrictions on it (the Catholic doesn't even let married couples have sex for purposes other than procreation!)? Sex isn't inherently special. I’m sure that I've offended probably quite a few of you out there with that statement. I'm sorry, but there's something that you must realize: Sex is entirely relative. It's special when you make it special, and only then. If you think sex is special and that it should be saved for marriage, you're rig. It is simply an action that has no inherent moral implications. Since the humanist moral code is completely unencumbered with issues like one's "closeness to God," it includes no such prohibitions against physical pleasure. If two adults willfully consent to have sex, whose rights are being violated? Who are they hurting? Themselves, by risking STD transmission? This is a risk they've acknowledged, accepted and, hopefully, minimized, by using protection. My point is that sex is not a moral choice.…