SEXUALITY and TEENS

Adolescence is a time to establish your identity, a time to discover your true self.

An adolescent's sexuality begins to play a big role in their search for themselves. Teens start thinking about sex, and some begin having sex. A small number of teens begin to realize that they have an attraction for the same sex instead of the opposite sex like most people, or they may be attracted to both sexes. Regardless of the feelings or physical sensations, a teen's growing awareness of sexuality has a large impact on one's identitiy.

For most teens today, deciding whether to have sex or not is a big step. There are peer pressures to having sex and concerns about fitting into the crowd. Most adolescents believe that their peers are sexually active.

The median age for the first time of intercourse varies by sex and race. For all races combined it was 16.5 years for females and 16.4 years for males.The Allan Guttmacher Institution and the National Youth Risk Behavior (YRBS) took a survey of high school students in 1995 and 1997.

If an adolescent does decide to have sex ,there are consequences that need to be taken into consideration. Unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are the major concerns.

Although the teen birth rate is declining in the U.S. (19% over the last two decades), the U.S. still has the highest teen birth rate of any other industrialized country, two times more than England, Wales, or Canada and nine times more than Japan and the Netherlands. 

One million U.S. teens become pregnant each year, 1 out of every 9 are between the ages of 15-19 but 6 out of every 10 are either 18 or 19 years old. 1/4 of these teen mothers end up having a second child within 2 years. 78% of these pregnancies are unplanned which becomes heavy burden on the "to be" mother. She has to make the decision of whether to keep the baby, abort it, or have it and give it up for adoption. This can be an extremely stressful and painful decision. Pregnancy in adolescence is known to increase the health risks of both mother and child. The child is more likely to have a low birhweight, which is the prominent cause of infant mortality, as well as neurological problems and childhood illness. The adolescent mother often drops out of school to take care of the baby and fails to gain employment, therefore she becomes dependent on welfare. Many do resume their education when the child gets older but they will never catch up to the women who have postponed childbearing.

Sexually transmitted disease (STD) are another big concern when it comes to deciding whether to have sex or not. An American teen contracts an STD every 10 seconds equivalent to 3 million teens a year (1 out of every 4). Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are the most common STDs amoung teens. 1/4 of all new HIV cases each year are found in teens 13-21 years of age. Contracting an STD can turn your whole world upside down. Many STDs, such as HIV and Hepatitis B are incurable, the ones that are curable, if not treated quickly can have extremely terrible results such as infertility or may even possibly be fatal. If one has made the decision to have sex, safe sex MUST always be practiced.

An adolescent's sexual peference plays a great deal in finding their identity and fitting in with peers. Homosexuality refers to sexual orientation in which one develops sexual interest in those of the same sex. Heterosexuality refers to sexual orientation in which one develops sexual interest in those of the opposite sex. Bisexuality refers to sexual orientation in which one develops sexual interest in those of both sexes. There really is no concrete evidence as to why one chooses to go a certain route with their sexual peference but there have been theories about it. At one point they said that it was genetic but they scratched that out because no evidence could be found. Between the ages of 14-16 most males acknowledge their homosexuality, 16-19 years is when most females do. It's hard to live in a society of predominant heterosexuals who have a hard time excepting homosexuality. 45% of gay males and 20% of lesbians have experienced severe verbal or physical assult in secondary schools. This can lead to severe depression and are 2-3 times more likely to commit suicide. 80% of homosexual and bisexual youth report severe isolation problems. Many parents are not very supportive and reject their child's sexual orientation, 26% are forced to leave home. 1/2 of the homosexual/bisexual males who are forced to leave home engage in prostitution to support themselves which increases HIV infections.

The world needs to open their eyes and accept homosexualiy/bisexuality as a part of life and should not treat those individuals any differently.

The National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth

The years of adolescence are difficult dealing with puberty, sexuality, fitting in with friends, school, and finding out who you really are. Making the tough decisions we make in adolescence helps us to develop into the adults we become. If you'd like more information about teen sexuality there are some great sights on the web. One is:

TeenWire - Find answers to questions about teenage sexualtiy and more

References:
Santrock, John W. (1999). Life Span Development
www.ppam.org/facts/teensex.993html
Rice, F. Phillip. (1990). The Adolescent

 

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