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Why sexual education is important for teens
Impact of media on teenagers
The impact of media on teenagers
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Adolescents will take every opportunity to have sexual intercourse with a boyfriend or girlfriend at any time of the day. If whether it is on school grounds, a hidden spot somewhere, or even a moment when the parents aren’t home during the day. There are consequences within the adolescents’ future who are involved with numerous “hook ups”. In these past years there has been increasing attention on “hook ups” or “friends with benefits” among adolescents and young adults (Williams & Russel, 2013). There is pressure and strong influence from the social aspect as the different kinds of media. If adolescents continue to have casual sex with different people, they won’t ever know what is it like to have a healthy committed relationship. People want security, connection, respect, and comfort from their significant other and that won’t ever be satisfied by a person you “hooked up” with. Girls and boys have different perspectives when …show more content…
Media gives a false accusation of what is it like when involved in casual sex with a friend or a random person. On television according to research, the media mostly shows sexual attitudes and sexual behaviors (Bersamin et al., 2010). Movies such as “No Strings Attached or “Friends with benefits” shows having a casual sex relationship works out in the end where couple falls in love and have a committed relationship. However, in reality that is completely not true. It most likely ends in having STDS, teen pregnancy, or one of them got their heart broken because they got too emotionally attached in the relationship. Research has shown that teenagers are listening to messages that is not realistic from the media about sex (Bersamin et al., 2010). Adolescents are getting this false idea about sex that is just fun, most likely can end in a great committed loving relationship, and it has no consequences along with
Communication: A Series of National Surveys of Teens about Sex. Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser
The process of hooking up does not lend itself well to a city setting where people cannot walk to their destinations. Also, females begin to stress the importance of building connections with their male partners before any sexual interactions occur. This is due to the lack of network connections outside of a college setting. It is harder to determine a person’s background and personality when a one does not live in such a small community anymore. The only similarity between undergraduates and alumni is that the double standard between men and women still exist. The social norm for men is to have had multiple sexual partners; whereas, women are expected to have had a small number of sexual partners. In Bogel’s study, males mentioned that they would never be interested in a female that was as sexually active as a male (Bogel 2008). Beth Montemurro explains, “American media have presented conflicting images of girls and women, images that paint them as either innocent or promiscuous, resulting ‘schizophrenic [ideas] about women’s sexuality” (2006:152). With this confusing representation of women’s sexuality, women do not truly understand what they should consider deviant behaviors. Women only know they have been deviant when a male labels them as being too promiscuous, while they are being just as sexually
As stated in the book, “college students have much to teach about sex” (8). That is because the values, ideologies, and worldviews of the students are representative of greater American culture. Although flawed, hookup culture on American campuses hold the possibility of accepting a culture of inclusivity, care, pleasure, and freedom while also rejecting predatory behavior, racism, classism, and abuse. Dismissing hookup culture all together is blind to the reality that young adults are going to have sex, and since sex is non-negotiable, one’s aim should be to foster open dialogue and critical thought onto a future where everyone enjoys the ability to freely explore sexuality, sex, and gender on their own
In reaction to the media’s numerous stigmas around college hookup culture in recent years, sociologists and psychologists have begun to investigate adolescent and young adult hookups more systematically. In “Is Hooking Up Bad for Young Women?” by Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Laura Hamilton and Paula England, this issue is addressed through a reaction to previous articles from sources on opposite sides. One side of the argument over sexual activity for young women places them at risk of “low self esteem, depression, alcoholism, and eating disorders,” while the other side argues that the underlying issue is the “moral panic over casual sex.” This issue has been seen by many as a “sudden and alarming change in youth sexual culture,” but systematic research has shown that experiences of young women in college
The “talk” about sex has never been a topic many like to discuss with tweens or teens, but it has to be addressed sometime during their lifetimes. Sex is a natural experience that is used for reproduction and the building of an emotional connection. However, many teens engage in pre-marital sex and have no knowledge about protecting themselves. Sex education teaches about human sexuality and how abstinence should be practiced to prevent sexual transmitted diseases (STDs) and unplanned pregnancies. Yet, sex education classes are mostly for those in college. Sex education is not meant to encourage sex, but hopefully steer students into having safe sex or no sex at all. Becoming aware about the consequences of having sex among the tween and teen community needs to be established and understood. If parents have a hard time giving the “talk” about sex, then the subject should be discussed with a trained individual instead of being avoided. Without knowledge teens will explore things without caution. Sources indicate that the argument to allow sex education within public schools, such as middle or high schools, is whether the benefits of learning about sex at an early age will outweigh the risks of experiencing sex without advanced knowledge.
For generations sex has been a part of our culture. It used to be that sex was a sacred thing reserved for marriage. It still is; however, it is a much less of a common find today, especially among teens and younger adults. This is a problem physically, mentally and emotionally. ‘Hooking up’ ‘one-night stand’ ‘sex with no strings attached’ is the act of having sexual relations that are supposed to mean nothing and are a ‘one time’ thing. Or as it was described in “Hookups and Sexual Regret Among College Women.” “a sexual encounter, usually lasting only one night, between two people who are strangers or brief acquaintances” (Eshbaugh) Yet the hookup culture is swiftly destroying our generation’s view on love, happiness, love, and relationships. Our generation is being left unprepared, unhappy, and unloved as the hookup culture consumes us; making our world a darker and emptier place.
Hookups are part of a popular cultural shift that has infiltrated the lives of emerging adults throughout the Westernized world. Marla, Katherine, and Carolyn point out the negative consequences surrounding hookup culture that can affect people who involve in sexual intercourse such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unintended pregnancies (Marla, Katherine, and Carolyn 128). According to Garcia, Reiber, Massey, and Merriwether’s qualitative research “Most 71 college students (39 women and 32 men reported that nearly half of participants were unconcerned about contracting STDs from intercourse during a hookup” (Garcia, Reiber, Massey, and Merriwether 168). In addition to sexual risk-taking, in terms of low condom use, another issue of concern involving hookups is the high comorbidity with substance use and alcohol use has also been associated with a type of hookup. Sometimes it was consumed to facilitate hooking up, and other times given as a reason why hookups went further than expected or wanted. The researchers say alcohol and drug use can drastically increase the risks associated with
The American society is highly sexualized; however engaging in hooking up is still criticized (Allison & Risman, 2013). Double standards related to hooking up among college males and females still exist (Stinson, 2012). There are several factors which play a role in the different attitude patterns as it pertains to college student’s engagement in hooking up. These factors range from how one defines hooking up, to the social contexts one experience, and the gender of college students.
Watching television programs with a high level of sexual content can shape the patterns of sexual behavior of a teenager. According to Brown (Brown, Greenberg, & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1993) many teenagers are not able to receive useful information about sex from their parents, this is the reason they usually use the alternative way to find this information through the media. A Kaiser Family research from 1996 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1996; 1998) shows that a quarter of all the young people have told that they have learned a lot about pregnancy from television shows and 40 percent of them have gotten ideas how to talk about sexual issues. In these modern times media is holding the power to influence the audience and most of all the youngest audience which is developing their view about sex.
Research Questions and/or Hypotheses The research question and basis of the study can be summarized as whether or not the exposure to sexual concepts through the media have significant influences on the sexual practices of teenagers. Similarly, it is proposed that, if proven to be accurate, media can be used in similar formats to encourage safe sex and preventative sexual health practices. The use of focus groups, journal writings, room tours, and interviews allowed teens the opportunity to discuss sexuality which was operationalized as teen views on love, sex, and relationships. Steele, 1999, p. 334.
Paul, E. L., & Hayes, K. A. (2002). The casualties of “casual” sex: A qualitative exploration of the phenomenology of college students’ hookups. Journal of personal and Social Relationships, 19, 639-661.
Martinez, Gladys, Joyce Abma, and Casey Copen. “Educating Teenagers About Sex In The United States”. CDC.GOV. Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Feb.2014
“Sex sells.” This is a common phrase used very often in social media and entertainment industries. Today, the youth generation is highly exposed to social media and products of entertainment industries from music to movies on the big screen. Most of the products produced by these industries are sexually explicit, and they tend to send the wrong messages about sexual behavior. Adolescents almost spend the same amount of time watching television and engaging with social media as they do in an educational environment. Therefore, the best way to tackle the misconceptions of sex among adolescents is to provide sex education in school. Sex education should be taught in school in order to provide a mutual learning experience for adolescents among
The glamorous side of sex is everywhere; music, tv shows, movies and social media. To a mature adult, it is easy to ignore the sexual messages in those outlets. However, to a teenager, going through mental and physical changes and peer pressure, it is extremely easy to fall for what is shown to “cool.” Everyone has fallen for half truths to be cool in their teenage life. It just so happens that teen pregnancies and STDs are not one of those things that one can simply walk away from. Babies and STDs leave a lasting effect on everyone involved. The National Conference of State Legislatures states:
Aggleton shows teens the truth about sex instead of something seen as romantic and a risk, and they seeing themselves as people who are experimenting with new things. However, to others it is not a sign of romance but a risk that keeps haunting teenagers with AIDS and pregnancy. Even though young people are stereotyped as being more negative when it comes to the issue of sex, not all teenagers are that concerned with it. The author states more teenagers are looking at the outcome of having sex and thinking about the STD issue. Another issue is sex when it comes to parties and drugs. It seems that more and more girls are not getting the necessary understandings of the risks of sex, therefore having it at a younger age. While males are having sex for reasons just to try it out, or because they think they are cool. So the problem is teens are having sex for the wrong reasons without looking into the consequences.