Youth And Sexuality: A Collated Interview And Analysis On Human Development

Youth and Sexuality: A Collated Interview and Analysis on Human Development

Kapri Boyd

Spartanburg Community College

Youth and Sexuality: A Collated Interview and Analysis on Human Development

PART ONE

This part covers personal interviews using semi-guided questions to two young people whose real names have been changed for anonymity. The interviews occurred about less than an hour and refusing voice record due to the sensitivity of the topic, the researcher opted for notes instead.

Subject # 1: Martina Enriquez

Age: 17

Question #1 and Response: How did you cope up the moment puberty starts? Have you asked others for help?

Just like a normal adolescent, Martina’s puberty starts when she was about 12 years old. Surrounded by many women, Martina should have less confusion about the onset of her puberty. However, growing up in a Latin community where sexual roles are defined, she said that it was hard dealing with the changes in her young body. She shares, “It was not easy for me; when I was younger I was sort of a tomboy so the physical changes were quite strange for me. I was so hesitant to ask about it, even to my mother. In fact, I lived in a community full of women and we are closely related but there is this certain feel as if anything physical or sexual seems like a taboo.” Martine adds that her carefree personality is a bit affected especially during her first menstruation blood. She recalls, “so many things I was not allowed to do, like riding a bicycle or just running. It is as if even my grandmother tells me physical activities are not all too feminine.”

Question #2 and Response: How do you deal with your sexual identity? Are you comfortable about it?

As previously mentioned, Martina grew up in a Lat...

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...ey can implicate practical resolutions to public policy inclined to the welfare of the youth. However, it is good to note that there are some youth who may not experience these difficulties fully, such as the ones I interviewed. Meanwhile, the significance of developmental stages as pioneered by the likes of psychologists like Erikson proves to be beneficial for us to understand people better. Finally, I would consider the experience I obtained from interviewing two youth as educational, entertaining, and informative—and I truly respect and admire the fact that they allow me to share personal and sensitive matters such as their sexuality. It is from them that I learned that each youth may have different needs and different experiences and that young people must be given the correct knowledge about sex in the period they seem to be more challenged: adolescent stage.