Sex and Adolescents 1 Running Head: SEX AND ADOLESCENTS

Sex and Adolescents: Understanding Why; Starting So Young Tonya Zielke Kaplan University CM107-04

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Do you remember your first sexual encounter? How old were you? According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance of 2006, as documented by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC)in 2006, approximately 47% of high school students (grades 9-12) nationwide reported being sexually active and over 14% reported already having more than four lifetime partners (as cited in Fantasia, 2008, p.81). Adolescents are maturing faster and the onset of puberty happens earlier and earlier. Adolescents are not as reserved or have the same values as previous generations. Examining why adolescents have sex at an early age and, exploring peer pressure and preventative measures for teen pregnancy are critical issues in the fight to decrease teenage sexual activity. Understanding some reasons why adolescents have sex at an early age can possibly help to decrease teenage sexual activity. A reason that has come up often is the need to feel loved and a sense of belonging. Some adolescents are having sex to boost an already low self esteem, but are actually just making it worse. Most of this is because of a troubled home life or the lack of proper parenting and/or supervision. For

young women, this is a major problem area as they are most likely looking for the father figure they never had. Young women such as these are more prone to early sexual activity as they are longing to be show affection and will do just about anything to get it. This again ties into a troubled or non-typical home life, such as divorced or separated parents, single parents or lack of attention from one parent or the other. Alcohol, marijuana use, and smoking have also led to the onset of sexual activity among adolescents (Fantasia, 2008). Being under the influence of drugs or alcohol can affect

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the behaviors and values of an adolescent, allowing them to do things they would not normally do. An adolescent looking for affection or attention can be easily persuaded

into sexual activity with even a small amount of pressure. Exploring the effects of peer pressure on sex at an early age can help to decrease teenage sexual activity. Peer pressure can come from many different sources such as parents, siblings, sexual partners, and friends (Sieving, Eisenberg, Pettengell, & Skay, 2006). Looking back to earlier generations where women were married at 16 and having children. Times where different, they had stronger values, and sex before marriage was not an acceptable behavior. That is why young women were sent away, if they were pregnant out of wedlock, to save face for the family and their good name. Limited exposure to such things as television, radio, magazines and computers also helped to prevent promiscuity, in earlier generations. Television, radio, magazines and computers exploit sexual activity more today than ever before. Peer pressure that comes from friends is likely to be the worst. Adolescents can be very persuasive by simply saying things like if you dont do it, then we wont be friends anymore, or if you dont do it, then you wont be cool. It has also been noted that some adolescents feel that they will gain the respect of their friends who are already having sex if they also have sex (Sieving, Eisenberg, Pettengell, & Skay, 2006). The peer pressure that comes from sexual partners can also be very challenging; if the adolescent doesnt have sex with them then they are bombarded with things such as maturity issues and threats that their sexual partner will leave them if they dont comply. Having sex to cope with bad feelings or to please ones partner has been linked to unplanned pregnancy (Dawson,

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Shih, De Moor, & Shrier, n.d.). In other words, peer pressure is not the only cause of teen pregnancy. Researching the effects of teenage pregnancy upon adolescents can also help to decrease teenage sexual activity. Approximately 750,000 young women become pregnant every year, leaving the United States with the highest adolescent pregnancy rate of any other developed country (Fantasia, 2008). Most adolescents believe that pregnancy wont happen to them, or that it cant happen the first time. According to Heidi Fantasia (2008), The current pregnancy rate is alarming given the fact that contraception use by adolescents is at an all time high (p. 81). Some examples of contraception are: condoms, birth control pills, Depo Provera shots and IUDs. Of course, the best method is and will always be; abstinence. Adolescents are going to engage in sexual activity regardless of how much abstinence is preached, so another approach should be explored. President Obama wants to stop funding for abstinenceonly-until-marriage sexuality education programs and have Congress instead spend $178 million on sexuality education aimed at preventing teen pregnancy (Melby, 2009). Although it is clear why adolescents are engaging in sex, it is almost impossible to persuade them, to stop or to refrain from having sex. However, understanding some of the reasons for early sexual activity does give us a better understanding of a difficult period in the life of an adolescent. With a better understanding of how and where peer pressure comes from, maybe it can help to ease the burden of peer pressure. Peers are very influential and can have the most impact on an adolescents self worth. Being able to handle the fact that adolescents will have sex, we can hopefully teach them how to do it safely and avoid teen pregnancy through education. Education is the key to

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avoiding teen pregnancy. Choices of an uneducated adolescent can have lifetime consequences. With educated adolescents we put the decision to be smart and safe in their hands In todays society staying abreast as to why adolescents have sex early,

where the most harmful peer pressures come from, and how to help prevent teenage pregnancy; will help adolescents to make more responsible decisions.

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References Concept Analysis: Sexual-Decisions Making in Adolescent Risky Behavior (Apr-Jun). Nursing Forum, 43(2), p.80-90, Retrieved from: Kaplan Library via Academic Search Premier on June 23, 2010. Friends Influence on Adolescents First Sexual Encounter (2006). Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 38(1), p.13-19, Retrieved from: Kaplan Library via Academic Search Premier on June 23, 2010. Reasons Why Adolescents and Young Adults Have Sex: Associations with Psychological Characteristics and Sexual Behavior (2008), Journal of Sex Research, 45(3), p.225-232, Retrieved from: Kaplan Library via Academic Search Premier on June 23, 2010. The End of Abstinence-only? (July 2009), Contemporary Sexuality, 43(7), Retrieved from: Kaplan Library via Academic Search Premier on June 23, 2010.