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The effects of media portrayal of sexuality on adolescent’s sexual lives are enormous because, media in our society today portrays acts of sexuality as routine and probable. They show young girls as being enticing or promiscuous and portrays young men as sexual predators or manipulative into pressuring young ladies into having sex. The media have shown acceptance of gays and lesbians than years prior, but with this the media knows that younger viewers of television, radio, and internet are more venerable than its adult viewer’s ("Wjm Western Journal of Medicine", 2000).…
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The logic and motivation behind this country’s mad dash to distribute free condoms in our public schools is ridiculous and misguided. Worse, the message conveyed by mass condom distribution is a disservice and borders on being lethal. Condom distribution sanctions, even encourages, sexual activity, which in teen years tends to be promiscuous and relegates to secondary status the most important lesson to be taught: abstinence. An analysis of the entire condom distribution logic also provides a glimpse into just what is wrong with public education today.…
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Engle, L. L. (2006). The mass media are an important context for adolescents sexual behavior. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38, 186-192.…
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Many teens today are more prone to catching a sexually transmitted disease by being sexually active. From my judgment I see in today’s generation, most teens think by simply doing it and losing their virginity, they’re accepted in society’s standard. Teens think it’s so cool or in other cases some may even think they finally reached their ‘manhood’, when in reality, it’s nothing like that. Having sexual intercourse isn’t and shouldn’t be based on popularity, it is something that should be taken seriously. There are a lot of risk when deciding to have intercourse with someone else, especially if you’re not being careful. Teens are not aware that there will be consequences such as getting pregnant and catching a sexually transmitted disease (STD). When it comes to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), the United States offers woefully inadequate education says Familyfirstaid (2004). The most common mistake a teen can make is thinking that their body is immune to STD’s. Chlamydia is a silent but deadly STD if not treated well and is one of the common one that teens can get and not even know, according to Chlamydia Quick Cure.…
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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…
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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…
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High school is either the best days of your life or four years of struggling and mild torture for teens, and the pressure to be sexually active can push adolescents towards the latter. The idea that sexual activity is the ticket to popularity is burned into teens brains by the media, through television, major label music, and movies, their peers, and celebrity role models. They are bombarded with images and sounds dripping with sexual innuendos and sometimes-blatant encouragement of adolescent sex. It is almost impossible to believe that any teen has not become sexually active after their constant exposure to the sex-craved American entertainment system. These are some of the reasons…
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Comprehensive Sexual Education What has happened to today’s society that we are opposed to condoms because they might entice sex? When has allowing our youth to practice unsafe sex over safe sex been okay? We often think because we supply kids with condoms, birth control, and talks, that we are giving them permission to have sex, when in fact we are merely trying to protect them from STDs and pregnancy. We do not need to scare kids, but we do need to provide them with information about safe sex practices and what can happen if they do plan to explore their sexual urge. Facts are the most important thing we can offer those select few of youth who wish to engage in sex. Since when has providing information been a bad thing? Shouldn’t the youth know what they are doing and what can happen before they do it? Most schools and education environments that do encourage any sort of sexual education, teach kids to “just say no”. The one main problem with this “abstinence only” education is that it denies those who do say “yes” information, instead of providing other acceptable options other than abstinence. Throughout time, ratings have shown that teaching the abstinence only education doesn’t affect the rates at which teenagers decide to have sex. Though comprehensive sex education doesn’t stop kids from having sex, it does however teach them how to participate in safe sex. Teenagers in today’s society are not stupid. When they are told by teachers that abstinence is the only way that they will not get a STD, they know they are being lied to or misled. Giving teenagers’ information about the risks of different types of sexual behavior can help them make informed decisions about sex. The most effective programs are not the ones that try to divert teens from sex completely but rather the ones that try to steer teens away from dangerous sexual behaviors. Most teens who do not have the correct information on risky sexual behaviors veer away from vaginal intercourse, and…
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This paper deals with the effects of the media on teen sexuality and what results from it. The sexual content contained in the media uncovers the effects on adolescent’s attitude about sex, their beliefs, and behaviors. There are so many types of media that are geared towards adolescents; it makes it hard for teen’s to ignore. Teens are at a stage in their life where they are discovering who they are and are beginning to have new feelings which are usually centered on their bodies. These feelings make them especially vulnerable to outside influences. They want to be accepted and often go to great lengths to fit in. One of the definitions of sexuality is an organism’s preparedness for engaging in sexual activity. An adolescent is not prepared for the onset of puberty not to mention sexual activity. This is the reason it is so important for parents to talk to their kids about the changes that are going on and provide a solid foundation from which their children can grow from. Once that foundation is set then the schools can further educate the kids on what steps can be taken in terms of safe sex and give them options.…
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Although the idea of using scaretactics and moral questioning to force teenagers into celibacy is an appealing one, it is hardly rational. Abstinence-only programs do not delay the initiation of sexual activity, a choice that many teenagers make regardless of what they’ve been taught (National Sexuality Research Webpage). In fact, regardless of the barrage of abstinence-only programs in the United States since the Clinton Administration, forty-seven percent of teenagers have sexual intercourse by the time the reach the age of seventeen. For this forty-seven percent, abstinence-only programs are violating their basic human right to make their own informed decision about sex, sexuality, and how to practice “it” safely, leaving the fifty percent of teenagers ages 12-17 who want more information about their sexual health (The Kaiser Family Foundation) in the dark.…
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The topic of sex is a unique issue because it’s one of those topics that are essential for a teenager to know about (like their changing bodies, needs, and aspects of gender differences, sexual orientation and the nature of sex). Yet, certain types of sex education topics are not discussed as much as they should be and/or by the right person. About one-third of teens had not received any formal instruction about contraception; fewer males received this instruction than females (62% vs. 70%) [15]. Among teens aged 18–19, 41% report that they know little or nothing about condoms and 75% say they know little or nothing about the contraceptive pill [15]. Many sexually experienced teens (46% of males and 33% of females) do not receive formal instruction about contraception before they first have sex [15]. 63% of parents say it is not acceptable for teens to be sexually active even if they take precautions [10]; so it can be assumed that they would agree that that limitation of sex education is acceptable without realizing the penalties of what it can do to teens. Yet, individuals such as 42% of teen females and 43% of teen males have admitted to already having sexually intercourse at least once [1].…
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Kirby, D. (2007, p. 1). Abstinence, sex and STD/HIV Education Programs for teens: Their Impact on Sexual Behavior, Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.…
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The United States has the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy of any developed country. Each year, unprotected sex results in almost four million teenagers contracting an STD. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is also a serious health concern for young people. Of the 40,000 new HIV infections in the US every year, about 20,000 occur in people under the age of 25, unprotected sex being to blame. (1) The National Abortion Rights Advocacy League says, “By denying teens the full range of information regarding human sexuality, abstinence-only education fails to provide young people with the information they need to protect their health and well-being.” (2) Surveys done by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that “students who have sex education know more and feel better prepared to handle different situations and decisions than those who have not.” (3) If the abstinence-only approach continues, it is expected have serious consequences by denying young people access to the information they need to protect themselves. These…
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More than 12 million Americans, 3 million of whom are teenagers, are affected with STDs each year. In 1995 STDs accounted for 87 percent of all cases reported among the top ten most frequently reported diseases in the United States. Since 1980, eight new sexually transmitted pathogens have been recognized in the United States. STDs may cause serious, life threatening complications including cancers, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortions, still birth, low birth weight, neurological damage and death. The majority of STD cases are women and adolescents (Dickson, 2008). Reducing other STDs decreases the risk of HIV transmission. Every year approximately $10 billion is spent on major STDs other than AIDS and their preventable complications. This cost is shared by all Americans. With all of the information I have provided so far. You would think that our society as a whole would be working diligently to stop the spread of STDs. That is not the case. There is a large percentage of Americans fighting and working very hard to try and prevent all STDs. There is an even larger number of Americans who don’t care about the spread of STDs as long as they are making a lot of money. Every thing in the United States is about money everything else comes somewhere after this fact. The main source of information in the United States is the media mainly TV. Sex sells just about every TV program, commercial, advertisement, flyer etc. pushes sex. In which is so ironic because all parents do not want their teenage kids to have sex. Kids are not running the sexy TV commercials and other ads adults are. This makes you stop and think in America. Is it more important to make money or prevent STDs?…
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According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over 20 million new cases Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are diagnosed each year. Youth, ages 15-19, and young adults, ages 20-24, account for half of all new STD infections. Reasons for this high rate of infection by youth and young adults include the following: young people do not get the recommended test; are hesitant to talk to adults, including parents and doctors, about sex; they do not have insurance and they have multiple partners. In addition, young women’s bodies are more susceptible to STDs…
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