¶ … portrayal of sexual activity in numerous forms is quite common on television, movies, in advertising, magazines, video games, novels, and billboards. Sex sells in modern society, and often not only condone promiscuity, but also glorify it. Indeed, this is fine for adults who have the cognitive ability to separate reality from fantasy, to understand that media shows images, not always consequences, and to understand that unlike television, sexual activity is not all there is to relationships.
Children and youth, however, are also subjected to daily viewing of sexual behavior -- often whether they like it or not. In addition, certainly, as puberty begins, adolescents are in a questioning mode about their own sexuality, which is most definitely influenced by outside images. For instance, in the majority of the media, one rarely sees condom use or even discussions about safe sex; similarly, birth control, abstinence, and alternative lifestyles are more common as themes, but rarely explore the depth and seriousness of the issue. In many ways, this preponderance of sexual activity and imagery requires a rethinking of the paradigm of sex education for youth. Educating young people in a professional and truthful manner will likely improve their ability to make choices, not as some say increase their own sexual experimentation -- that will happen as it has for millennia. In fact, as the articles in this review will confirm, not talking about sexuality will not make it less real, will not prevent pregnancy or disease, and will not cause youth to have less sex. America must join the world, particularly Europe, and appreciate that sexuality is part of being human, and arming youth with more information provides a support mechanism to decrease STDs and pregnancy.
In Teaching Human Sexuality in Junior High School: An Interdisciplinary Approach, the authors posit that young men and women are sexual beings by the time they reach Middle School. For millennia, individuals who were 12-16 were married, raised families, fought in wars, and were considered adults. It was not until after World War II, increased educational requirements and more urbanization that changed the standard of marriage and sexual activity to something only allowed when...
The overall research focused on using a more robust pilot education program that would eventually affect and reduce adolescent pregnancy and other sexually related problems often faced by youth. The students were tests prior to, during and after the course, finding that there was a strong increase in knowledge and ability to make decisions. Weekly journal evaluations confirmed that the topic was of major interest to the students, and that they appreciated a venue in which they could express their concerns and feelings in a more open environment (Kapp, 1980).
The study was robust in nature, and points to the fact that in the 21st century, it is barbaric and shortsighted not to discuss safe-sex options. There are a number of STDs and the threat of HIV, regardless of one's sexuality, that may have lifelong effects, and if society is to ensure that the youth of today are prepared for the realities of modern life, it is important that the Public School inform and develop standards to reflect the realities of contemporary life. That is not to say that abstinence or alternatives to intercourse should not be discussed, but the message from the research is that adolescents are curious and in need of information. Is it not better to prepare them via a curriculum than have misinformation floating about or sex education by trial and error? The study could have been a bit more longitudinal in scope, and if updated would likely include more about same gender relationships, bisexuality or ambisexuality. Nevertheless, it is an important and relevant topic when, as many of the participants said, "Sex is all around us, 24/7" (Hurst, 2008).
Clearly teens are curious about sex and have the opportunity to see it everywhere. Most professionals (medical and child development) believe that early sexual initiation is a critical health issue. Recent surveys show that most sexually experienced teens actually wish they had waited longer to have intercourse and believe that the combination of a lack of education and being bombarded by media (2/3 of media programs contain sexual content) pressured them into experimentation early. Research was done on 1792 adolescents, 12-17 years of age in the form of baseline and 1-year follow up interviews.…
