Problems of sex leading to undesirable situations

¶ … debated issues for parents of children attending high school is what should be the role of sex education? As high rates of teenage pregnancy continue to rise and the incidents of venereal disease among teens increase as well, it should be obvious that some form of education is necessary (McIlhaney). Historically, the responsibility for educating children about sex fell upon the shoulders of the parents but parents in modern society cannot or will not teach their children about sexuality so children have begun to rely upon their peers for such information and there is considerable evidence that this has resulted in adolescents developing a distorted view of sexuality.

Among Western industrialized nations, the United States has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy, and within the United States, teenagers have the highest rates of gonorrhea, syphilis, and Chlamydia (Lawlor) Furthermore, teenage sexual activity has become more common. The age of at which teenagers begin acting out sexually has steadily declined, and the number of sexual partners that one might have before the age of 18 has also been increasing. Surprisingly, only one in five young Americans remains a virgin by the end of their teenage years.

As indicated earlier, the family was historically considered the main source of sexual information (Miller). The decline in the importance of family, the proliferation of new family forms, and the decline of the two parent family are all considered to be factors in what appears to be a growing problem among teens and their relationship with sexual issues.

The impact of family environment on the development of sexual attitudes and behaviors has been well documented. The emphasis of most of the studies that have examined this issue has been on the configuration of the family and the effect of family involvement. The results as to the effect of family structure have established that children from intact two parent families not only delay the beginning of their sexual activity but also engage in less overall sexual activity than children from martially disrupted families.

There is no doubt that the family provides the individual child with structure and guidance. Through the family, children are provided with a system of socialization that, in turn, provides them with both values and norms that they carry with them through the rest of their lives but not all families manage to convey these values and norms in the same manner. Although two parent families generally provide more guidance and stability, the measure of how this affects the sex development of the individual teenager is dependent upon the level of control exercised by the parents. Parents who exercise higher levels of supervision and monitoring of their children's activities tend to raise children who engage in sex at a later date whereas parents with less stringent rules in this area can expect children who will involve themselves with sex at an earlier age.

The factors that come into play regarding the level of supervision vary but there are some generalized factors that occur that have their impact. For instance, divorce reduces the number of parents in the household. This development makes supervision more difficult and also serves to make direct involvement of the parent with each child more difficult. Additionally, divorce may also force a situation where both parents are now forced to work which further limits the time that a parent may spend with the children. Finally, many divorces are quite acrimonious which results in a situation where one parent does not support the views of the other. Each of these events serves to reduce the level of a parents' influence on the child, decrease the level of respect that the children have for their parents, and correspondingly, increases the child's dependence on the comments and advice of their peers. Often times, remarriage may serve to counteract some of these developments but, in most cases, stepparents are never afforded the same measure of respect as natural parents.

The development of new family forms and the breakdown of the traditional intact two parent families have been blamed for the variety of social problems such as increases in teenage pregnancy and juvenile delinquency, urban violence, and unemployment. However, studies have indicated that the impact of the family on the teenage sexuality is not merely an issue of family structure. Factors within the family unit such as the respect that the child has for his parents and the level and type of communication must also considered.

In light of the fact that the influence of the family is decreasing in today's society it is important that new measures be developed to educate children about sex and sexuality. Children need to be protected from relying upon their peers for information on this important and life-altering activity. In this regard, community programs need to be developed to assist the parents who are concerned with this issue so that they can become effective sex educators. Although the role of the family is decreasing for many the family remains a primary source of information and advice. For these families, community sex education programs can provide parents with effective strategies for responding to the sexual curiosity of their children and for communicating sexual values.

Sexual education programs should be initiated at all levels of the educational process. (Wright) Traditionally, sex education programs have been geared only for teenagers but children of all ages have concerns with sexual issues and a comprehensive early program can lead to healthier sex attitudes as children approach adolescence. Programs geared to children of a specific age can provide the opportunity to address the concerns of children at a level that they understand and appreciate. Such programs would allow parents to respond to their children's concerns with information that is appropriate for their child's developmental level.

Parents should also be taught how to convey their values to their children. Too often parents are reluctant to talk about sensitive issues such as abortion, rape, homosexuality, and pre-marital sex. This reluctance may stem from a lack of information or from a general discomfort about discussing sexual issues, however, if parents want to convey their values to their children parents must be willing to either obtain the information or overcome their discomfort. Research indicates that a parent's willingness to discuss value-laden topics has a positive effect on the adoption of those values by one's children.