Essay on Teenage Sex

Free Teenage Sex papers

Guns - The Right to Own Them
The Right to Own Guns

As American citizens, we have more rights and freedoms than any other group of people in the world. The founders of this country established these freedoms because they had previously lived in countries where the people did not have as many rights. One of these rights

Immigration
Illegal Immigration

One of the most controversial political issues of today is that of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Illegal immigration into the United States is a problem that should be stopped, as it is unfair to both Americans and to the people of the country from which they ille

Teenage Girls Practicing Unprotected Sex is Due to the Lack of Discussion that

Daughters and Mothers Have on the Topics of Sex in General and Safe Sex

Through the media, sex is portrayed to society as an acceptable action between a man and a woman to express their love that they have for one another. Movies often show people engaging in sexual activity, but it is very rare to see the man put on a condom or to show the woman taking birth control pills at any point in the film. The media relies on the parents to teach their children about safe sex, so they don't add in these parts. But mothers aren't stressing the importance of safe sex enough, and some do not even discuss sex at all with their daughters. And in addition to this lack of communication is the daughters' refusal to confront their mothers with questions they may have on the subject, therefore causing some teenage girls to engage in unprotected sex.

As shown in my survey taken of 25 high school senior females, girls generally see themselves as having positive relationships with their mothers, but for every girl who usually tells their mother about their problems and relationships, there is another girl who hardly ever does. Even though most daughters "sometimes" fight with their mothers, they still tell their mothers some things about their social life (Jehle). But what they do not tell their mothers is something really significant in this day and age. "The increased openness about sex encourages many parents to talk about it freely with their children" (Duval 336). Many mothers have tried to discuss sex in general with their daughters, but few have actually talked about forms of safe sex and asked if their daughter ever thinks about having sex. Asking the question though would be pointless because most girls said they would lie anyway and say they do not think about it (Jehle).

The lack of the mothers' intense conversations about more specific sexual topics must be due to the lack of the daughters' inputs into the conversations. The survey take also shows that most girls have not asked their mothers about sex and are unsure if they ever will. They do not plan on telling their mothers when they have sex for the first time. These daughters also do not confront their mothers about questions on birth control and do intend to ask them to accompany them to get birth control (Jehle).

In society today, many people are beginning to have sex in while in their teenage years. Despite the lessons that sexual education programs in school teach, teenagers prefer to reject the abstinence method of safe sex, which is the only method, that is 100% effective. That is why alternative forms, such, as condoms and birth control have to be taught. But teachers can only preach so much, and therefore they must rely on the fact that parents reinforce the lessons that they teach. Some people even oppose sex education in schools all together because they believe that "moral guidance" is necessary when teaching children about sex, and that parents are the only ones who are capable of guiding them in that way. Meanwhile, the supporters of sex education believe that parents are not fulfilling their duties in teaching their children about sex and the media and friends are falsely informing them on the topic, so they feel that it is necessary for it to be taught in school (Burt 337).

The problem is not that the daughters do not listen to their mothers when asked about the topic, but instead mothers do not know how to start a conversation about sex with their daughters. "Study says moms can...

Burt, John J. "Sex education." The World Book Encyclopedia, S-Sn, 336-337.

Chicago: WorldBook, Inc., 1990.

Bynum, Russ. "Study says moms can encourage safe sex." The Seattle Times 2 Oct. 1998: A6.

Duvall, Evelyn M. "Sex." The World BookEncyclopedia, S-Sn, 334-336. Chicago:

World Book,Inc., 1990.

Hambro, Sarah. "High school teens support sex and condums." The Bronx Beat

13 March 1995:

Jehle, Alayna. "Mothers, Daughters, and Safe Sex." Unpublished Survey, 1998.

Schauer, Frederick. "Obscenity and pornography." The World BookEncyclopedia,

N-O, 334-336. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1990.