The sexual health of adolescents remains a public health concern in the United States and many other countries around the world. We will highlight in this post the adolescent years and the changes that take place during those years, health risks specific to the adolescent population, and some help tips to navigate those years.
Adolescence and changes
Adolescence is a time of exciting change and it provides the opportunity for adolescents to start develop a sense of differentiation from their parents and that is extremely positive. Parents can begin to look with admiration and a sense of celebration on the rapid growth of their children. The physical, mental, emotional, biological and sexual changes are indicators that they are experiencing normal development. Generally, female teens tend to grow faster than males. The continuously buying of new clothes by parents is indicative of teens’ growth spurts. The rapid changes that adolescents experience during adolescence are normally associated with anxiety in adolescents and their parents, which may lead to confusion.
In addition, adolescence is also a time of structural changes in the family, which is a indication of their desire for more independence. They tend to misuse their new acquire independence by experimenting with risky behaviors.
Research and changes in adolescence
In a study conducted by Lavanya, Priyanka, and Koshy (2011) with 30 participants (both males and females), the researchers found that menstruation was marked by fear of illness, confusion, pain and physical discomfort; budding of the breast was accompanied by feelings of pain, irritation, fear of embarrassment and even excitement; appearance of pubic and auxiliary hair caused them to feel scared, weird, and disturbed. Similar to their female counterparts, males experienced mixed feeling with the appearance of pubic and auxiliary hair; their initial experience of nocturnal emissions was followed by feelings of guilt; and they felt very good when they recognized changes in their voice.
Statistics on health risk
Adolescents are at risk for STDs, HIV, and unwanted pregnancy. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2006 that 46.8% of students had sexual intercourse, 25% of the 15 million new cases of STDs occur among teens and more than 400,000 teen girls between 15-19 years old gave birth. The same agency reported in 2011 that young people between 15-29 years old accounted for 39% of all new HIV infections even though they only comprised 21% of the U.S. population (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Implications of the statistics
These statistics indicate that adolescents’ risky sexual behavior remains a public health concern. Additionally, they also point out that many parents are failing in their roles as sex educators. Parents often believe that sex education should start during the teenage years when the onset of puberty generally starts between 10-12 years. Conversation about sex and sexuality in the home needs to be earlier than later. These findings are just indicators that verify that young people are crying out for help. Adolescents need to be guided on how to set physical and conversation boundaries in their relationships.
Helpful tips
What are you doing to protect and encourage adolescents? This is one of our goals and we have discovered five ways to stem risky sexual behaviors among adolescents: (1) establish a good parent-adolescent relationship, (2) encourage adolescents to exercise self-control, (3) teach them to respect their sexuality, (4) share with them the dangers of early sexual activity, and (5) coach them how to establish appropriate boundaries.
