Being sexually active as a teen.
Teen sexual activity has been a problem for many years in america and as a result
teens who are or have been sexually active are more likely to be depressed or commit
suicide. Although sexually activeness in teens has dropped during the past it is still high. In
1997 the sexual activity percentage in teens was 48%.1
There are many problems that can and will occur if one is sexually active. Many of
them are known while other’s aren’t. Some of those problems include, but aren’t
limited to losing trust from people who you care about and who care about you.
sexually transmitted diseases, or STD’s. Every day 8,000 teenagers receive a sexually
transmitted disease.2 Some other problems also include childbirth to underage girls.3 In the
year 2000 alone about 240,000 babies were born to underage teen girls.4 Nearly all these
teenage mothers were unmarried. These mothers and their children have an
extremely high probability of long-term poverty and welfare dependence. Less widely
known are the psychological and emotional problems associated with teenage
sexual_activity. The present study examines the linkage between teenage sexual
activity and emotional health.
The findings show that:
When compared to teens who are not sexually active,teenage boys and girls who are
sexually active are significantly less likely to be happy and more likely to feel
depressed. When compared to teens who are not sexually active,teenage boys and
girls who are sexually active are significantly more likely to attempt suicide.
Thus, in addition to its role in promoting teen pregnancy and the current epidemic of
STDs, early sexual activity is a substantial factor in undermining the emotional well-
being of American teenagers.5
Stats:
23.3% of girls in America alone were sexually active and depressed, while only
7.7% of teen age girls say that they are not sexually active, but depressed. Therefore there
are more then 3 times the amount of sexually active girls that are depressed then not
sexually active teens. 83% of teenage boys are sexually active and are depressed while
3.4% are not sexually active and depressed. So more then 4 times the amount of males
that aren’t sexually active and depressed are sexually active and depressed. More then
twice the amount of males are sexually active then girls. What’s up with that?
I also found out that 14.3% of teenage girls are sexually active and had an attempt at suicide while only 5.1% of girls are not sexually active and have attempted suicide. On the other hand, 60% of teen age boys are sexually active and have attempted suicide and only .7% are not sexually active and have committed suicide.
Although more teenage boys are sexually active and have committed suicide and are also depressed then girls, the rates are still pretty high and our society should try to fix that. Our society should also try to fix the fact that teens are even having sex. Maybe if the teens’ parents explained to them ALL of the consequences of having sex at such a young age then the rates would go down a bit.
The schools of America should do a better job at teaching teens these consequences as well. Though teachers teach about STDs and how a child is created, they don’t fully explain why these things are horrid when you are a teen. They should explain the difficulties about having a child at such a young age. They also need to explain that you can lose trust from your friends and your family.
Many teens are sexually active and have many problems to work out which is why our society of America needs to work harder on fixing them, because if we don’t take action now, the child birth rate in teens will shoot up and the rate of STDs in the population will also sky rocket.
How exactly can this problem be solved? No one really knows. And when you think about it that is kind of sad because normally we have the answer to almost everything. Like Will Smith said at the Nickelodeon Kids choice awards “There isn’t a problem in this world that hasn’t already happened in the past.” Almost everything we know about has been written somewhere in a book so really we should be able to figure them out right?
What exactly is causing the problem anyway? Is it the media? Do we need more censorship for television and news papers and magazines? Is it just human nature to want sex so young?