1) The first part of chapter 7 was about sexuality and human development. Next, it talked about why people have sex. Then, it listed all the different groups or people who influence sexual behavior. Next, there was a discussion about different types of sexual behaviors. The next part was about sexuality throughout life. Sexual infidelity and the reasons for it were considered next. Then there was a section about gay, lesbian, and bisexual sex. And, last, there was a part about sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and AIDS.
2) There were a few interesting topics brought up in the chapter. One was about how much people know about sex. It’s interesting how many people are misinformed, even as adults, and not just teenagers. There was a list of questions on one of the pages, and later it said that a lot of people only get the amount of questions right that would be equivalent to a “c” grade. Also, I found it interesting how many influences there were on people when they decide about having sex or not. One last point that was really interesting was all the different reasons people cheat on their partners. The list took up about a page and a half, which is quite a lot of different reasons people have come up with.
3) One question I had pertains to the pressure parents put on their kids to be “good” and not have sex. Is this a helpful or hurtful thing to do to children? Will it make them more likely to wait, or more likely to hide what they’re doing and make uninformed decisions because they don’t want to ask questions?
Natalie LaBarbera
Regarding your question, I feel like this depends on the parenting style. Some kids stay misinformed because they feel like they can't talk to their parents about sex because if they do, their parents will get mad or jump to conclusions, etc. If the child feels like their parents will be open with them and if the child feels comfortable enough to ask questions, then they will be more informed and more information might lead them to wait. In my experience, when a teen asks a sex question and the parents freak out or jump to conclusions, the teen is more likely to go out and (1) find out answers for themselves, and (2) rebel against their parents. Tell a teenager they can't do something or argue with them about something and that increases their desire to go out and do it.
ReplyDeleteI think the pressure to be "good" goes both ways, and I guess I'm kind of just agreeing with Kazzandra here because I'd also say it depends on how the parents approach the situation. If the parents get mad that their kid might be having sex and repeatedly tell him/her not to do it with no real reasons, then the child would probably shrug it off. But when parents talk about all the possible consequences, reasons couples have sex, etc., then I think there would be less pressure and resulting harm because even if the child is sort of rebellious, they'd still have all the facts in the back of their mind. Also if the parent accepts that their son or daughter is ready to have sex, they can continue to have a "good" kid by teaching them about good, safe sex.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not a child would understand why, it would be a misleading simplification to phrase an argument in terms of "good" and "bad" and say that in order for them to be "good" they should not have sex (i.e. it is "good" not to have sex, etc.). To say something along those lines may lead them to conceptualize sex as something "bad" -- not just for them specifically but "bad" in general. In other words, the good/bad terminology invites a lot of moral baggage that is unnecessary. In my opinion, all that children need to know is that they should not have sex and their parents should be open to explain why (with respect not to morality, but rather the permanency of life choices and the seriousness or gravity of ones own actions). In doing this, the children are informed as far as they themselves see fit without too much information. Furthermore, the parent teaches their child a lesson not just regarding sex, but a more general lesson regarding how life is to be seen.
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