THE MIDDLE ADOLESCENCE PHASE
Adolescence is the phase of a people’s life when they are very inquisitive about exploring new things around them. Sex and sexuality is an area which attracts an adolescent mind greatly. Teenagers are very curious about knowing the matter in great detail. In order to quench the thirst of curiosity they often take help of peers, online sites and other sources which not only give them a wrong impression about these things but also create a picture in their mind which has harmful bearings on the innocent middle adolescents. They tend to get influenced easily and want to try these things without getting to know things in much detail.
Nowadays, peer pressure among the adolescents is so high that they even resort to illegal and unethical activities under such pressure. Peer pressure is seen to have more impact on the girls than that of the boys (Brown, 1982).This has resulted in teens getting involved in the sexual activities much before the right age. This in turn harms them greatly. They are mostly unaware of the possible sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies and the health outcomes of such pregnancies in the adolescent female body. This is because the sources of their information did tell them about the act, but not about the serious repercussions that they may have to face due to their incomplete and inappropriate knowledge. Thus it is very important to impart sex education to the adolescents through the correct way before they try to gather the knowledge from wrong sources. In a survey it was shown that children who have received sex education before the age of 15 or 16 are less likely to indulge in sexual activities at a young age rather than those who did not (Furstenberg, Moore & Peterson, 1985). Knowing about sex at a young age reduces the inquisitiveness of the adolescents and they do not feel the need to explore it themselves. It reduces the possibility of many unwanted outcomes to a great extent.
References
Brown, B. (1982). The extent and effects of peer pressure among high school students: A retrospective analysis. Journal Of Youth And Adolescence, 11(2), 121-133. doi:10.1007/bf01834708
Furstenberg, F., Moore, K., & Peterson, J. (1985). Sex education and sexual experience among adolescents. Am J Public Health, 75(11), 1331-1332. doi:10.2105/ajph.75.11.1331
