The world today is surrounded by the many resources of information that are dedicated to increase the knowledge of individuals with regards particular matters that they may want to know of. The internet has been among the many portals where such presentation and exchange of information occurs. Relatively, through the years, the internet has been realized to have a great impact on how young children learn. However, not everything that the internet offers could be considered helpful. One particular harm that it presents to children of young ages is the overflowing information about adult-defined topics including sex and relationships (Kaplan, 1997). Relatively, parents and other concerned agencies in the society try to counteract the situation through supposedly providing the children with ‘proper education’ on matters concerning sex and relationships. The real problem however is how such education is handled both in the home and in school. Most of the time, critics and psychologists point out to the irresponsible handling of such topics that make it possible for cases such as teen pregnancy to rise in number every year.
What then constitutes the root of the problem? Relatively, the term ‘proper’ in relation to the process of teaching children about sex and relationships have not been clearly defined under strict advisory of the debarments that are supposed to oversee such operations in schools. As a result, the messages that the children get about these issues are often a misunderstanding of the facts and precautions that lie behind matters concerning sexual promiscuity. With the influence of media and the internet, the children are more prone to creating wrong opinions and understanding about sex and the way they should deal with their peers. Shockingly, it has been noted through research that the youngest age of children engaging in conversations about sex lowers down up to five years of age; and relatively, those who actually engage in actual or oral sex lowers down to the age of eight (Harris, 1996).
Children, starting at the age of five have a notably growing interest on matters that exist around them. They begin to question ‘why’ on almost every single thing they can think of. Parents on the other hand try to answer the said questions as briefly and as simple as they could to help them understand their query based on how they can accept a particular fact. Of course, if a child at the age of five asks about why is there color, a parent or even a teacher would not answer the question with technical terms involving the engineering design behind such topic. Instead, they would go for an almost no-brainer explanation that the child would be able to picture in his mind. The adults realize that there would come a time when they would be ready for more technical explanations, however, at present, to suffice their hunger for information, they are given the chance to understand matters according to their level of thinking.
However, when it comes to questions presented by children about sexual relationships, parents often get timid, not knowing how to present the response in a most non-malicious aspect. Some even resort to metaphoric representations such as the birds and the bees and end up confusing the child (Luker, 1996). Teachers on the other hand follow the curriculum. They follow what the book says, at times even neglecting the fact that somehow, not providing the entire information about the matter to these young children motivates them to find information elsewhere. How then should such course of education should be given attention to? The answer is simple; sex education should be handed in a concise, direct and in a responsible manner of dissemination.
Teen pregnancy is a growing problem among most midyear towards the senior year high school stages. Students falling under this age-bracket are noted to explore and experience what they want to know about. They want to have a hands-on experience on everything including sex. As a result, unprotected sex and ignorant relationships fall into huge problems such as having the need to parent a child at such an early age. Some might say they were just curious, some even think that it is just a cool thing to do as their peers have already done it. They remain ignorant amidst all the lessons presented to them in class (Rhode, 2007). True to its sense, resolving such an issue calls for serious consideration on the information that is passed on to the young ones and how such information is handled maturely. School-aged students should know of the responsibilities that come with sex, how it should be respected as a form of human expression for true affection grounded on the legal sanctions of marriage and how they should be prepared to be parents once they engage in such an act (Seitz, 1996). Leaving them ignorant on one of the most crucial points of being human might do them more harm than good. Hence, giving them proper education could resolve the issues of the growing rate of teen pregnancies among students today.
It should be recognized though that gaining victory over the desire of lowering the number of teens engaging in sexual promiscuity resulting to teen pregnancy would depend on the cooperative work between the families, the school and the society. The world, although it presents the society with all aspects of information that could be accessed within minutes from the internet, cannot contain the results of its consequences if no human intervention is carried into action. The children ought to be protected and this could only be done through giving them proper knowledge and advice about sex and human relationships.
References:
Kaplan, Elaine Bell (1997). Not Our Kind of Girl: Unraveling the Myths of Black Teenage Motherhood. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Harris, Irving B. (1996). Children in Jeopardy: Can We Break the Cycle of Poverty?. New Haven, CT: Yale Child Study Center: Distributed by Yale University Press.
Luker, Kristin (1996). Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Rhode, Deborah L. (2007). "Politics and Pregnancy: Adolescent Mothers and Public Policy". In Nancy Ehrenreich. The Reproductive Rights Reader. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Seitz, Victoria (1996). "Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting". In Edward Zigler, Sharon Lynn Kagan, and Nancy Wilson Hall. Children, Families, and Government: Preparing for the Twenty-First Century. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
