Risks and Consequences of Sexuality
By Adish Patil
Why is sexual abstinence the best choice for teens?
Sexually Transmitted Disease.
Pregnancy
Influence, Risks and Strategies
Influences on decision making
Friends can influence you too in a wrong way. They can make it so that you will feel you have been left out. Many do not want to be alone. Also peer pressure could occur, making you feel forced to make bad decisions. Peer pressure is a bad thing. It happens every where. It is used for making people make bad choices, like taking drugs, alcohol and doing sexual interaction. Although there is a good side, where your peers can steer you away from these choices. If your social mate has abstinence and limits to sexual interaction, this can influence you to not make those choices.
Family is supposed to be a group that is supposed to protect you in life from bad, and to the good. Parents have different opinions of what their kids should be doing in terms of sexual interactions. They can make restrictions which influences you to follow those orders. Their also can be people who allow sex, but give a good warning , which also affects the child's choices and makes them take precautions.
Hormones can also affect peoples choices. Hormones can influence you and push you to have the urge to do and have sexual encounters. This can be bad, as it can make you risk yourself to STD's and pregnancy.
Risks
Physical consequences include pregnancy and STD's. Pregnancy is a huge thing to go through. Nobody would want a baby at this stage of life. This is why is good to be careful and wear protection. But there is not a huge chance that would protect you too. STD's is a major physical consequence. It basically means Sexually Transmitted disease. This is passed through any sort of physical sexual contact. Oral, penetrative etc. STD will create thing like rashes, blisters and other painful itchy problems in peoples genital regions. STD's that are bacterial can be treated and taken away. But there are some that cannot be removed and can be deadly like AIDS. If people have that, they cannot be resolved, and have to consume a whole diet and variety of pills. This can be several a day, on a consecutive basis. Another major physical consequence is pregnancy. This is the process of giving birth. Pregnancy is a huge change to your life and body as it can create mood hormones and change the weight, shape and size of your body. Having a baby is tough as you have to provide the right amount of nutrients for the baby. This is why having a strong body is good. You body during your teen age won't be as good as an adult due to teens still being at a growth stage. There are the 2 main physical consequences. As STD's affect to both man and female physically, pregnancy only affects woman physically. Although men who are the father have other consequences which I will explain.
There are many social consequences that come with sexual interaction. If a teenager becomes pregnant, there are many different views that might affect. Adults or others can call you immature and not responsible. There are also words and phrases used that can be used to make a bad reputation, such as the word slut. As a teenager, you wouldn't also want people trying to stay away from you just because you have an STD. When AIDS first came out, many kids were diagnosed with the disease. People treated these kids horribly and protested for them to be separated ay school.
Due to social issues, there can be emotional consequences. If a person is constantly criticised from people, they could feel horrible and want to undo the decisions. Depression could also be a factor that could affect others. Imagine you are all alone, and everybody is rejecting to stay near you just because, you have contracted a disease. This can affect you in a bad way.
One of the final yet most important consequences, are fiscal ones. Fiscal consequences directly relate to money. When you have a child, a whole new life starts for you. As a teenager, especially a boy, you will have to find ways to support them. This is with feeding them, life insurance, medical treatment, education and a lot more. Many do not have enough to do this. Even teenagers parents might not have enough to help their own children. This can be a real big issue, you might have to leave school and work an actual job.
All of the potential consequences and drastically change ones life. With STD's there are emotional and social consequences, where you will feel rejected and depressed. People take a life time full of medications and can give up after a while. There are real life situations where people with AIDS, give up the fight and can stop taking pills, eventually dying. With pregnancy, your whole life changes mostly with money issues. People would have to drop out of school and work most of their lives helping there child with money issues.
Strategies
My personal family and I opinion is the same on boundaries and limits. I think that if I was in a relationship or not in one, sexual interaction such as oral or penetrative should not be committed until the last 2 years of high school or college. I think this due to how by that time I would have a mature mind and will be able to know how to protect myself. Although I do think things like hugging or kissing is fine anytime.
My plan to support this is making lists telling me what is alright and what is not. Also when in a relationship I can tell my partner my sexual abstinence. They can prevent me from making the wrong choices. The same can be done the opposite way. I can respect my choices made by the other person.
Other than sexual abstinence and a list, there are many who could help me. This is my parents, my social partners (girlfriends), close friends and other trusted relatives. I would choose these people due to how they are always protecting my back.
When the time comes when sexual intercourse is appropriate I will take all precautions. This is done by making sure I am not having sex with a partner with an STD. Also I will always use protection. Protection is basically using condoms. Condoms is one of the best ways of protection. They are cheap and have the highest percentage of protection. I wouldn't want to use other types of protection that uses surgery or taking pills. I don't think they are necessary. Finally I will listen to my social partners limitations. All of these strategies lead me to a perfect healthy sexuality.