Being a highschool student is hard enough in itself, but when there is pressure to be sexually active or to have a boyfriend or girlfriend anxiety levels and insecurities rise in this generation's youth. Discussingsexual health has been a taboo topic since the beginning of time. When girls/women talk about having intercourse they are shamed, but when boys/men talk about being sexually active, they are praised and seen as a “man.”
But what young teens do not know is that some precautions must be taken when being sexually active.
While doing some research, I came across an article written by Heidi Saltzman and Harold Leitenberg, that spoke about college students’ experiences with underage sexual activity. She spoke about how much she regrets ever being sexually active as a minor. She expresses that it caused her to feel shame and made her feel “disgusting” as she put it.
There was a study shown by sage journals that states,“Women who had intercourse at age 13 endorsed more current symptoms of psychological distress than those who first had intercourse at age 14 or 15.”
While talking to an anonymous interviewee, a sophomore at Yerba Buena High School, he says that he regrets having intercourse at such a young age and wished he had waited a bit longer.
But what I was mostly trying to find out was if this was purely by choice or was it influenced by peer pressure? When asking my interviewee about ever feeling pressured to have intercourse, he responded with, “Sort of, but not really. Mostly by other guys. I was called a pussy once because they thought I wasn’t ‘man’ enough to have sex.”
When I was speaking with him I noticed that he was very much embarrassed but also hesitant to talk about the subject. When I asked him why he said that he was ashamed that something like peer pressure affected him.
With the peer pressure alone, there is way more that active teens should be cautious about. For example the dangers of teen pregnancy and the most important of all the, “Romeo and Juliet” law.
Most teens in general do not know of the law, but teens in California should definitely be more cautious. In California we do not have this law in place and enforced. This can lead to potential sex offender convictions and that can later affect the childs life. For example, jobs will be rejected, bullying and other hardships will follow them in their path.
The “Romeo and Juliet” law is when two teenagers are caught having intercourse and their parents feel the need to press charges against the significant other of the child, they can do so and the child will be prosecuted and may end up with a criminal punishment, like a sex offender offence.
According to an article written by The National center for victims of crimes, “23% of reported cases of child sexual “abusers” are perpetrated by individuals under the age of 18” (3). Most of these are cases reported from California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, etc.
But legal consequences aren’t the only thing that teens should be cautious of. STI’s are well known to cause stress on teens and young adults.
According to Stanford Children’s Health “STIs affect men and women of all backgrounds and economic levels. But nearly 50 out of 100 STI cases in the U.S. occur in people younger than age 25”.
My intention for this story is not to scare you into not being active, but only to help you understand some consequences that come with having underage sex and where to find help if you would like to be eductaed in the subject.
If you or someone you know is considering being active with their signifacant other, there are websites that you can check out and ask questions about safe sex. For example, Planned Parenthood has a mode where you can ask anonymous questions and get an answer almost immediately.
All you have to do to find this mode which is called “ask Roo”, is go to the planned parenthood website, scroll down and you will see it. They will help with whatever questions you have about safe sex, even about if you feel pressured into being active.
I myself did not know much about this but I wanted to know why so many teens my age were having impulsive sex and what the consequences were if someone my age were to consider having intercourse. Little did I know that parents were aloud to press charges without you having a say in the situation. But if you are active at the moment or even consider it, please make sure that you and your partner are both safe and are both consenting.
But what young teens do not know is that some precautions must be taken when being sexually active.
While doing some research, I came across an article written by Heidi Saltzman and Harold Leitenberg, that spoke about college students’ experiences with underage sexual activity. She spoke about how much she regrets ever being sexually active as a minor. She expresses that it caused her to feel shame and made her feel “disgusting” as she put it.
There was a study shown by sage journals that states,“Women who had intercourse at age 13 endorsed more current symptoms of psychological distress than those who first had intercourse at age 14 or 15.”
While talking to an anonymous interviewee, a sophomore at Yerba Buena High School, he says that he regrets having intercourse at such a young age and wished he had waited a bit longer.
But what I was mostly trying to find out was if this was purely by choice or was it influenced by peer pressure? When asking my interviewee about ever feeling pressured to have intercourse, he responded with, “Sort of, but not really. Mostly by other guys. I was called a pussy once because they thought I wasn’t ‘man’ enough to have sex.”
When I was speaking with him I noticed that he was very much embarrassed but also hesitant to talk about the subject. When I asked him why he said that he was ashamed that something like peer pressure affected him.
With the peer pressure alone, there is way more that active teens should be cautious about. For example the dangers of teen pregnancy and the most important of all the, “Romeo and Juliet” law.
Most teens in general do not know of the law, but teens in California should definitely be more cautious. In California we do not have this law in place and enforced. This can lead to potential sex offender convictions and that can later affect the childs life. For example, jobs will be rejected, bullying and other hardships will follow them in their path.
The “Romeo and Juliet” law is when two teenagers are caught having intercourse and their parents feel the need to press charges against the significant other of the child, they can do so and the child will be prosecuted and may end up with a criminal punishment, like a sex offender offence.
According to an article written by The National center for victims of crimes, “23% of reported cases of child sexual “abusers” are perpetrated by individuals under the age of 18” (3). Most of these are cases reported from California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, etc.
But legal consequences aren’t the only thing that teens should be cautious of. STI’s are well known to cause stress on teens and young adults.
According to Stanford Children’s Health “STIs affect men and women of all backgrounds and economic levels. But nearly 50 out of 100 STI cases in the U.S. occur in people younger than age 25”.
My intention for this story is not to scare you into not being active, but only to help you understand some consequences that come with having underage sex and where to find help if you would like to be eductaed in the subject.
If you or someone you know is considering being active with their signifacant other, there are websites that you can check out and ask questions about safe sex. For example, Planned Parenthood has a mode where you can ask anonymous questions and get an answer almost immediately.
All you have to do to find this mode which is called “ask Roo”, is go to the planned parenthood website, scroll down and you will see it. They will help with whatever questions you have about safe sex, even about if you feel pressured into being active.
I myself did not know much about this but I wanted to know why so many teens my age were having impulsive sex and what the consequences were if someone my age were to consider having intercourse. Little did I know that parents were aloud to press charges without you having a say in the situation. But if you are active at the moment or even consider it, please make sure that you and your partner are both safe and are both consenting.