Teaching Sex in High school Health classes
Teaching sex in Health Class
Instructions:
They say "Sex Sells". Media portrays sex in a variety of ways, through movies, music, video games and more. With all of the "sex" that teenagers see every day, how do we help combat the messages in our health classes?
After reviewing the articles, summarize your findings of sexuality and the media. How much "sex" are the youth of today exposed to? Give a couple of examples of television, movies, music, and/or video games that promote sex (and/or promiscuity). In your opinion, should the media be "forced" to curb what they are portraying? In your opinion, provide a brief outline of how you would combat media in the area of sexuality in your high school health class. Please limit your responses to 7 pages double spaced.
Teaching Sex in High school Health classes
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Sex in High School Health Classes
Sexuality and sexual activity among the teens in high schools is a major concern and challenge among the parents and teachers. The twenty first century has seen the revolution of technological advancements and teenagers are exposed to different forms of media such as the television and the internet (Kotrla, 2007). Majority of households in most countries in the world have access to either a television set or internet access which poses a big threat to the teenagers. This is because the teenagers are exposed to sexual explicit content from programs that are aired in the television and the internet. In the developed countries, more than ninety percent of households have access to a television or the internet. The developing countries are not left out since the technological revolution has spread to these countries, most of which are in Africa and Asia.
The media has a massive influence on the youth. In the current world we live in, the youth rely mostly on the media for entertainment purposes and it is through these forms of media that youth are exposed to sexual explicit content. In a survey carried out in America among the teenagers, close to eighty percent of youth admitted that they were exposed to sexually explicit content on television shows and movies and this made it seem normal for the teenagers to have sex.
Young teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 said that they relied on entertainment media as a source of information about sexuality and sexual health issues. Studies also revealed that television commercials and adverts have some type of sexual attractiveness that is used to convey the message intended. This tends to influence the youth negatively about their views of sexuality. Repeated exposure to sexual content in the media influences the teenagers to have sex early (Hennessy, Et al. 2009). In the television commercials that are aired, only a few of them will include references to abstinence, birth control measures, risk of pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.
Most of the influence comes from the music industry where by the videos contain obscene scenes of scantily dressed female artists and musicians. For example, the MTV music show which is a favorite among teenage girls reveals that women are seen as sex objects. The girls and women in the music videos are usually half dressed and they dress in ways that expose their breasts and rear ends. Desperate house wives is another example of a television program that shows obscene pictures of scantily dressed women and the show is a favorite among the teens. Video games which are common among the youth also have negative influence to the youth. For example, the game ‘Duke Nukem` series, prostitutes are used as characters that are targets of the male hero in the game.
Women are also used in advertisements and show off their bodies and are used sexually to sell and promote products and this ...