Talking to Your Sexually Active/Non-Sexually Active Child about Sex - Research Paper Example

Talking to Your Sexually Active/Non-Sexually Active Child about Sex 2 Abstract This paper addresses an important sociological issue: talking about sex. It is not unusual that some parents often shy away from discussing sex with their children. And this has often created a serious social problem since it will be difficult to identify which child is sexually active or not. In this research, some 18-year old adults are interviewed about whether it is proper for parents to discuss or ask any questions about sex from their teenage children. Four men and four women were chosen for this interview, and their responses to the packet questions are documented. However, the packets were 2 for sexually active males and 2 for sexually active females; 2 for non-sexually active males and 2 for non-sexually active females. ANOVA computation is carried out on the outcomes of the interview in order to analyze the importance of each variable. The results of the experiment are duly discussed with the necessary facts obtained in the course of the experiment. 3 Introduction Talking to Your Sexually Active/Non-Sexually Active Child about Sex In recent years, many school administrators, teachers, parents or guardians have been preoccupied with the deliberation on the importance of engaging children in serious discussion about sex. In other words, there has been agitation for improved sex education at various levels: parents are encouraged to embolden themselves and talk to their kids about it; schools are advised to include sex education into their curriculum; community development and social organizations are prodded to increases their awareness against immoral practices of random sex affairs. In all these instances, it has been agreed upon that sex education possesses the power to empower individual in identifying the right or the wrong approach to sex issues (Allerston & Davies, 2001). Studies have shown that nowadays parents, as well as teachers, are not doing enough to hold meaningful discussions with their children about sexual issues (Stowell, 2008). On the part of parents, the pressure to provide the fundamental needs like food, clothes and shelter for the family has taken most of their time. And the teachers have lost interest in emphasizing on the significance of moral education at schools, which includes but not limited to sex education. Previous researches have demonstrated that both male and female human beings could exhibit abnormal sexual behaviors if they had not been exposed to any useful sex education (Kinsey & Institute for Sex Research, 1998; Kinsey et al., 1998). 4 However, some parents face moral or religious constraints in telling their wards about how they should approach sexual issues: Christians are most likely to tread carefully when discussing matter that is perceived, in the eye of Christianity, as immoral, polluting and leading to God-despised sins (Gangel, 1996). In other words, religions create some kinds of barriers that would prevent parents from saying the right things that would be useful for their kids as they grow up. And when this happens, religious parents have got no apparent options but to leave the matter in hand of schools: they often hope teachers at schools would teach their children how to act safely when it comes to sex. In recent years, volunteer and independent organizations have stepped in to salvage the morality that has been experiencing some forms of decay in our societies. They offered services or free advice on several pressing issues of life: be it personal hygiene, communal responsibility, fire safety measures and, of course, sex education (Bigelow, 2009; Draimin, 1997). Observable positive outcomes reveal that this latest approach is working, and boys and girls are freer discussing intimate issue like sex with a totally unknown person/counselor at the independent organizations than discussing similar topic with their parents or teachers (Handel, 2003). So, how could parents work in co-operation with the independent organizations in order to be fully aware of the sexual development of their shy children? Some propositions have been suggested in this area, but it has not blown up to the level that every organization 5 has a lifeline to the parents of the kids they counseled so as to raise alarm when necessary about the sexual activities of their kids. Having identified some possible ways of communication between parents and their children in matters relating to sexual activities, this research sets to explore how some parents and their wards respond to the need for serious discussion about sex. It is clear that when such a discussion is successful parents can enjoy some period of rest as they do not have to worry about the ordeals coming from unprotected sexual behavior (Angleton & Hart, 1991; Browne, 2005). It is imperative to state that there are apparently no alternatives to actually talking to one’s children about sex in order to detect whether they are sexually active or not. This important point is reflected in the entire context of this report as the research is based on the outcomes of qualitative conversations between parents and their wards, which has a great usefulness in solving myriad social problems. METHOD The method used in this research is fundamentally qualitative: packets questions that are meant to elicit important responses about someone’s sexual lifestyles are prepared, packaged and given to those that would answer them. 6 Subjects or Participants: The participants or subjects in this are volunteers; and they are undergraduate students at my university. For the purpose of receiving diverse responses, the participants are of different genders (male and female), ages (from 18-62 years old), religions (Christianity, Muslim, Buddhism etc), and races (African- American, Asian, Caucasian, Latino etc). They did not receive financial benefits for answering the packet questions, but were guaranteed that their privacy would be kept private. This was a huge motivation for them, as most of them had requested for anonymity. Apparatus: The materials used in this method are questionnaires that contained important questions that the responders were expected to answer based on individual reasoning. The answers they provided were not censored or tampered with, so their responses are used as raw as they were given, and computerized using statistics. Design: The packet questions contain significant expressions that aim at identifying the usefulness in parents talking about sex with their children. Procedures: Each questionnaire contains some vital information relating to sexual matters: some of these questions are included in the questionnaires. 1. What is your gender? (Check one). ο Male ο Female 2. What is your age? (give us your age in years) 3. People come from many different cultural backgrounds. Which one of these racial/ethnic groups best describes you? (Check the one that best applies to you). ο Asian/Pacific Islander Specify: ________________________________ ο African-American/Black ο Caucasian/White 7 ο Hispanic/Latino ο Biracial/Multiracial Specify: __________________________________ ο Other: Specify: __________________________________ 4. Were you born in the United States? (Check one). ο NO ο YES 5. How old were you when you came to the United States? ________ Years old. 6. How often do you attend religious services? (Check one). ο About once a week ο More than once a week ο Once or twice a month ο A few times a year ο Once a year or less ο Never 7. How important is God in your life? (Check one). ο Not important ο A little important ο Pretty important ο Very important 8. Did your parents talk to you about sex? (Check one). ο Yes ο No 9. If so, approximately how old were you when your parents first talked to you about sex? (give us the approximate age in years) 10. As you were growing up, what topics came up when your parents talked to you about sex? (Check ALL that apply). ο I was informed that I shouldn’t engage in any sexual behavior. ο I was informed that I should only go so far sexually. ο I was told that I should wait to have sex until I was married. ο I was told that it is better to wait to have sex until married but no one told me not to have sex. ο I was asked if I was having sex. ο I was given information on condoms. ο I was given information on birth control other than condoms. ο I was given warnings about sexually transmitted diseases. ο I was given warnings about HIV or AIDS. ο We talked about heavy petting (touching a boy or girl on his/her private parts). ο We talked about oral sex. ο We talked about French kissing or kissing with the tongue. ο We talked about dating and/or relationships. ο We talked about my orientation (whether I was attracted to boys or girls). 8 11. Please write down any other topics that came up when you talked to your mother or father about sex, relationships, or dating. _______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 12. Do you have children? (check one --- step, adopted, and children in relative care count as your children) ο Yes (go to next question) ο No (No further questions) * How old are your children? (give us the age and gender of each child). * Have you talked to any of your children about sex? ο Yes (go to number 16) ο No (no further questions) 13. How old were/was your children/child when you first talked about sex? (give the age/s in years) 14. What sexual topics have you talked to your child/children about? (Check ALL that apply). ο The child was informed that he/she shouldn’t engage in any sexual behavior. ο The child was informed that he/she should only go so far sexually. ο The child told that he/she should wait to have sex until he/she was married. ο The child was told that it is better to wait to have sex until married but I did not tell him/her not to have sex. ο I asked if he/she was having sex. ο I gave information on condoms. ο I gave information on birth control other than condoms. ο I gave warnings about sexually transmitted diseases. ο I gave warnings about HIV or AIDS. ο We talked about heavy petting (touching a boy or girl on his/her private parts). ο We talked about oral sex. ο We talked about French kissing or kissing with the tongue. ο We talked about dating and/or relationships. ο We talked about sexual orientation (whether he/she was attracted to boys or girls). 15. Please write down any other topics that came up when you talked to your child/ren about sex, relationships, or dating. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 9 Result Below are the statistics of the result obtained from the computation of the data collected from the responses to the questionnaire containing the packet questions. Frequencies This table above reveals the number of valid responders that gave their age, gender, ethnicity, genderP and sex act. The Mean and Standard Deviation of each class are estimated Frequency Table The valid percentage of the participants’ gender are given above for the set of two tests. The table above shows the valid percentage for each of the 6 racial ethnicities that participated in the research: namely, Asian/Pacific Islander; African-American/Black; Caucasian/White; Hispanic/Latino; Biracial/Multiracial; Other. AGE The table below reveals the average age of the participants, from 18 years to 62 years old; and their percentage validities are given. Given above are the percentage validities for genderP and Sexact according to the responses collected from the participants in two tests carried out. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) Using data in ANOVA below, it is discovered that the analysis was significant about parents talking to their children about sex: F(Var A, 115) = 1.219, p < 5. Descriptives The participants who believe that parents should talk seriously about sex (M=4.61, SD= 0.910) are more than those who don’t agree with the fact that parents should discuss sex with their children (M=4.40, SD=1.100). Discussion Both the literature review and the statistics above support the assertion that parents need to do more in talking frankly with their children about sex. By doing this, they would be able to identify which of their kids are sexually active or non-sexually active. Having this kind of knowledge would assist the parents in giving appropriate sex education to their children. Though, this research uses qualitative methodology, there is every possibility that its results may have been affected by human emotion, or personal willingness to hide the truth about the topic under discussion. The implication of this research is that it could be used as a reference in future studies on the same issue. References Allerston, S. & Davies, G. (2001). Sex Education. Gloucestershire, United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes. Angleton, P. & Hart, G. (1991). AIDS—responses, interventions, and care. London: Taylor & Francis. Bigelow, M.A. (2009). Sex-education. Charleston, South Carolina: BiblioBazaar, LLC. Browne, J. (2005). Dating for dummies. London: For Dummies. Draimin, B.H. (1997). Drug and Aids. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group. Gangel, K.O. (1996). The Christian educator’s handbook on family life education. Ada, Michigan: Baker Pub Group. Handel, M.J. (2003). The sociology of organizations: classic, contemporary, and critical readings. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. Kinsey, A.C. & Institute for Sex Research (1998). Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. Kinsey, A.C., Pomeroy, W.B., & Martin, C.E. (1998). Sexual Ｂehavior in the Human Male. Bloomington, Indiana; Indiana University Press. Stowell, W.L. (2008). Sex, for Parents and Teachers. Vancouver, Canada: READ BOOKS. Read More