Why do schools tell adolescents that sexual activity without marriage is more likely to come with very harmful psychological effects whereas sexual activity with marriage is less psychologically harmful? Many of us remember sitting in those long health classes learning that sex should be carried out between two consenting married adults and that’s the only way sex should happen. In recent advances in neuroscience, there has been an expansion of our understanding of the neural underpinnings of romantic love, marriage, sexual desire, and sexual behavior, which has improved researchers understanding of adolescent brain development when it comes to understanding their view on these topics.
In this article, the researchers reviewed recent advances in neuroscience and clarified what is known about the link between neural development and adolescent romantic and sexual behavior and what opportunities exist for future research. In an article cross-referenced with this one about students in three Asian cities, (Peng et al 2015) there was an examination of the patterns of sexual behaviors of unmarried adolescents and youth in three Asian cities, which were Shanghai, Taipei, and Hanoi and the identified factors related to the timing of initial sexual experience. From the researcher’s (Peng et al 2015) analysis of a sample of 16,554 of unmarried adolescents and youth between the ages of 15–24 years recruited from Shanghai, Taipei, and Hanoi with the addition to some data that was collected from face-to-face interviews complemented by computer-assisted self-interviews for more personal questions.
The researchers learned that unmarried adolescents and youth in Shanghai, Taipei, and Hanoi have different sexual behaviors. Affluent economic status increases the likelihood of the early start of sexual experiences. Higher educational attainment may delay the start of intercourse. Compared with Shanghai unmarried adolescents and youth, study participants from Taipei and Hanoi were 3.64 times and 0.33 times as likely to participate intercourse. Whereas the evidence from neuroscience does not yet allow for clear conclusions about the cost or benefits of early romantic relationships and sexual behavior, it does indicate that providing developmentally appropriate education contributes to lifelong sexual health.
Developing policies and practices for school‐based sex education that reflect current research will have the best support on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents throughout their lives (Suleiman et al 2015). These results do suggest that having some school-based learning of sexual behaviors will have an outcome of when or if unmarried sex will occur in the youth and who is more likely to participate in married and unmarried sexual activities.
References:
Suleiman, A. B., Johnson, M., Shirtcliff, E. A., & Galván, A. (2015, July 07). School‐Based Sex Education and Neuroscience: What We Know About Sex, Romance, Marriage, and Adolescent Brain Development. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/josh.12285
Zhang, P., Gao, E., Sun, Q., Lou, C., Leung, E. Y., Cheng, Y., & Zabin, L. S. (2015, November 05). Patterns of sexual behaviors among unmarried adolescents and youth in three Asian cities. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/jphp.2015.36
Kayla Bolden
October 15, 2018 — 2:14 pm
I completely agree with you, Amber. Growing up in the south, talking about sex before marriage seems like a Taboo subject and even in the school system most of what is taught is to abstain from sex instead of providing the necessary resources for individuals who are sexually active. Preventing STI’s and talking about contraceptives is just as important in regards to sex education. Also, marriage is not guaranteed unfortunately so, our youth still need to be properly educated regardless of if they planned to be married in the future or not.
Yasmin Edwards
October 17, 2018 — 2:15 am
I do remember learning sex education in health class and the number one thing the teacher talked about was absence untill marriage, but this was not for a psychological reason but for a protection from STIs. I agree that having an updated system to discuss sex is needed in health education. There has to be a way to inform kids about the psychological and physical importance of safe sex. Is there anything in the article that suggests ways to apply this study? Also is there any other studies done in the United States?