Talk:Adolescent sexuality/Nateland's version

Main articles: Human sexuality and Adolescence

Adolescent sexuality refers to sexual feelings, behavior and development in adolescents and is a stage of human sexuality. This article is about Adolescent sexuality in humans. For the main article on adolescence see adolescence for the main article on human sexuality see, human sexuality. And for the main article on sexuality in Animals see animal sexuality.

Overview

Adolescent Sexuality is the expression of or existence of sexual feelings, behavior, etc.. in and among adolescents. While sexual activity may not always be between humans. See Paraphilia and Zoophilia.

In adolescent's, sexuality and sexual desire is usually just beginning to appear along with the onset of puberty. A stage in the human life cycle. This sexuality can be expressed in many ways. With some or many (exact statistics are not known) adolescent's participating in mutual sexual activity or, if religion, parents, or some other factor prohibits. Sexual expression may be in the form of masturbation. Sexual Identity among adolescent's can vary greatly. Encompassing the spectrum from Heterosexuality, to Homosexuality, to Monosexuality, or even Asexuality (although whether Asexuality is a sexual preference is under dispute).

Sex Education

See main article at Sex education

Sex education is a broad term used to describe education about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, and other aspects of human sexual behavior. Common venues for sex education are parents or caregivers, school programs, and public health campaigns.

However, the degrees of sexual education given vary worldwide. For example. In France, sex education has been part of school curricula since 1973. Schools are expected to provide 30 to 40 hours of sex education, and pass out condoms, to students in grades eight and nine. In January 2000, the French government launched an information campaign on contraception with TV and radio spots and the distribution of five million leaflets on contraception to high school students.

While in Britain and the United states there has been a significant amount of controversy over what should and should not be taught by schools and other venues. And in the United States the Bush Administration has backed Sexual abstinence sexual education. Which makes up a large part of United States school taught sexual education.

Whereas in Asia the state of sex education programs are at various stages of development. Indonesia, Mongolia, South Korea and Sri Lanka have a systematic policy framework for teaching about sex within schools. Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand have assessed adolescent reproductive health needs with a view to developing adolescent-specific training, messages and materials. India has programs that specifically aims at school children at the age group of nine to sixteen years. These are included as subjects in the curriculum and generally involves open and frank interaction with the teachers. Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan have no coordinated sex education programs.

Legal aspects of adolescent sexuality

Main articles: Age of consent and Marriageable age

Adolescent Sexuality in modern times has often become the target for much controversy in the Western World and other places as well. Thus, many countries have created an age of consent which is legally the minimum age at which a person is considered to be capable of legally giving informed consent to any contract or behavior regulated by law with another person, specifically laws regulating sexual acts rather than the age of majority, however the legal of consent has varied from being age 13 in Japan to age 14 in Canada and varying in age from 16 to 18 across most of the United States. [1]] The age of consent can also apply to the legal age at which two (or more), people can marry.

Sexual relations with a person under the age of consent are generally a criminal offense in the country in which the crime was committed. With punishments ranging from token fines to life imprisonment. Many different terms exist for the charges laid and include statutory rape, illegal carnal knowledge, or corruption of a minor.

See also

• Age disparity in sexual relationships
• Child sexuality
• Romantic love
• Sexual revolution
• Sex education
• Sexual abstinence
• Religion and sexuality
• Teen pregnancy