Chapter 11: Sexuality in Childhood and Adolescence Learning Objectives Sexual Development in Childhood and Adolescence • Understand the role of the family in teaching children about sexuality. • Understand normative and nonnormative sexual behaviors of children and adolescents. Sexuality in Childhood • Understand at what point in the lifespan we humans are considered to be sexual. • Describe the common sexual behaviors of children and their role in healthy sexual development. Sexuality in Adolescence • Describe the common sexual curiosities, interests, and behaviors of adolescence. • Identify and describe the processes of puberty for both boys and girls. Sexuality in Context: The Role of Institutions • Describe the major sources of sexual socialization for children and explain how each of them influences an individual’s sexual development. • Identify the best programs available for sex education in schools. Young People’s Rights and Sexual Well-Being • Evaluate how to protect young people’s well-being while protecting their right to have sexual relationships. Chapter Outline Chapter 11: Sexuality in Childhood and Adolescence Learning Objectives 11.1 Discussion Topic 11.1 Discussion Topic 11.2 Learning Objectives 11.2 Discussion Topic 11.3 Discussion Topic 11.4 Learning Objectives 11.3 Discussion Topic 11.5 Discussion Topic 11.6 Discussion Topic 11.7 Discussion Topic 11.8 Discussion Topic 11.9 Learning Objectives 11.4 Discussion Topic 11.10 Discussion Topic 11.11 Discussion Topic 11.12 I. Sexual Development in Childhood and Adolescence • Puberty is a period of rapid bodily and sexual maturation that occurs mainly in early adolescence. • Parents and families want to do their best to protect young people from danger such as sexual predation, but we should not go so far as to threaten young people’s development to such an extent that they are unable to truly enjoy their sexual relationships in life. This is where resilience comes in. o Resilience is the process that allows individuals to grow and thrive in physical and mental health in spite of the risk and challenges they encounter. A. Biology, Family, and Culture • Our culture today largely avoids coupling the topics of sexuality and childhood. When they do come together, it is often shocking, as seen in stories about sexual abuse. • The family remains the primary source of early lessons about sexuality for the majority of Americans. B. Healthy Sexuality and Values in Childhood and Adolescence • Encouraging healthy sexuality and sexual well-being in childhood and adolescence involves accepting the fact that we humans are sexual beings from the beginning moments of life. C. Emotional Literacy in Young People • Learning to use terms such as love and sex at the right time and in the proper context can make a huge difference in how intimacy and love are achieved. • Affection and love, the appropriate expression of sexual feelings, and dignity and respect are all critical components that children seem to home in on in their observations of parental and familial interaction. II. Sexuality in Childhood A. Infants as Sensual Beings • Within the first year of life, there is a surprising range of sexual responsiveness. Penile erections in young infants are common, and orgasm has been reported in boys as young as 5 months and girls as young as 7 months, although ejaculation doesn’t occur in boys until puberty. • As children move into toddlerhood, their sexual behaviors often become much more purposeful. Toddlers still perceive those physical sensations as sensual rather than sexual, but parents may worry that these are sexualized behaviors, meaning the behaviors are sexual in nature. o In turn, parents begin to transmit value messages to their children with regard to these behaviors. These value messages, which can come from parents, teachers, or other authorities, communicate a value or moral statement about a particular behavior, issue, or event. • Sexualized behaviors during toddler hood are mostly autoerotic, or self-stimulated. Toddlers find that stimulation of the genitals feels good to them. • During toddlerhood, sexual socialization takes hold. How a parent communicates sexual messages, in terms of the meaning and emotion, whether consciously or subconsciously, is critical in a child’s current and future perception of sexuality. B. Childhood Curiosity, Masturbation, and Sexual Play • Many influences affect children’s sexual attitudes and behavior, including parents, siblings, peers, culture, and exposure to media, so it isn’t surprising that there are variations in their sexual development. Nonetheless, children and adolescents do exhibit some common behaviors in particular age ranges. For example, children naturally express curiosity about many things between 2 and 4 years of age, and pediatricians now consider young children’s interest in sex just another form of the “why” stage of development. • Children may also display age-inappropriate behaviors or sexual behaviors that appear to be too mature for their age. Professionals may link atypical behaviors to sexual abuse or to an inappropriate level of exposure to sexual material, media, and information, although this is not always the case. Tables 11.1 to 11.3 in the text summarize normative sexual behaviors as well as atypical ones for various age groups in childhood and can make a great slide to show in class. • Children begin to enact marriage scripts by about age 5. The scripts include their ideas about how married couples interact intimately. They also help instill messages about the value of reproduction and having children. III. Sexuality in Adolescence A. The Magic Age of 10: Development of Desire • Around the age of 10, children display more purposeful sexual behaviors than younger children do. For example, they may become nervous as their bodies begin to change and they begin avoiding the opposite sex. They may seek out more privacy in their daily lives. They may or may not show romantic interests in others, but as puberty takes form, children may show an increase in sexual desire. Generally, in early adolescence, sexual desire begins with self-exploration, and then, romantic and sexual expression, typically with other peers. B. The Biological Changes of Adolescence: Pubertal Development • The primary change of puberty is the maturation of the reproductive system. Though you might think that puberty starts at about age 12, the process actually begins at around age 6 to 7 and continues into the early teens (McClintock & Herdt, 1996). Between the ages of 6 and 8, the adrenal glands begin to mature in a process called adrenarche. They secrete DHEA, a hormone that converts to testosterone in boys and estrogen in girls. In addition, between the ages of 8 and 14, the hypothalamus increases secretions that cause the pituitary gland to release gonadotropins, specifically follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), which stimulate activity and growth in the gonads of both boys and girls. This process is called gonadarche. In boys, gonadotropins spur development of the testes and production of testosterone. In girls, gonadotropins increase estrogen levels in the ovaries. Levels of these sex hormones continue to increase throughout pubertal development into the mid-teens, and sometimes longer. • In addition to the maturation of the reproductive system, the development of secondary sex characteristics occurs during puberty. Secondary sex characteristics are physical characteristics other than genital development that are signs of maturation. A growth spurt, body hair growth, changes in body contours, breast development, and enlargement of the external genitals are all a result of increasing levels of sex hormones in the pubescent individual. • Puberty for Girls—Besides adrenarche, we often see the growth spurt as the first marker of female pubertal development. Between the ages of 10 to 12, girls usually experience a noticeable change in height. This growth continues throughout pubertal development and concludes between the ages of 14 and 16 when sex hormones send messages to lose the long ends of the bones, which prevent our bodies from growing any taller. In addition to changes in height, breast development and growth in pubic and underarm hair begin. An adolescent girl will also notice her body contours changing, as her hips widen to facilitate easier childbirth in the future. o Menarche, the first menstrual period, typically occurs at 12–14 years of age. In the United States, the average age at menarche is approximately 12.4 years. The age of menarche is determined by a collection of factors including heredity, ethnicity, nutrition, and body fat. The age of menarche dropped dramatically in the 20th century, though the range seems to have remained relatively stable in the last 40 years or so. We refer to this decline in age as the secular trend. o Some girls experience precocious puberty, which is puberty that occurs several years before the average age in a given society. In most developed nations, precocious puberty begins at age 9 or before. When a girl experiences menarche this young, she often looks much older than her peers. This apparent maturity can attract the attention of older adolescents, which places her at risk for engagement in early sexual activity. • Puberty for Boys—For boys, pubertal development often starts with events not typically visible to the public. Testes growth begins to occur around the age of 12 for most boys in the United States. The penis, prostate, and seminal vesicles begin to grow and mature at this time. Approximately 1 year after the penis begins to grow, boys become capable of ejaculation. o Spermarche, the first ejaculation, often occurs when boys are asleep. This kind of ejaculation is also known as nocturnal emission. Pubic hair growth begins and the voice starts to deepen. By about age 14, boys begin to experience their growth spurt, which usually lasts well into the latter part of their teenage years. Underarm and facial hair develops later in puberty. • Ethnic Diversity in Pubertal Changes—Pediatric studies have tended to reveal evidence of significant ethnic variation in menarche for girls. For example, the population of African American girls typically reaches menarche at an earlier age than the populations of White American and Hispanic American girls in the United States. Similar variations occur worldwide. o Due to the considerable differences in diet and health around the world, we see quite a difference in age at menarche. Generally, the average age of menarche is higher in countries where individuals are more likely to be malnourished or to suffer from diseases. For example, in the United States and western Europe, the average age of menarche ranges from 12 to 13 years, whereas in Africa the range is from 13 to 17 years (Worthman, 1998). The wider variability in Africa is due to the range of health and living conditions that exist on that continent (Hardy, 2010). C. Romantic Relationships • As they mature, boys and girls want to develop their flourishing sexual feelings. As recently as 10 years ago, research on adolescent relationships focused mainly on peers and parents. In the past decade, though, researchers began looking at romantic interests and relationships in adolescence. • Over 50% of all adolescents report having been in a romantic relationship within the previous 1.5 years, and by their 16th birthday most report spending more time with romantic partners than they do with family or friends. Healthy Sexuality Religion and Adolescent Sexual Relationships • Few researchers have examined the effect that religious belief has on sexual health, but an important study sheds light on how much religion or deeply held spiritual beliefs affect teens’ sexual relationships (Regnerus, 2007). Here are the key findings: o The degree of religious devotion is more important than religious affiliation in youth’s sexual decision making. o Parental conversations around sexuality lack content and do not occur often enough. o Religion has a great impact on sexual attitudes. o “Emotional readiness for sex” is a slippery phrase. o The success of abstinence pledging is mixed. o Despite mass media’s representation, American teenagers are not oversexed. o Evangelical Protestant youths may have less permissive attitudes about sex than other religious youths, but they are not the last to lose their virginity. o U.S. youths believe in contraception but use it inconsistently. o Technical virginity (a belief that one can engage in sexual behaviors, including oral and anal sex, and still maintain the state of virginity by abstaining from vaginal intercourse) may not be as common as media reports claim it is. o The practice of anal sex is increasing among heterosexual teenagers. o Few adolescents are able to understand the religious tension between the appreciation of sex and apprehension about it. D. Sexual Identity • Although sexual identity continues to form throughout adulthood for some individuals, many people tend to consolidate their sense of sexual identity during their late teens and early 20s. • Sexual identity development can be a daunting task for adolescents grappling with same-sex attractions, particularly if they think that these attractions are not normal. For years, the term heterosexuality has been the norm in reference to sexual identity, perhaps because heterosexual individuals make up a majority of the population. • In the research literature about sexual identity formation for sexual minority men and women, we find some common threads. One common thread involves signs of a same-sex sexual orientation, such as feelings of being different as a child (Savin-Williams, 2005). Another thread is that adolescents report same-sex attractions or a lack of attraction for the opposite sex, and subsequently engage in same-sex experimentation that might lead to self-identification as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. E. Sexual Behaviors in Adolescence • Masturbation—Masturbation is an important milestone in adolescent sexual development. Research shows that by the end of adolescence nearly all males and many females have masturbated. • Touching, Making Out, and Other Sexual Behaviors—To maintain their technical virginity, adolescents often feel free to engage in noncoital sexual expression to connect with one another. Necking, petting, mutual masturbation, and making out are all ways in which adolescents begin to express their sexuality and erotic feelings while maintaining some safety with regard to pregnancy. • Sexual Intercourse—Young men tend to report their first sexual intercourse experience as quite positive. Girls have a different response. A significant proportion of teenage girls report that they really did not want it (Thompson, 1995). They weren’t necessarily forced into having sex, but girls may feel external pressure either from partners or peers that led them to make a decision they were not totally comfortable with. F. STIs, Pregnancy, and Contraception • Why does the United States have one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and STIs in the world? For one thing, teenagers are not using contraceptives effectively. Even more disconcerting is that most teenagers do not use contraception during the first several times they engage in sexual intercourse. What is encouraging, though, is that the teenage pregnancy rate seems to be slowly declining. The birth rate among teens is currently only 50% of what it was in 1990 (National Campaign, 2012). IV. Sexuality in Context: The Role of Institutions A. Families • The family remains the most important and most consistent factor in sexual socialization, according to researchers. A large study of 1,343 middle and high school students examined the effects of several institutions on their sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (Moore et al., 2002). The study considered the roles that parents, peers, and mass media play in sexual socialization. Although these institutions and influences made a difference, the study revealed that parents are the most consistent influence and sexual socialization agent across all different age groupings. B. Peers • Although it appears that children and adolescents prefer their parents to be the source of sexual information (Somers & Surmann, 2004), the majority of parents fail to engage in meaningful conversations about sex with their children. It is understandable, then, that children and adolescents turn to their friends for answers to their questions about sex. C. Media • Researchers have long known that young people’s sexual identity development is influenced by the media (Plummer, 1995). For example, consider how media influence the process of sexual identity development through popular cable TV shows such as Glee!, which has highlighted the plight of LGBT youth as well as heterosexual youth who test the boundaries of straight sexual identity development (Diamond, 2008). • Public and Private Spaces—Adolescents and adults saturate social networking spaces such as Facebook and websites or blogs with sexual themes as they publicly negotiate their own sexual identity formation. These once personal but now public narratives are transforming the sexual landscape of our society. With the sexualization of the media, individuals feel free to express their stories to individuals they do not know. • Media and Body Image—As we have seen, the barrage of information in the media dictates much of what we deem beautiful or sexy. It is no wonder, then, that the rates of disordered eating patterns are skyrocketing. Additionally, body image is no longer an issue just for teenagers, as increasingly younger children report they are dieting. Just as sexual behavior changes during the life cycle, our self-image changes as well. D. Sexuality Education in Schools • Government officials are conservative on the issue of sexuality education. However, recent trends in public health education and government policy highlight a change to a broader and more holistic treatment of these issues. Nonetheless, experts fear that the abstinence-only model of sex education that has been the rule in many areas of the country has done great damage. • Three important new perspectives help us understand how unsuccessful the abstinence-only model has been. o First, the scientific evidence is now overwhelming that abstinence-only education is ineffective in delaying the onset of sexual behavior and in preventing STIs and unintended pregnancies. This disease and prevention model is based on false assumptions about sexual behavior, including the notions that young people will be promiscuous if taught about sexuality and that condoms are ineffective at preventing unintended pregnancy and STIs. o Second, the abstinence-only model rarely teaches adolescents what they need to know to be sexually healthy. o Finally, and most important, the abstinence-only model in no way prepares young people to develop healthy relationships across the life span, but especially in adolescence. Adolescents lack the life skills, knowledge, and ability to talk with their parents or loved ones about their sexual feelings and well-being. • Student Perspectives About Sexual Education—Sexuality education is a hot topic for diverse groups around the globe. In New Zealand, for example, sexual education is a target for competing social and political interests. Parents, teachers, school administrators, policymakers, civil liberties organizations, conservatives, and liberals have all made their preferences clear regarding the content to include in sexual education. o Louisa Allen (2008) looked at the preferences of 16- to 19-year-olds for improving the content of sexuality education. She based her analysis on information gathered from 10 focus groups and 1,180 surveys from youths in New Zealand. Allen’s study revealed that young people in New Zealand want content about emotions in relationships, teenage parenthood, abortion, and how to make sexual activity pleasurable. They want to talk about sex. • Categories of Sexual Education Programs—Today, three major categories of programs address childhood and adolescent sexuality: o Abstinence-only programs o Comprehensive sexuality education programs o Youth development programs E. Sexual Health in Europe and the United States • Young people enjoy better sexual health and well-being in western Europe, compared to many regions of the United States. One reason for the healthier sexual life in Europe is that the sexual cultures in these countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, are more approving of sexuality and their media and government policies support this diversity. • Sex education may be the key to understanding these differences in sexual literacy. Today western European countries teach sex education as a mandatory course often spanning kindergarten through high school. Contraceptives, the morning-after pill, and other methods of birth control are available to teens without parental consent, and people seem to use them responsibly. In countries with more sex education, there is a greater tendency for the individual to learn tolerance for cultural, sexual, and gender differences, diversity of sexual identity, and the placement of sexuality holistically into the life course. V. Young Peoples Rights and Sexual Well Being • You might be surprised to know that within the United States and around the world, there are varying ages of consent for sexual behavior. The age of consent is the age at which an individual can legally agree to have sex. In most countries, until a person reaches this age, it is against the law to have sex with anyone, even with someone who’s older than the age of consent. • When someone breaks the law by having sex with an underage minor, he or she can be charged with statutory rape, regardless of whether this was a consensual act or not, and regardless of whether there is 1 day or 10 years’ age difference. • Table 11.5 shows the age of consent for the states within the United States. Key Terms Puberty—a period of rapid bodily and sexual maturation that occurs mainly in early adolescence Resilience—the process that allows individuals to grow and thrive in physical and mental health in spite of the risk and challenges they encounter Sexualized behaviors—human behaviors that are sexual in nature Value messages—moral statements regarding a particular behavior, issue, or event Autoerotic—behaviors that are self-stimulating Sexual socialization—the process of learning values and norms of sexual behaviors Marriage scripts—mental or cognitive representations of marriage including ideas about how married couples interact Adrenarche—the process of maturation of the adrenal glands; often thought of as one of the first markers of pubertal development Gonadotropins—chemicals that stimulate activity and growth in the gonads of both boys and girls Gonadarche—refers to the earliest gonadal changes of puberty; in response to gonadotropins, the ovaries in girls and the testes in boys begin to grow Secondary sex characteristics—physical characteristics that indicate pubertal development other than genital development Secular trend—the decline in the age of menarche during the 20th century Precocious puberty—puberty that occurs several years before the average age in a given society Spermarche—first ejaculation; occurs during male pubertal development Technical virginity—a belief that one can engage in sexual behaviors, including oral and anal sex, and still maintain the state of virginity by abstaining from vaginal intercourse Sexualization—the process of someone being treated as a sex object, and the objectification becomes so intense that the person may feel worthless as a human being beyond his or her sex appeal Age of consent—the age at which an individual can legally agree to have sex Statutory rape—sexual intercourse with an underage minor, regardless if it is consensual and regardless of the age difference between partners Instructor Manual for Human Sexuality: Self, Society, and Culture Gilbert Herdt, Nicole Polen-Petit 9780073532165, 9780077817527
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