Seethrough | Teen Ink

Seethrough

April 26, 2009
By Mankaah Acho BRONZE, Hyattsville, Maryland
Mankaah Acho BRONZE, Hyattsville, Maryland
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Do you know that one girl in your school that always seems to have a new boyfriend every week? The one whose clothes are tight enough to be her skin and just long enough to be considered a mini-skirt. To you she is the definition of the word hoochie. If you do, then you know a promiscuous girl. Promiscuity is not always being overly sexual but exposed, not long-termed. She is probably the girl who everyone is always talking about but at the same time is dying to be her friend. You may think this is just her personality, yes sometimes, but most of the times, it’s something deeper. Sometimes it’s a cry for help.

Where It Starts



On a past episode of the Tyra Banks Show, she brought in a panel of five young women who drank, partied and engaged in sexual acts with complete strangers and were not afraid to talk about their adventures. There internationally renowned author and life coach Paula White told the young women who were leading these lifestyles and were proud of it that promiscuity is a serious issue.
Tyra then brought out a second panel of five men who said a man cannot take someone living a promiscuous lifestyle home to meet his family. They agreed that such a woman was not respected, but only used, and that knowing she lived a promiscuous lifestyle would make it hard to trust her. Jim a sixteen year old feels “She is what she is.” His advice “Drop out if you're going to act like that”
People are not born promiscuous; they learn it from someone or somewhere. That could be the affect of no father figure, low levels of morals, poor government, and support from an also promiscuous mother. Adolescents are shaped by their relationships with their parents. Girls are particularly shaped by their relations with their fathers. If the father does not freely give love to his daughter, she will look to other guys for that love through dating and sex. The teens sometimes are acting out to get attention, to feel treasured by someone, if only for a second. When boys say “if you love me you’ll have sex with me”, they are indirectly picking on the girls insecurity of being loved.

Many children who engage in sexual promiscuity suffer from very low self-esteem. In some cases promiscuous teens can be sending out a distress call for abuse issues. Sexual abuse during childhood can affect the behavior of adolescents growing up. The after-affects of sexual abuse lead females to feel their body is no good, damaged, and that no one would want to touch or love them. This makes them not care about what happens to them or their bodies. Sex may become an outlet for struggling teens’ frustration just as drugs and alcohol, a way to escape feelings and emotional confusion.

The Effect



Fourteen year old Loren who attends a private school and is in the 9th grade says she knows a girl who has been sexually active for 2 years. When asked how she felt she said “I don’t want to deal with her. As soon as I found out, I never looked at her the same way again. That’s not the type of person I want to be with. I think she’s hiding a problem. I think she’s actually very insecure and she’s afraid that if she doesn’t have sex with the boy, that he won’t like her anymore. I’m not really sure, but that’s my thought”. Her advice to the girl “Close your legs!”

Any teenager who is acting out sexually will feel a diminished sense of value. They also have trust issues. Teens that are promiscuous often have an increased risk of unwanted pregnancies and STDs. Statistics reveal that every year in the US, over 850,000 girls between the ages of fifteen and nineteen become pregnant. Equally disturbing are the figures that suggest 20,000 girls under fourteen become pregnant annually; of those only 8,000 go on to give birth.

Teenagers are much more likely to engage in unprotected sex with multiple partners. Half of all people infected with the HIV virus annually are thought to be between the ages of 15 and 24. About 25 percent of all sexually active teens contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD) annually. Of those, eighty percent do not know they have a disease and run the risk of long-term health effects, such as infertility.

Moving Ahead

What can you do to help? First of all do not judge. You may not agree with other people’s actions but you don’t know what their going through. Reach out to them. Tell them “You don’t have to tell me now or ever, but if you need someone to talk to I’m here.” When doing an intervention make sure you are bringing the person into a loving environment. Being promiscuous doesn’t make you any less of a person. Talk out your problems with someone you trust. As a society we have to find a way to encourage our youths to think more of themselves. It is our job to ensure that our future leaders of the world are well respected.

Tips For Parents And Friends.


Discuss sex with your child, from an early age, ideally pre-teen. Talking to your teen about sex encourages responsible behavior when it comes to sexual activity.

Offer guidance, care and supervision. Teenagers are in need of parenting and feel more secure when boundaries are clear.

As much as you may want to, the best thing that you can do is avoid gossiping about your friend.

Mention that you only believe in having sexual relations with someone that you love or feel strongly about.

Set the example.








Affects of A Sexual Generation



Among teens each year, there are 3 million cases of STDs and approximately 1 million pregnancies.

HIV infections are the sixth leading cause of death among persons aged 15-24 years in the U.S.

Twenty percent of all adolescents have had sex at least once before their fifteenth birthday.

In 2003, 83 percent of episodes of teenagers' twenty favorite television programs contained some reference to sexual behavior.


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