Risky Behaviors in Teens Essay Example for Free

Risky Behaviors in Teens EssayTeens argon at high behavioural lay on the line for acquiring most STDs. Teenagers and young adults be more likely than other age groups to have multiple sex partners, to engage in open sex, and, for young women, to choose sexual partners older than themselves. Moreover, young women argon biologically more susceptible to chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV. (http//www. cdc. gov/std/Trends2000/trends2000. pd). In the United States alone puerile births are extremely high, they represent about 10 percent of 4 meg births each year. Not only does having a shaver during the teenage years causes social, emotional, and physiological problems it in addition cost the United States 9 billion dollars a year. When having unprotected sex, not only maternalism is a concern but receiving a sexually familial disease is a huge concern as well. In order to treat STDs in America it cost the government $17 million a year. The two most common STDs that teenagers catch are chlamydia, and gonorrhea. As a public health official it is important to know why do teenagers continually put themselves in situations that can alter their lives.Another thing public officials need to look into is the adolescents psychosexual health. There have been so galore(postnominal) studies looking at the vantage point on the amount STDs, abortions, and pregnancies teens have. Now that depression is a growing concern in adolescents today, looking into the correlation mingled with sexual activity and depression will be of great help to the public health community (Kosunen,Heino, Rimpela, and Laippala). In order to find these answers we must prototypical examine two human behavioral theories 1) Bronfenbrenners ecological theory and 2) the attachment theory.Once we have the answers to the question of why, then we can start the ginmill of teen pregnancies and the spread of STDs amongst our youth. Bronfenbrenner is the leading contributor to the ecological system of rules s theory. The ecological theory uses four types of roles and norms that shape childrens development. In order to make the theory is easy-to-understand Bronfenbrenner expound it as the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macro system. It is stated that, This theory looks at a childs development within the context of the system of relationships that form his or her environment.Bronfenbrenners theory defines complex layers of environment, each having an effect on a childs development. This theory has recently been renamed bio ecological systems theory to emphasize that a childs own biology is a primary environment fueling her development. The interaction surrounded by factors in the childs maturing biology, his immediate family/community environment, and the social landscape fuels and steers his development. Changes or conflict in any one layer will ripple throughout other layers.To study a childs development then, we must look not only at the child and her immediate environment , but also at the interaction of the larger environment as well (http//pt3. nl. edu/paquetteryanwebquest. pdf). The microsystem is where the child has direct daily contact with certain structures. The microsystem includes the childs family, school, daycare, and the childs neighborhood. Since this is the most important part of the ecological system the relationships have an fix that can go into different directions(both away from the child and towards the child).For example, a childs parents may affect his beliefs and behavior however, the child also affects the behavior and beliefs of the parent. Bronfenbrenner calls these bi-directional influences, and he shows how they occur among all levels of environment. The interaction of structures within a layer and interactions of structures between layers is key to this theory. At the microsystem level, bi-directional influences are strongest and have the greatest impact on the child. However, interactions at outer levels can still impact the inner structures. ((http//pt3. nl. edu/paquetteryanwebquest. pdf).The mesosystem is the connection between the childs microsystems. This can be the connection between the teacher and the childs parents. The exosystem is the layer where the child does not function directly. This could be the parents work place or work plan even though the child does not function directly in this atmosphere the child can still feel the positive or blackball consequences associated with the interaction. The macrosystem consists of the childs culture, values, customs, and laws. For example if the childs culture believes that it takes a village to raise a child, not only will mom and dad punish you but Ms.Susie the next door neighbor will too.This gives the parents many a(prenominal) more resources in order to raise their child in the appropriate way. Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans especially as within families and between life-long friends. I ts most important tenet is that an sister needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally, and that further relationships embodiment on the patterns developed in the first relationships.Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study encompassing the fields of psychological, evolution , and ethological theory. (http//www. absoluteastronomy. com/topics/Attachment_theory). For a lot of adolescents, going into the teen years can be a very stressful transition. This met with a lot of intense challenges and changes. During this time the teen is moving away from his or her parents as their primary attachments figure and are looking towards their friends to be their primary attachment theory. If the teens friends are engaging in risky behaviors such as having more than one sexual partners, having unprotected sex, and etc. he teen is more likely to engage in the same type of behavior(Tracey and Shaver p. 2).Adole scents interact simultaneously in several social spheressuch as family, peer, and neighborhood systemsthat can serve to either restrain or promote individual behaviors (DiClemente, Salazar, Crosby, Rosenthalp. 1). The roles of the parents are very important studies have shown that if parents are more focused on their childs wellbeing and know the whereabouts of their child, the adolescent is less likely to engage in risky behaviors (Voisin and DiClemente p. ). in understanding how the ecological theory works, if the child or adolescent is surrounded by teen maternalism, risky behaviors, and the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases this adolescent will believe that this behavior is okay. It is important for the adolescent to have support inside and outside of his or hers home. It is a belief that teen pregnancy and STDs can be prevented, but the question is how do public health officials began to combat these problems?In January 2011 Frayser high school made national news be cause 90 girls were pregnant who currently attended the school. In Memphis, the teen pregnancy rate is between 15 percent and 20 percent and in Frayser, the rate is 26 percent, said Deborah Hester Harrison, executive director of Memphis Girls Inc. Its no surprise that Harrison places at least part of the blame on the media, such as the popular MTV shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom. (http//fieldnotes. msnbc. msn. com/_news/2011/01/14/5841767-90-pregnancies-at-o ne-high-school).In order for Memphis to fight this epidemic, they have received funding from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) in order to suffer a youth risk behaviors survey and implement effective policies, programs, and practices to avoid, prevent, and reduce sexual risk behaviors among assimilators that contribute to HIV infection, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and pregnancy. (http//www. cdc. gov/healthyyouth/states/locals/tn-memphis. htm). The youth risk behavior survey shows that 90% of teenagers in Memph is do not use protection when having intercourse. The survey also shows that over 60% of teens have had sex are sexually active.Memphis City Schools are implementing a lot of different programs that will teach teens the importance of using protection during sex and the different effects that STDs and pregnancy can have on their lives (http//www. cdc. gov/healthyyouth/states/locals/tn-memphis. htm1). It is a well-known fact that parents play an important part in their childs development, there should be a free parenting class to parents that will teach them how to deal with their teens risky behaviors. Also teachers need to be better trained on how they deal with a students situation. Schools represent another socializing agent for adolescents and can be a significant source of support.This may be particularly important for many high-risk teenagers, whose families may lack adequate resources and parental support. Adolescents who believe that they are receiving high levels of support in school and feel that they are connected to teachers are less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors compared with peers reporting less school support or teacher connectedness (DiClemente, Salazar, Crosby, Rosenthal, p. 1). By involving the parents and teachers into the snag process teen pregnancy and STDs will decline.