Teenagers are on the brink of adulthood and have the world at their feet. They are curious and adventurous and invincible. During this time they also develop and mature physically and sexually. Hormones surge and they often wonder what and how to manage these new urges they have. Parents are usually aware of the physical development of their children but not always equipped to assist their child in walking the minefield of teenage sexual development. This makes them very naive about the hidden sexual life of the teenager.

So what will motivate an innocent, shy teenager to be sexual active?

 

1          Inadequate life skills.

1.1       Self-image: If a teenager does not have a good self-image it is very difficult for that teenager to go against peer group pressure. A teenager needs to have a good self-image to be able to make difficult personal decisions and put this into practice.

 

1.2       Peer group pressure is a major contributor. “All my friends are sexually active. I do not want to be the odd one out.” If you are a young teenage girl and the school hunk looks at you more than once it is easy to engage in sex with him.

Girls will often feel that they need to have sex or else they will lose the boyfriend as they see it as a proof of their love for one another.

An older boyfriend is always a red flag! He is sexually more mature and if he has an income or more money, he will spend it on the girl in exchange for sexual favors.

 

1.3       Decision making skills: Not all teenagers have the ability to make a decision and put it into practice. Few will think about what they will do if they are confronted with a situation where they can possibly have sex and because it is not a scenario they have contemplated before. They will not be able to decide what to do. Most teenagers will go with the flow and end up having sex. Lack of knowledge also plays a part in the inability of the teenager to make important decisions around sexuality. If the teenager decides beforehand that he or she will not have sex, for whatever reason, that teenager will make sure he or she will stay away from risky situations.

 

1.4       Life strategy: It is important for an adult to help the teenager with a life strategy. If the teenager is on the way to a life goal it is less likely that the teenager will experiment and become involved in high-risk behavior. They are also more likely to ask, “what is teenage pregnancy?” High-risk behavior includes experimenting with drugs, alcohol or sex. Both drugs and alcohol will lover the inhibitions of the teenager and chances of engaging in sexual activity are increased.

 

2          Teenagers are often not well educated sexually. Proper sexual education done by the parents where there is open communication and the child has the opportunity to ask questions without judgement or negative feedback from the parent is the ideal. This does not happen often but informative sexual education at school is also of great value. If all the teenager’s questions are answered and he or she has a person they can discuss their concerns with and ask their questions, the chances of them experimenting is a lot less. Informed teenagers are not as inquisitive and less likely to experiment and find their own answers.