Introduction
Sexual education is significant for adolescents because, for them, the topic of sexual relations, dating, and romance is one of the most attractive ones. According to Brown, Keller, and Stern (2009), the Internet has become a place for mass teenage sexual education. To see if it so, one should consider the contents of a website destined to educate adolescents about sexual relations, for instance. Its main purpose is to help adolescents and give them knowledge of sexual relations that is sufficient for their age.
View on Relationships and Sexuality
Firstly, it is necessary to discuss how the resource’s contents impact a teenager’s view on relationships and sexuality. According to the research conducted by Vrangalova and Savin-Williams (2011), “sexually active youth have independent and mature personality, positive self-image, and better peer relationships” (940). It means that teenage sexual activity should not be considered a deviation. That is why it is important to make adolescents view romantic relationships and sexuality as a norm. The website under consideration perfectly corresponds to this principle as it explains that talking about sex to one’s partner, parents, and a doctor is natural, although it may be uneasy. Moreover, the authors of the website openly call adolescents to ask questions about sexual relations that worry them. Thus, one can conclude that the resource influences a teenager’s view of romantic relationships and sexuality positively.
Impacting Sexual Developmental Process
Secondly, it is worth discussing how the website impacts the sexual developmental process of a teenager. It is significant because according to de Graaf, Vanwesenbeeck, Woertman, and Meeus (2011), personal sexual education is not an unchanging system but a developing process. A teenager is a person who is growing and getting more mature all the time that is why he or she regularly needs answers to new questions arising. Any educational resource should be ready to give him or her those answers. The site under consideration sufficiently corresponds to this demand. It is divided into several sections into various general topics, like relationships, sex, widespread myths, etc. Thus, a teenager can easily find articles interesting to him or her on different stages of adolescent sexual maturing. Moreover, any post can be commented on freely. It is important for opinion and experience exchange.
Understanding Adult Sexuality
Thirdly, it is worth mentioning how the site affects an adolescent’s understanding of adult sexuality and romantic relations. According to McKee et al. (2010), awareness of adult relationships should be considered through the prism of parenthood and its responsibilities. On the website under consideration, there is a whole section dedicated to contraceptives and unpredicted situations when having sex can cause pregnancy. The pieces of advice given by the site cultivate the idea that sexual relations bear an adult element in them anyway. It means that one has to be responsible and careful, like an adult is, to feel happy with his or her partner. However, it is possible to note that teenagers should understand that relations and sex are not merely a responsibility but also necessarily a pleasure (Orenstein, 2016). The site performs this function, educating its visitors that sex is enjoyable if one is prepared for it.
Conclusion
Having considered the example of the website under discussion, one should conclude that it can be called an open classroom for sex education, according to Brown, Keller, and Stern (2009). Firstly, it cultivates a positive attitude to sex and relations among adolescents. Secondly, it makes them aware of the consequences of being unprepared for sex. Thirdly, the resource is organized in such a way that, by using it, teenagers can develop and enrich their sexual education step by step according to their age.
References
Brown, J. D., Keller, S., & Stern, S. (2009). Sex, sexuality, sexting, and SexEd: Adolescents and the media. The Prevention Researcher, 16(4), 12-16.
De Graaf, H., Vanwesenbeeck, I., Woertman, L., & Meeus W. (2011). Parenting and adolescents’ sexual development in western societies: A literature review. European Psychologist, 16(1), 21-31.
McKee, A., Albury, K., Dunne, M., Grieshaber, S., Hartley, J., Lumby, C., & Mathews, B. (2010). Healthy sexual development: A multidisciplinary framework for research. International Journal of Sexual Health, 22, 14-19.
Orenstein, P. (2016). What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure [Video file]. Web.
Vrangalova, Z., Savin-Williams, R. C. (2011). Adolescent sexuality and positive well-being: A group-norms approach. Youth Adolescence, 40, 931-944.