There is an increased interest in the rate of pregnancy among youths in Australia. In most cases, the high rate of teenage pregnancy is a result of poor parenting and lack of sex education in the country (Dyson & Mitchell 2005, p. 135). There has been significant success in interventions to curb teenage pregnancy, and some of the methods that have been used include family sex education, self expression in areas such as art and sports activities for the youth among others. One of the rare, but most important methods is the use of media, and mostly humorous references to masculinity and issues related to sex matters (McCann, Plummer & Minichiello 2010, p. 510).
World Health Organization (WHO) defines sexuality as, “a central part of being human throughout life and encompasses sex, gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction” (Kaplan 1996, p. 9). Additionally, misconceptions on sexuality in Australia are a major problem resulting into early pregnancies. It is for this reason that there is a call for what can be termed as comprehensive education on sex matters, and this will not only remove the prevalence of early pregnancies, but also root out HIV/AIDs in the country. When it comes to other problems such as Lesbianism and gay issues, schools are leading in this problem followed by streets, homes, social places and sports areas respectively.
Young women are faced several burdens such as risks that come with complications during pregnancy and birth times. Pregnancy in young women is not only an Australian problem but cuts all across the world. Therefore, the goals of prevention are to help these young women overcome the difficulties that accompany early pregnancies (Farber 2009, p. 100). Other problems include emotional, social and physical, and therefore, there is need to educate these young persons on dangers inherent in early pregnancies.
References
Dyson. S., & Mitchell, A., 2005. Sex education and unintended pregnancy: Are we seeing the results? Australia Health Review, Vol. 29 (2), pp. 135-139.
Farber. N., 2009. Adolescent pregnancy: Policy and prevention services. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Kaplan, G. T., 1996. The meager harvest: The Australian women’s movement, 1950s-1990s. NSW: Allen & Unwin publisher.
Magoon, K., 2009. Sex education in schools. Minnesota: ABDO.
McCann, P. D., David, P., & Victor, M., 2010. Being the butt of the joke: Homophobic humour, male identity, and its connection to emotional and physical violence for men. Health Sociology Review, Vol. 19 (4), pp 505-521.