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  • Title: Religion and adolescent sexuality.
    Author: Stayton WR.
    Journal: Semin Adolesc Med; 1985 Jun; 1(2):131-7. PubMed ID: 3843481.
    Abstract:
    The health professional can be helpful to the adolescent, the adolescent's family, and the community through participating in and initiating local sex education programs. Religious settings provide a great potential for sexuality education within a value framework. A helpful curriculum will include the meaning of sexuality; developing a positive concept of sexuality, and a healthy sexual identity; present the issues of adolescent sexuality, including the various health issues; and an understanding of quality relationships within the family and among peers. If health professions and the community religious institutions can joint together, they can reach the goals of most programs in human sexuality, namely, "learning to appreciate our sexuality as a positive potential for self-expression, fulfillment and intimacy; respect for the personhood and well-being of others; and responsible decision-making." The average age that a child starts puberty has fallen from an average of 16 or 17 100 years ago to 12 or 13 in 1985. The reasons for the change revolve around a better understanding of fetal development, maternal health care, better nutrition, and health during infancy and childhood. This has had a profound effect on adolescent sexuality. Another factor to be considered is that the average age of marriage has risen from 18 or 19 in 1850 to 22 or 23 in 1985, these two factors have extended the period of adolescence from 2 to 4 years to 10 to 15. This change has created some problems in relation to religion. Religion is a fundamental part of many people's lives. However, the religious institutions have not changed with the times. Religious institutions have neglected to consider the implications of the increased duration of adolescence by not creating any new value systems or guidelines for behavior or decision-making. Another factor to complicate matters is that now young people can engage in sexual activities and prevent pregnancy, which was for a long time a reason to abstain. Now that the threat of pregnancy has been removed, adolescents are free to engage in sexual activity for recreation instead of procreation. The author's final conclusion is that since religious institutions are not helping young people cope with their new protracted adolescence the medical profession must fill this gap. Health care professionals should actively support family planning and sex education for adolescents.
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