Learning Journal #23

A recently passed bill in Utah has stated that abstinence only education will be taught in the schools.  Sex education in the state of Utah will ban any instruction on sexual intercourse, contraceptive use, and any sexual activity outside of marriage.  Many are against it because it may lead to an increase in sexual activity and teen pregnancy.  A survey was done on parent and student communication on sexual behavior topics and about 10% of students actually had conversations with their parents.  What about the other 90%?  It's no secret that the rates of teen pregnancy and sexual activity among teens have been increasing in our nation.  The U.S. has the highest amount of teen pregnancies among all industrialized countries.

How does this have to do with my field study?  I will be taking a course in the field with Dr. Page, Health 403R: Adolescent and school health.  Adolescent health also includes sexual health and behaviors.  I wondered where adolescents go to get information about sexual health, since the culture prohibits talking about it in the home.  I wonder if they get information from their friends and whatever has been told to them.  I wonder what kind of information is available for them at clinics.  Last year when I was there, a public health campaign had started, raising awareness to the people about STDs and HIV.  Posters were posted throughout town and on billboards for people to get tested.  I wondered if youth was a target population for the campaign, and if there were other campaigns targeted for youth.  I also wondered if the Ministry of Health has statistics on sexual behaviors among adolescents.  I never had that "talk" with my parents, but I did learn about it in school.  I had a health class, and of course a science class.  In the Tongan culture, those kinds of topics aren't discussed, especially between parents and children.  I think it's a way of respect for one another and our bodies.  I'm not sure how I would go about finding information about sexual health or communication between parents and students without offending anyone there, but I do think it's an interesting topic to think about.