Teen attitudes to sex

Teenage boys may have unhealthy attitudes to sex

A UK study has revealed considerable differences between the way that boys and girls aged 14 to 16 viewed a series of sexual scenarios, but the values you instill in your child could make all the difference.

Ten focus groups were held with 35 teenagers who had accessed nurse-led sexual health outreach clinics for contraception. In the UK, these clinics are often held in conjunction with youth clubs in areas where teenage pregnancy rates are high. The participants were presented with a series of scenarios – a girl and a boy both reluctant to have sex, a girl who had had a numbers of partners and a girl who felt pressured to have sex because her friends had paired off with two boys leaving her with a third.

“The objective of this study was to explore the broad gender-based attitudes and opinions towards all of the case studies, not just to explore any differences between attitudes towards any one particular case study,” explains research leader Dr Mark Hayter, of the University of Sheffield.

“Male and female attitudes clearly differed. The girls’ responses were more empathic and complex because they face more complex social pressures when it comes to having sex,” Dr Hayter says. “The young men, on the other hand, appeared to follow behavior patterns that included pressuring girls to have sex, often with the use of alcohol.

“We also noticed that the boys often used aggressive language about relationships – an element that was missing from the girls’ focus groups. For example they suggested that a girlfriend who slept around would probably pay a physical price and that using tactics like getting a girl drunk were acceptable. In one of the boys’ focus groups there was even a suggestion that it was OK for a boy to force his girlfriend to have sex and the group started trying to differentiate between ‘just a bit of pressure’ and ‘proper rape’.”

The researchers concede that the presence of other girls and boys the same age could have encouraged stereotypical male and female behavior, but point out that in the real world teenagers’ behavior is shaped by the sort of peer pressure displayed during the sessions.

The bottom line: if you have a teenage daughter, focus on the ways in which you can boost her self esteem and confidence, and role-play with her so that she knows how to deal if she’s coming under pressure to have sex from a boyfriend. If you have a son, emphasize that you expect him to have respect for the girls he comes into contact with. And be sure to model respect in the way you deal with the opposite sex.

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