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Essay Quiz
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1

Disengagement from school is said to be an important predictor of early sexual activity, which puts the adolescent at greater risk for unprotected sex, unwanted pregnancy, and sexually transmitted disease. Strengthening adolescents’ attachment to their schools and increasing commitment toward their education is thought by some to represent one means of preventing early sexual activity. If you were a psychological consultant to the school board, what intervention might you recommend to increase adolescents’ attachment to school?
2

Whether or not an adolescent has had a discussion about sex with his or her parents tends not to be a strong predictor of the child’s involvement with sexual activity. Stronger predictors include whether or not the adolescent uses drugs or alcohol, has sexually active friends, and is in a steady relationship. However, growing up in a single-parent home does tend to affect adolescents’ involvement in sexual behavior, particularly sexual behavior among girls. Reflect on the possible explanations for 1) why single-parent homes are predictive, and 2) why single-parent homes are more predictive of girls sexual behavior than boys.
3

The developmental tasks in the domains of identity, intimacy, and sexuality present great challenges for many teen-agers. These challenges may be even greater for sexual-minority adolescents given that many in society hold prejudice and bias against a homosexual sexual orientation. What additional challenges are faced by sexual-minority adolescents that are not problematic for their heterosexual peers? Given that many of these additional challenges occur in the context of schools, how might a program to curtail these negative events be designed?
4

Despite clear research findings that a substantial majority of adolescents are sexually active, many in the adult community do not feel that making contraception available is the sensible thing to do. Furthermore, while pledges to remain virgins are successful initially, they tend to be ineffective within the first year they are made. Consider those adolescents for whom contraception is available. Identify the various factors that contribute to adolescents’ failure to use contraception as well as their frequently ineffective use of them when they choose to use them. In your opinion, does providing access to effective contraceptive methods actually encourage adolescents to engage in sexual activity, or, is it more a way of trying to minimize unwanted pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted disease among our youth?
5

Sexual harassment has become commonplace in American schools. There have been accounts publicized in the news where a female teacher sexually abused one of her under-age male students. She was convicted and is currently serving a jail sentence. What type(s) of programming would you incorporate into a high school setting to sensitize young people to the issue of sexual harassment and abuse? What can be done to assure that predatory adults are not hired as teachers within the school systems?





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