There is an ongoing debate about whether teen sex is really harmful to people over time.
Drs. Joe McIlhaney and Freda McKissic Bush, authors of Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children, contend that casual sex during the teen and young adult years affects the ability to bond later in life.
Imagine you have a strip of clear shipping tape that you adhere to your sweater to remove lint. The first time you pull it off fuzz and some hair are attached, but it still has some stickiness so you continue to use it. Eventually, the tape loses its stickiness. Similarly, research indicates that sexual activity and having multiple partners can damage an individual’s ability to develop healthy, mature, and long-lasting relationships.
What in the world does having sex as a teen have to do with how the brain develops?
Recent research about the brain indicates that the prefrontal cortex, the portion of the brain that is responsible for setting priorities, organizing plans and ideas, forming strategies, and controlling impulses in addition to initiating appropriate and moral behavior is still developing until the mid-twenties. During that time, sexual activity triggers chemical reactions in the brain that help shape the brain, especially in adolescents.
According to McIlhaney and Bush, this brain transformation has a huge physical and psychological impact on all things sexual. A person’s decision-making ability, coming from the highest centers of the brain, can lead to the most rewarding sexual behavior—unless bad programming from premature and unwise sexual behavior during adolescence has occurred, causing the brain formation for healthy decision making to be damaged.
Additionally, the authors sound the alarm concerning an apparent relationship between teen sexual activity and depression. A recent study indicated that boys and girls who have had sex are three times more likely to be depressed than their celibate friends. The girls who became sexually active were three times more likely to have attempted suicide and sexually active boys were seven times more likely to have attempted suicide than their virgin friends.
So what can parents do to help in the healthy development of their teen’s brain?
McIlhaney and Bush suggest that parents recognize the critical role they play. Surveys consistently show that teens primarily look to their parents for advice when it comes to sex. The adolescent brain can be positively molded by structure, guidance, and discipline from caring parents and adults.
Teens need parents to support them as they take healthy risks like learning to drive, trying out for a sports team or going off to college. These kinds of activities help young people separate from their parents and grow as individuals.
McIlhaney and Bush are quick to point out that conversely, if teens are not guided by parents, mentors and other caring adults, they often make poor choices which usually have major implications for their future.
Although it may be complicated and uncomfortable at times, it is a parent’s job to care for the needs of their children. The 21st century brings some very real threats to your teen’s well-being, including sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy and the emotional baggage of seeking to bond with multiple sex partners. Taking these issues seriously and keeping the lines of communication open are essential to healthy relationships in the future.
Copyright ©2010 First Things First
