by Maxwell Payne

Created on: March 15, 2007   Last Updated: February 26, 2009

Are today's teenagers too sexually promiscuous?

For the purpose of evaluating sexual promiscuity in adolescents I will quote an earlier article that I wrote on teenage sexual activity. I do feel the following explains the natural tendency to lean towards promiscuity even more so in developing teenagers:

"Teens are fascinated by sex and for good reason. During the adolescent years, the sex drive is just revving up and moving towards its peak. Combined with the biological drive to procreate just coming in as an influence; it can be hard to resist the lure of sex.

Couple that rush of hormones with a media and society obsessed with sexuality and its easy to see why many teens engage in sexual activity. But saying this is like saying that teens are just hormones walking around and they have no individual thoughts and views on sexuality. Many people against premarital sex and teen sex simply lump all teens into the category that they are doing it because its 'cool'.

Many teens are mature enough to engage in serious relationships and for them it is a way to express their feelings to that other person. For some teens it may be about exploring their bodies or satisfying their curiosity of sex. And yes for some it is about fitting in and comparing their sex statistics to their fellow peers.

For whatever reason a teen(or any human engages in sex)chooses do be sexually active it is important to realize that sexuality is a part of the human experience. The emotions, the sensations, the procreation are all aspects that make sex an important part of being alive. Without sex we wouldn't be around as a species. Procreation aside, sex feels good and has many mental and physical benefits. The increased release of dopamine alone during sex has many people swearing a better life comes from a sexually fulfilling one.

Each person is different and the rate at which they move sexually is really dependent on the individual. What is important is that teens are well informed about sex, use proper protection, and also be able to realize there are different forms of sex and thus different levels of emotional attachments involved in each sexual encounter. Because a teen's brain is not fully developed and their rational thinking skills aren't always fully intact yet is is imperative that teens understand their emotional and immaturity based limitations. Sex to anyone can be a roller coaster of emotions and experiences; sex to a teen can seem like the whole world in their hands or the end of all things."

Please note: I am not exactly condoning sexual activity for any individual as we are all different; but I am stating there are many influences at work on the developing teenage mind. One person posted in their article that the parents are directly to blame; I think that is a foolish and irresponsible statement and does little to help the evaluation of teenage promiscuity.

Learn more about this author, Maxwell Payne.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.