Ive only just started this unit and havent had any discussions with my assessor on it but i think im on the right track so far here are the first 2 parts....
1.1 Explain the issues affecting young people in relation to sexual health and risk of pregnancy, including peer pressure, consensual relationships, readiness for sexual activity, contraception, sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy options.
A lot of young people become sexually active, not because they are ready to, or even because they want to. Some do it because their peers are already sexually active or because they are being pressured to. Also with a lot of young people, the more they are told not to do something, especially by parents or adults, the more likely thy ar to do it as a way of taking back control of the decisions impacting on their lives, or rebelling even if it means they spite themselves. Even if a young person does feel they are ready to become sexually active in a consensual relationship without peer pressure, they still need to be aware of contraceptive methods and the risks of not using contraception in order to avoid the risk of an unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. If a young person isn't practising safe sex and gets a sexually transmitted disease or an unwanted pregnancy, this becomes a bigger problem affecting the young person if they don't feel they have a positive relationship with someone they can approach for support and guidance.
Situations like these are very personal and no matter how much you think you have built on trust and a relationship with a young person, they still may feel they can't approach you about this, this could be for many reasons including they may not want to disappoint you or feel ashamed about it. To reduce the affect this issue could have on a young person, in my work place we have guidance and information around the home available for the young person to pick up without having to approach anyone for it, including methods of contraception, where to go for contraception, pregnancy options, and where they can go to seek further advice.
1.2 Explain how age, maturity, ethnicity, culture, gender and beliefs can affect attitudes and behaviour in relation to sexual activity, sexual health and pregnancy.
Some people say with age comes wisdom. In some cases this is true. Your age definitely affects your maturity and the younger you are, the more likely you are to be more naïve. Most young people are aware of the risks of unprotected sex but will be ignorant to this and some just think 'It wont happen to me'. This shows their maturity levels! As young people get older they seem to understand risks more and understand how the consequences of actions can have a mass affect on their life.
Ethnicity and culture can have an affect on a young persons attitude and behaviour towards sex as it all depends on your background, what you have been taught and explained to you in your upbringing, if you have always seen people in your family for example having children at a young age, then this is your 'normal' and it can make you think this is what should happen. Or it could have the reverse affect, for example if a young person came from a very large family and didn't feel they had the right amount of attention they needed, they could feel that they don't want children until they know they can give the child a better quality of life than they had. Religion can religious beliefs are likely to have an affect, for example many religions don't believe in sex before marriage, which would mean that the young person wouldn't become sexually active until they are older and would have more knowledge about sexual health and pregnancy.
Gender can affect a persons attitude towards sex, some females may think more about using contraception than a male would because they would be the ones at risk of getting pregnant. On the other hand a lot of females feel that they shouldn't have condoms as this is 'the man's job'. And a lot of females may think that if they are on other methods of contraception such as the pill then it doesn't matter about condoms, so their attitude is not taking sexual health into consideration.
Im stuck on 1.3 with the social, health and educational risk factors associated with early sexual activity or teenage pregnancy??
|