Sexual behavior in adolescence can have a wide variety of consequences. In estimation, nearly half of all U.S. high school students have had sexual intercourse; the average age of first intercourse for boys and girls is 15. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 40,000-80,000 new cases of HIV are reported each year; approximately half of the new infections are among people younger than 25. On average, 12 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) being reported each year and adolescents have among the highest-reported rates of gonorrhea and Chlamydia.
Drawing on material from the course, respond to the following questions:
What cognitive and social factors contribute to high-risk sexual behavior in some adolescents?
Some schools teach outdated sex education programs. Explain why these programs are still implemented, regardless of research.
In addition to your own search, this source and the other readings may help guide your discussion.
https://www.cdc.gov/youth-behavior/risk-behaviors/sexual-risk-behaviors.html
This developmental/health discussion asks about the cognitive and social factors behind adolescent high-risk sexual behavior, and why outdated sex-education programs persist despite research. Ground it in adolescent development and evidence on sex education.
Key takeaways
- Cognitive factors: immature risk assessment, present-bias, feelings of invincibility.
- Social factors: peers, family, media, access to education, and socioeconomics.
- The adolescent brain (developing prefrontal cortex) underweights long-term risk.
- Outdated (e.g., abstinence-only) programs persist for political/cultural/funding reasons.
- Evidence favors comprehensive sex education.
Cognitive factors
Explain the developmental basis: the adolescent prefrontal cortex (judgment, impulse control) is still maturing while reward sensitivity is high, so teens underweight long-term consequences, feel invulnerable (‘it won’t happen to me’), and are prone to present-focused, impulsive decisions — especially under peer or emotional arousal.
Social factors
Discuss peer influence and norms, family communication and supervision, media and social-media messaging, access to accurate sex education and healthcare, and socioeconomic factors that shape risk.
Why outdated programs persist
Explain that abstinence-only or outdated curricula continue despite research showing comprehensive sex education is more effective — due to political ideology, cultural and religious values, funding structures, and local control of curricula rather than evidence.
Format
Draw on course material and the CDC data, and cite your sources.
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