Blog #8

Marie Christine Nduwimana

FS 4583-C1

Parenting Issues and Education

Prof: Dr. Coleman

November 30, 2016

 

BLOG 8

Why don't sex education programs that stress abstinence or delayed sexual activity have a greater impact? What does research say should be included in a successful sex education program? Provide at least two outside resources for parents on the topic.

Children today are bombarded with constant and seemingly Omni-present influence of sexual activity. Some of this influence is through peer pressure, while much of it is through modern media, including television, Facebook, twitter, as well as other social mediums. Many children are pressured into sexual activity through these mediums. In many instances, the pressure is not overt. Instead, many programs that they view contains sexually explicit content, nudity and sexual profanity. A lack of sex education prevents them from making the right decisions about contraception and abstinence.  However, there is a fundamental challenge with sex education. According to Marcovitz et al, the challenge with sex education is the unrealistic message that it presents as well as the unattractive way in which the information is presented. Abstinence and delayed sexual gratification have failed for obvious reasons.

Mainstream media does the exact opposite. Most movies, reality television shows, soap Operas that are mostly aired in prime time, are viewed by millions of Teenagers. Other similar researches show that on average, teenagers spend approximately 4 hours each day on social media. Social media many times presents messages that run counter to abstinence and delayed sexual gratification. Similarly, a research conducted by Sigmundova, 2015, the average American parent spends only 4 minutes of supervised time each day with their teenagers. This means that most teens roam the day unsupervised, on social media, or in the company of their peers. This sets the perfect environment for teens to fall victims to peer pressure. Now, let us parallel the above mentioned information with the quality and quantity of sex education that is provided to teens. The first challenge of presenting sex education is the medium. This information is not readily available in mainstream Media or social media where children spend majority of their time. When sex education is presented, its material is usually vague, in adequate and in most instances, unattractive to those for whom it was created.

 According to Klein 2005 a good sex education program must compromise multiple characteristics. These may include but not limited to: sex education should rely on the participatory teaching methods implemented by trained professionals. This recommendation runs contrary to federal law since educators are not able to provide this well needed education. Klein also posit that Sex education messages should focus specifically on health related behaviors with specific messages. He also posits that sex education should be developed with the cooperation of the young people for whom the message is intended. This means that children/Teens should play an integral role in instruction that they will receive. Sex education should also respect community values and appeal to the needs of specific communities.  Sex education should also provide medically accurate information about Sexually transmitted diseases, abstinence, and contraception, including the use of condoms. Among these recommendations, the need to involve the participants is the most important. Many solutions are proposed without the participants getting a chance to express their position on the subject. Many experts agree that this should be the most important of all the propose methods to sex education.

References:

Drwal, M., Głaszcz, K., Taracha, A., Krupa, A., Padała, O., & Maciejewski, R. (2016).

 Prevention of STI and teenage pregnancies through sex education. Polish Journal Of Public Health, 126(1), 46-49. doi:10.1515/pjph-2016-0010.

Klein JD & Committee on Adolescence. Adolescent pregnancy: current trends and issues.

            Pediatrics 2005; 116(1):281-286.

Sigmundová, D., Sigmund, E., Badura, P., Vokáčová, J., Trhlíková, L., & Bucksch, J. (2016). Weekday-

            Weekend patterns of physical activity and screen time in parents and their pre-schoolers. BMC

 Public Health, 161-9. doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3586-8

Blog # 7

Marie Christine Nduwimana

FS 4583-C1

Parenting Issues and Education

Prof: Dr. Coleman

November 30, 2016

 

BLOG 7

2. What is Digital Citizenship and how can parents teach it to their children?   Include links to two additional resources (remember to provide descriptions on the content in the links).

In the age of digital technology, one of the key things at the fore of most parents and educators is the way in which children are using this technology. In recent times, the onset of technology, primarily through social media, has literally lead to an exodus of cybercrimes, cyber bullying among other crimes not previously heard of before the onset of technology. As serious as those problems are, many children have fallen victims to even more severe crimes. Some children have been lured by total strangers who in many instances pretend to be someone else. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/super-digital-citizen# . In the video embedded, it clearly outlined how children use the internet along with technology. It underscores the danger to which they are exposed to each time they surf, browse, post or share.

Some children even agree to meet with these total strangers, only to become victims of sexual assault, human trafficking and even murder. The concept of digital citizenship suggests technological responsibility among our children. But for many, this is a foreign concept. Many children are far more technologically savvy than their parents. This presents a clear and present danger to the children. Many manipulate their parents in using this technology and many parents lag too far behind to even know they are being manipulated.

Parents however have a responsibility to teach their children to be digital citizens. This means that parents must themselves learn to be good digital citizens themselves. Parents must become the example they want to see for their children. In teaching digital citizenship, there are many steps that parents must take to ensure their children become technologically responsible. The first and most important thing for parents to teach to their children is that everything that is written/posted will be there for life, even after it is deleted. This means that that one pictures you mistakenly posted, will be available even after you are grown up and become elderly. The next rule of thumb for parents to teach to their children is that things aren’t necessarily as they appear to be on social media. One can easily pretend to be someone else, or use photos belonging to someone else to easily mislead others. Parents should have frank discussions with their children about respecting others on social media, use language that they would normally use in their everyday life among others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hppopehsurw . In this second video, both children and parents are sensitized to the use of digital technology. Parents are also informed how to be better parents by monitoring what their children do on social media. Parents should sensitize children about the dangers of using their cell phones among other gadgets while trying to do something else.

Many young adolescents become victims to different crimes simply because they are using technology. With the onset of Pokémon go and other similar games, many persons have been killed or injured simply by walking off cliffs, walking into traffic or bumping into objects.

References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hppopehsurw

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/super-digital-citizen#