The health indicator that parents should consider evaluating, that can be healthful to their teen and the environment would be Reproductive and Sexual Health.
Every individual wants to live a healthy lifestyle, but it only pertains to the usual nutrition and exercise. Some forget sexual and reproductive health is just as important as all other health aspects. There are many groups in America that need more understanding of sexual and reproductive health.
One community out of several that does not get proper information expressed to them frequently are some teenage men. Some teenage men are impulsive. Therefore, they need to understand how to communicate their desires and how to navigate them in a safe way.
According to CDC teen males ages 15–19 years “fatherhood occurred at a rate of 10.4 births per 1,000 men in this age group.”
It all starts with sexual health education in adolescent years, and how they received their information about sexual health throughout until teenage years.
Talking to Parents About Adolescent Sexuality (nih.gov)
I believe sometimes some young men have a lot of influence on young women. Sometimes a young man can take his beliefs about sexual health and convince a young woman that is fond of him to perform sexual activity his way. Hearing information from other young men and women, or individuals with their own beliefs about sexual health without proper knowledge can be dangerous and cause teenage pregnancy or even STI’s.
Young men have an important role to play in promoting reproductive health. Their involvement in contraceptive decision making has been shown to increase the use of effective methods of pregnancy and STD prevention. -CDC
Although majority of this article is about young men this information can also be applied toward young women as well. There is often a lot of pressure on young women to always be cautious about sexual activity, but the pressure is never high on young men. I believe young men are supposed to grow to become leaders. Therefore, they should also carry the pressure to always be cautious about their sexual activity.
Speaking with teenagers about sexual and reproductive health can be very uncomfortable for some, but very worth it. If speaking to teens is extremely uncomfortable, there are plenty of resources that are available in local health departments, schools, and programs within communities that would be happy to give them proper information. Knowing that teenagers are being responsible about their health and others is very rewarding. It helps them become safe as well as the people within their environment.
