Who Performs A Pregnancy?

The Internet is an information hotspot for teens to seek out answers regarding sex and sexuality. Many say that the act of sharing such sexual content is beneficial for teens in many ways. According to Jane D. Brown in Adolescence in the Media, “the Internet provides a relatively safe space to explore and define themselves, different opportunities, research on GLBT, dating advice, and a place to express feelings and concerns” (Brown, 2009).

The chart below shows the trends regarding teens and Internet use.

What struck me was that 44% of teens report using the Internet to find sexual health information. Keeping this in the back of my head, I stumbled upon an article called “24 Yahoo Answers That Prove Sex Education Needs To Step Up Its Game”. While reading this I was shocked, baffled, and laughing hysterically. This lead me to seek out some more questions that teens were asking on Yahoo.

Behold:

If 44% of teens are turning to the Internet to find sexual health information, what happens when the information they are receiving is not credible and accurate? As I continued to research the answers people were responding to these questions, a lot of the responses were very sarcastic and inaccurate. I had to wonder if these teens asking these questions believed these responses. But I feel if they were asking these types of questions in the first place, anything is possible.

The Internet is a great source for teens and can be very beneficial. However, these Yahoo questions made me come to the conclusion that teens also need to be aware that everything they find on the Internet is not credible. By listening to some of the advice they find on the Internet, teens can really be putting themselves at risk. Granted, Yahoo is the Wikipedia of information. It really should be a no brainer that the responses you get on that site are 9 times out of 10, a joke. However, adolescences are not always old enough to understand that, and when you don’t know something and someone tells you one thing, you don’t know any other way. Yahoo isn’t the only site out there with inaccurate information. There are many sites that come up when you Google “can she get pregnant if I pull out”, that are giving hazardous advice.

Brown makes a point that the Internet can be very beneficial, and I agree. But it also can pose a dangerous threat to teens seeking out sexual health information. Teens need to be aware of this and always make sure they are reading from a credible source, perhaps this should be a lesson in SexEd 101.

Works Cited

Brown, J. D., Keller, S., & Stern, S. (2009). Sex, Sexuality, Sexting, and SexEd: Adolescents and the Media. Prevention Researcher, 16(4), 12-16.

https://answers.yahoo.com