Do family relationships and peer interactions at school have an influence on the sexual behavior in adolescents?I will perform research based on literature that will examine the impact this has on youth. So much of an average teenagers’ life spent either in the home of their guardian or at school. The time spent in these places must have some sort of affect on their ideas on sexual behavior.

Sexual culture is widely available young people through television, popular music lyrics, and the internet. If an adolescent spends more time exposed to oversexualized material while at home, they may have become sexually active at an early age. Part of my research will include young people who spend more quality time with their parents while at home to see if they are less likely to initiate sex. I will consider other factors like if there is an older sibling living in the home who is sexually active and if that influences the younger child to participate in sex.

I also want to look into the interactions teens have at school and how they impact them. Does involvement is sports have a correlation with sexual intercourse in male both and female athletes? Is there a difference in sexual activity among students with academic achievement and those who struggle? Are today’s young people influenced by different groups of friends to have sex? These are all things that I will cover in my research paper.

The underdeveloped prefrontal cortex is also relevant in my discussion about adolescents. This area of the brain is not finished developing until after adulthood and is responsible for self-control and decision making. Some of the impulsivity of a young person may be due to all these conditions on the immature brain. Early sexual activity is linked to other risky behavior like drug and alcohol use, delinquency, and lower probability of graduating high school. Hopefully I can share my findings with as many people as possible and get the conversation started about solutions that may save a life in the future.