Lee Giru
Mr.
Johnson
On
the Matter of Sexual Revolution
Introduction
Today,
East Asian’s attitude on sex is rapidly changing. Even until the last decade,
even saying the word “sex” used to be a taboo and sexual intercourse itself was
considered to be in the field of complete privacy. However, with the influx of
western culture, the rapid transformation to consumer society, and the spread
of internet; sex has become matter of monetary value in this country. Young
women, clever enough to recognize this value, have started to use their bodies
as sources of income. Teens’ losing virginity before marriage is only a small
part of this problem. Teens are getting involved in incest, obscene chatting
over the internet, pornography, etc.. Ignorant of the moral
and physical consequences they would face in the future, our younger generation
is becoming increasingly lost.
To
resolve this phenomenon, we need to know the exact situation the younger
generation is in at this moment. Rather than giving them quick, superficial
solutions, we need to analyze the underlying causes and come up with some solutions.
This paper will check the current situation, analyze the underlying problems,
and conclude with some possible solutions.
I.
Current Situation
Many
teens lose their virginity at the age of 17 or younger. Many of these teens do
not consider sex seriously, and thus, they easily become involved in the dangerous
sex-industry. Some are involved in incest, and some are involved in pornographic
chatting, by which they earn their “allowance.” Some even sell their underwear
to make money.
As
the result of teens’ sexual engagement, the number of single moms is already
over 100,000, and the majority of single moms are teens. (ref.)
Another remarkable statistics is the spread of STDs(sexually
transmitted diseases) among teens, as shown in “The Lost Children of Rockdale
County,” filmed by PBS.
II.
Underlying Causes
As
well depicted in “The Lost Children of Rockdale County,” filmed by PBS, one of
the major causes of high teenage sex rate is the lack of parental supervision.
Even in
This
problem, when further analyzed, is connected to the increasing endorsement of
individuality and privacy as being important social values. Traditionally,
close family bonding and obedience to one’s parents were considered two of the
most important values, but with the influx of western culture, they are no
longer so. Nowadays, parents are expected to respect their children’s privacy
and individuality. This “respect” sometimes means less concern and even less control
over the children’s lives. Though teens have the ability to think and make
their own decisions, they often fail to make the “right” decisions, decisions
that will contribute positively to their futures. For instance, many teens who “make
out” with older men consider such dating to be merely a means of making money. Those
teens also think that that as long as they take responsibility for their
choices – which, for them, is to take pills, they are doing the right thing.
These
widespread wrong beliefs teens have stemmed partly from sex education in
school. Sex education has long told the teens that they have the right to make
choices on their own, but that they have to be responsible for their choices.
Yes, teens may have the right to make decisions, but many of them lack the “ability”
to make the right decisions. Indeed, many of the teens who were once involved
in the sex industry later feel extreme shame and guilt, along with acquiring a negative
attitude toward sex. Furthermore, the memories of painful pasts often make them
unable to accept sex as part of healthy relationship. Many of them later fail
to engage in loving, secure relationship at the proper time. Hence, sex
education needs to change its focus from suggesting individualistic and
self-made decisions to suggesting certain guidelines.
Another
problem is the transformation of Korean society from a conservative,
traditional society to a liberal consumer society, along with the spread of the
internet. In the case of
In
the past, though there were some cases in which men abused women, sex was never
a product to be sold, at least not explicitly. For example, the roles of geishas
were to help the parties nobles had by singing and
dancing. After the parties, some geishas were involved in sexual intercourses,
but such a process was done secretly, because it was considered immoral. Sex
was something apart from daily lives, something to be carefully dealt with.
Today,
as sex has become part of the consumer society, teens and young women are wiling to sell themselves, because it “makes
money.” Some people even consider prostitution as another just form of
occupation, and they even insist that prostitution should be legally allowed so
that insurance, labor union can be organized. The size and power of sex industry is ever increasing.
III. The
solutions : in the short run and in the long run
Putting
sex on the table may benefit the society temporarily, as some scholars insist.
Indeed, the sex industry is already widespread, and simply ignoring it is not
the best solution. Legally allowing prostitution may benefit the current
prostitutes shortly by providing them necessary health care and protection from
violent employers. Talking about sex more explicitly in sex education may
prevent teens from falling into unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted
diseases. Before teens decide to have sex, they must know the possible physical
consequences and be able to prepare for the consequences. For example, a
statistical report says that the rate of young single moms in rural areas is
higher than that of urban areas because teens in rural area have less chances
of sex education. Yet, publicly accepting sex as part of teenage life might
bring far more negative side effects than we imagine.
Though
teens today are exposed to sex by TV, advertisements, etc., sexual education
still play an important role in establishing moral principles in teens. Teens
watch many TV shows that talk about sex casually, for example, “Friends,” and it is hard to prevent
teens completely from such materials. Through sex education, teens can learn
the mental, physical gains and losses teens would get by keeping their
virginity and taking care of their bodies preciously. Some educators say that
we should simply give the teens the “right” to make decisions and respect their
decisions, but such a right should be given after providing them sufficient moral
and physical education. A recent news article about teenage sex reported that
the policy to provide condoms and pills to teens has resulted in the increase
of teenage pregnancy rate.(__ ) Hence, prior to such a
policy, we must teach teens the preciousness of their bodies for the sake of
friendship or fun. If proper moral and physical sex education were given, such
a disaster could have been prevented.
One
noticeable fact is that teens are easily absorbed by peer pressure. Peer
pressure causes a dangerous phenomenon when one of the teens start to have sex
and the atmosphere of having sex spreads out, but peer pressure can also be a safeguard
if the majority of teens have proper sex education. For instance, even if one
of the teens attempt to make others involve in unprotected, dangerous sexual
games, most of them would show a negative attitude and such games would soon be
stopped.
Another
important solution is the endorsement of traditional values such as family
bonding, obedience to parents, and chastity. The major causes of current
situation, as shown in I and II, are the lack of parental supervision and the
increasing endorsement of privacy among family members. Traditionally, East
Asian countries value obedience to parents’ instructions, close family ties
along with chastity. A sincere return to traditional values would enable parents
to take care of their children more closely and to develop proper moral
principles in teens’ minds.
Conclusion
Indeed,
teenage sex is no longer an issue that we can pretend to ignore. It is one of
the major problems of our society, and it is even more important because the
future leaders of the society are involved. The problem should be scrutinized
and analyzed carefully, and solution should be given.
As
analyzed in this paper, teens are not as mature as they seem to be, and they
need careful guidance from their parents and teachers. Teens need to have sex
education in various aspects, including moral as well as physical education.
References
Books
Korean Teenage Virginity Campaign Committee. Report on
Teenage Sex
(청소년
성보고서),
Seoul: Hyunmun Media, 2003
Seungyung,
Son. Read the Teenage Sex Today(오늘,
청소년의
성을
읽다).
Magazines &
News Articles
Suhyun,
Cho. “Who’s taking care of family?(누가
가족을 보살피고
있는가?)”
Prometheus,
12 May. 2005
Sungjin,
Park. “Condom or Virginity(콘돔인가
순결인가).” Oh My News,
16 June. 2005
Website
The
society of obstetricians and gynaecologists of
Influence
Your Child's Decisions?”, June, 2005,
<http://www.sexualityandu.ca/eng/parents/TS/influence.cfm>
ehrbek, “Solution for the increasing
teenage sexual contracts(청소년
성매매의 원인과
대책).”
June, 2005 <http://blog.naver.com/ehrbek/80011656779>