Technology & MSG

Catholicism forbids pre-marital sex — despite the fact that many practicing Catholics engage in the practice anyways — much to the chagrin of other sects of Christians. That may be cheap shot at Catholics, but it is apparent that our generation is vastly different than previous ones. We aren’t saving ourselves for marriage. We don’t always reserve sex for those we love. For many teens and twenty-somethings it’s a commodity. Ask any recent college graduate about the walk of shame or their definition of “hooking up,” or for a real shocker ask a high school student the same things.

A 2001 study of undergraduates at a large southeastern university entitled Sexual Values Of College Students attempted to discern the sexual values that guides behavior in sexual decision making.

From the survey, these were the value systems that the respondents could choose from:

• Absolutism — strict codes, usually based on religion, which dictate what is right or wrong.
• Relativism — what you do sexually depends on the person you are with, how you feel about each other, and the nature of the relationship.
• Hedonism-’If it feels good, do it.’ Just don’t hurt anybody in the process.

The results of the study indicated that the majority of undergraduates don’t value absolutism. So much for being uber-religious. Instead, relativism prevailed. The study also found that gender, race, relationship status, and age didn’t impact the results.

“The finding that university students of both sexes are predominantly relativistic in their sexual values is consistent with previous research (Schwartz and Reiss, 1995). Similarly, previous researchers have found that women are more likely to be absolutist than men and that men are more likely to be hedonistic than women (Michael et al., 1994).”

Younger students tended to believe more in absolutism, which is interesting. The more engulfed you get by the system, the world, the more you dispatch with core beliefs and adapt to the society that you see around you. Unfortunately — I think — mainstream media has pushed sexuality to youngsters and the medical arena has observed that puberty hits earlier than ever before, resulting in a chicken-and-the-egg problem. Pardon the pun, but who came first? Kids watching TV? or TV targeting younger viewers? The media is partially to blame for our cultural sexual desensitization, but that’s only part of it.

Girls start puberty between age 8 and 13, boys between 10 and 15. These are average ranges according to various medical sources, which means that some kids begin earlier or later than that. Researchers and medical minds are mystified though; no one knows why kids are hitting puberty earlier, although some theories include chemical additives and media influences. That’s something that can be visually confirmed in most cases, however the sexual actions of children is another thing.

Have you been to a high school recently? Have you noticed that a lot of the young women look like sluts? Not to say they are sluts, but they’re definitely more busty than the women when I was in high school. It’s not just me; several of my colleagues have agreed that they’ve noticed the trend over the past couple years. It’s not just that they’re busty. They’re busty, they know it, and their wear clothes that show it. Apparel that may or may not be appropriate for school, but apparel that is modern and meets our cultural criteria as sexy. A side effect of early onset is the younger that kids are when they undergo puberty means the ealier that parents must teach their children about sexuality. Today’s child with two working parents is unlikely to get that sort of teaching. However, the media offers plenty of sexually charged material for a child to ingest including lots of role models to look up to and emulate. With the MTV VJ’s babysitting our kids and all the sexually-laced garbage on television, it’s no wonder younger kids’ behavior is more sexual despite their young age.

Again, researchers notice the trend but are stumped over why kids are hitting puberty earlier. They’ve got some ideas, both nothing solid. Blame bottled water or cellular phones if you like, but these trends will continue to engulf younger and younger kids despite complaints from the older folks who regarded sex as special and the older generations who regarded sex as taboo.

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