Susan's Final Reflection

When initially reflecting on the barriers teens face to having a healthy sexuality, I spent more time reflecting on the public health aspects and cultural influences affecting teens. This class and the ability to participate in the planning of a teen sexual health workshop has opened my eyes to the many other barriers teens face. Not having been a teen for a few years or even really spending that much time around teens in recent years, it’s easy to forget that the every day activities and decisions of being a teenager can be confusing and difficult to navigate. Choices of friends, clothes, activities all play into the environment and social behavior of teens. In order to help teens realize their potential for a healthy sexuality educators and facilitators have to be keenly aware of the complex dynamics of a teens life and lifestyle.

To find myself working directly with teens through the workshop was both intimidating and rewarding. It was an opportunity to put into practice the many lessons learned throughout the semester while being “tested” directly by the teens themselves. The classes leading up to the workshop more than adequately prepared me for the concepts and reasoning behind the types of activities we were conducting but the experience wouldn’t have been the same without the teens.

The teens we worked with reminded me of how intelligent, curious and insightful this age group can be. Some of them knew more about the topics we covered than individuals in some of my other courses. The main concept was one many of them seemed to be familiar with but I think we left them with some ideas to think about.

Through the experience of conducting the workshop with my group and from viewing the other groups in action I’ve become more confident that even with the barriers discussed originally, teens have the knowledge and ability to overcome some of these barriers in order to have a healthy sexuality. Media, education, and culture all influence a teen’s sexuality but so does personal determination and ability. This is not to say that these barriers do not exist or that these barriers are becoming easier to overcome for teens, but I have been reminded by this course that with assistance teens are better able to make progress against these barriers.