Career blunders linked to lost virginity
JAKARTA (JP): Losing your virginity during your teens may damage your future career, a health expert said yesterday.
Handrawan Nadesul, a health columnist and counselor to many teenagers, told a discussion on sex education held by Atmajaya University that lost virginity was one of many factors which could affect careers.
He said that lost virginity could leave serious psychological scars which could cause people to fail their studies and, therefore, reduce their career prospects.
"It is ironic that many of our teenagers fail in their studies or to maintain their chance for future success because of ignorance," he said.
"They don't know that the mistakes they commit in their relations with other people may cost them their virginity, force them to marry young, inflict disease...," he said.
Handrawan, whose articles have appeared in many national publications, said today's teenagers faced greater challenges than their parents.
"There are many unhealthy relationships... between children and their parents, between people of all ages. These are challenges that continually force people to adjust to pressure, conflicts, crisis..." he said.
Other speakers in the seminar were psychologist Eric Santosa and sociologist Johan Suban Tukan, who revealed that a teenage relative of his had become pregnant but said that she did not know why.
Johan cited a 1994 study by Atmajaya and the Police Academy which found that almost 10 percent of the 558 students junior high school and senior high school surveyed had had sex.
A study conducted in 1992 by Bandung's Padjadjaran University's School of Psychology revealed that 21.5 percent of youths in the city had had extra-marital sexual relationships. The figure for this was 31.6 percent in Cirebon, 30.85 percent in Bogor and 26.47 percent in Sukabumi.
"Sex education is very important for helping teenagers manage their sexual instincts, and I suggest parents start early," Hendrawan said, adding that sex education should emphasize moral and religious values.
Hendrawan told hundreds of youths at the discussion that young people did not have sufficient knowledge to face today's great challenges.
"The threat of disease that comes from sexual contact has become horrifying, while techniques to prevent them have not been taught properly," he said.
He said many Indonesian youths failed to get responsible sex education from competent people. "Information that comes from incompetent people can mislead, and even create misperceptions that could be fatal for youths' future," he said.
But he conceded that parents and the general public had yet to agree on whether youths needed to be informed on sex. (39)