The teen years are a time of self discovery and a time when your identity forms. Teens are also discovering a lot about their sexuality. They have questions, their bodies are going through changes and sometimes they can’t decipher the emotions and physical feelings that they are having.
Many teens are brought up in homes where homosexuality is considered immoral and just plain wrong. If a teen feels these urges they may feel like they cannot talk about them or that they are “dirty” or wrong for what they are feeling.
This post is not to impose any values or beliefs onto any reader but it is to give basic information so as to increase understanding and tolerance. We all want what is good for our children and ultimately for them to be happy. Naturally as parents, we think we know what will make a child happy in the long run. What we need to realize is that we teach them, train them and then hope that they find their way to happiness and hopefully we can accept them for who they are and what they choose. Even if that means that we don’t agree.
Here are a few statistics to help you understand where your teen may be coming from should these issues arise for them.
- 3-4 % of men and 1-2% of women are homosexual.
- Personal values are known to help sexual behaviors more often than sexual orientation.
- A woman’s sexual orientation seems more flexible than men’s.
- Gay and lesbian people are more likely to be at risk for depression and suicide. This is most likely due to bullying, harassment or a general feeling of acceptance from peers and loved ones.
- About 48% of gay or bisexual people realize these emotions for what they are in high school and about 26 % realize them in college.
- Gay, bisexual, and lesbian teens are 3 times more like to make suicide attempts.
- About 42% of homeless youth claim to be gay, lesbian or bisexual.
An interesting point is that gay and lesbian youth are more likely to miss school or drop out. They tend to not feel safe in their schools among their peers and/or teachers. Perhaps one way to overcome this is for parents to teach their children their belief system but that to be tolerant of others is key.
Information provided by nationalsafeplace.org.
