Posted on 03/08/2005 10:21:54 AM PST by Jimmyclyde
Hispanic teen sex study puzzling Increased use of new language seems to lead to a much higher level of activity By ERIC BERGER Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
As Hispanic teens shed the language of their native countries and immerse themselves in American culture, they become dramatically more sexually active, a new study shows.
A review of 7,300 Arizona teenagers' behavior, which should translate well to other states that border Mexico, including Texas, found that 31 percent of Hispanic teens who speak primarily English have had sex, more than twice the percentage of those who speak primarily Spanish, 14 percent.
The key question — why? — remains unanswered.
"I wish I knew," said the study's lead author, Dr. Mary Adam, a pediatrics researcher at the University of Arizona's College of Medicine. "This is certainly something we are continuing to explore."
The study, published in this month's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, adds evidence to the so-called healthy immigrant paradox, that Hispanics coming to the United States are healthier than second- and third-generation U.S. residents from the same countries.
Various research has found that less-Americanized Hispanic children have healthier diets, better immunization rates, fewer suicide attempts, and decreased use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs than more Americanized adolescents.
"The study certainly speaks to some of the risks we face in everyday life here," said Katharine Donato, a sociologist at Rice University who studies ethnic health disparities. "But I wouldn't quite say it's an indictment of our culture."
Some researchers have attributed the importance of family in Hispanic culture, and the high regard for parental roles, as playing a part in protecting health, as well as the social support from a large family. But there is not a broad consensus yet in the medical and sociological communities studying these questions.
A better understanding of the beneficial aspects of Hispanic culture, and the healthy components of U.S. culture could generate new approaches to address a host of public health issues, from obesity to smoking, said Dr. Glenn Flores, a pediatrician at the Medical College of Wisconsin, in an editorial that accompanied the research article.
"The discovery of a single unifying intervention that could reduce or prevent some or all of these conditions would be hailed as one of the greatest accomplishments of modern medicine," he wrote.
Dr. Peggy Smith, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine and director of Ben Taub Hospital's Teen Health Clinic, said the trends in the study follow what she has observed.
Smith says as Hispanic girls become more immersed in U.S. culture, if they are unmarried when they become pregnant, they tend to be far less inclined to marry before or soon after the child is born.
That means the children are being raised in single-parent homes, which has financial ramifications, and studies have clearly shown that opportunities and outcomes for such children are far lower than compared to two-parent families, Smith said.
Smith believes she knows at least partly why Hispanic adolescents become more sexually active after living in the United States.
Hispanic children who come to this country become immersed in a culture that is more permissive about sex, Smith said — chaperones are not uncommon on dates in Mexico. Beyond that, because of an increasing focus on abstinence, there is less information available about birth control than in most other industrialized countries.
"As a culture, we have problems with openly discussing the whens and ifs of sex with our children," Smith said. "This is one of the outcomes of that."
Bush's fault.
That's funny... the more mexican food I eat, the shorter I get and the less sex I want to have...
So9
Well let me help, does the study look at the influence of gangs, gang initiations, and gangs control of young girls in the neighborhood?
I'd say that knowing English increases your pool of potential sex partners.
They discourage immigrants' integration into English-speaking society, yet they also encourage teenage sexual activity. What's more important to them: multiculturalism or free sex?
No, this is Alberto Gonzales fault!
And those who do not read/write/speak English fluently will not prosper as well as those who do!
Another day, another reason to home school!
ping
Isn't "no" the same in English and Spanish???
Please....no facts. They're trying to make a point & you go & ruin it with facts.
Its nothing to do with English.
When they reestablish themselves here, they are cut off from the normal family structures and social structures that serve to regulate behavior back home. Both parents are working. The aunts and uncles and grandparents aren't there. The familiar social pressures aren't there.
It takes time for them to integrate into the new structure, to form the new ties and attitudes that will serve to regulate behavior in the new environment. It happens, but its a process.
If anything, learning English speeds up the process of integrating into their adopted society and speeds up the process of establishing the new ties.
But there is little doubt that American life is more free-wheeling than what they are used to.
What a meaningless statistic. This study spans ages 13-19. Is there any attempt to compare just 13-year-olds? Or 19-year olds?
Instead, they are lumped together - and it makes sense that a 19-year-old would be more prone to speak English as a primary language, given that they would probably have been here longer and received much more exposure to English. And it also makes sense that a 19-year-old would be more prone to have sex. But we can't tell that from this stupid study, can we?
When will we see the headline: Spanish language linked to machete attacks in hispanic teens
Notable that they didn't post the rate for black teenagers.
I suspect that as latinos become more assimilated, the most important marker for which is English-speaking, they also tend to buy more into the victim mentality and approximate more closely to inner-city black attitudes in a lot of ways, one of which is early promiscuity.
But I could be way off base.
Guess that explains the low birthrates in all those Spanish-speaking countries south of us.
Sorry - LOL
Welcome to Gomorrah, kid. Sodom's a bit further north.
Talk about 'cause and effect' assumptions...
Of course those who learn to speak English are going to be more social in general thereby leading to more sexual activity. Duh.
Or French speaking Americans in France get more action than non-French speaking Americans
Or German speaking Americans in Germany get more babes than non-German speaking Americans
Or Spanish speaking Americans get more Chicas in Mexico than non-Spanish speaking Americans...
Yeah I don't know why English speaking Hispanics have more sex in America than non-English speaking Hispanics! Sarcasm off.
They will continue to study this!!!!!!!
Which means a big entitlement to the people doing the study on our dime!!!!!!!!
"Nonetheless, this puts liberals on the horns of a dilemma....They discourage immigrants' integration into English-speaking society, yet they also encourage teenage sexual activity. What's more important to them: multiculturalism or free sex?"
CALL THAT AND RAISE YOU ONE:
What's more important, birth-patriated illegal voters, or abortion-on-demand?
There is hardly a Hispanic teen left in the U.S. who doesn't understand and speak English. Marketers cite the trend that the younger generation of Hispanics don't speak or even understand Spanish.
Try looking at MTV or afternoon american television and that is where I think the link is.
They can talk about it in earshot of their parents and peers who don't speak English without issue... No suprises here.
I don't know why not. I certainly would. The question isn't whether this is evident of a cultural problem in the U.S. but what that problem is.
Shalom.
And this is surprising because....?
I am not even convinced that this study 'proves' what it purports to prove. How did they discount the possibility that english speaking Hispanics were simply more willing to admit sexual activity? That spanish speaking hispanics were simply more likely to SAY they were not sexually active?
Social science, the vast majority of the time, is NOT science.
I don't understand why the media doesn't understand simple things like that. That is one of the dumbest headlines I have ever seen. This is a classic case of correlation implying causation. I thought the MSM likes to lecture us on how stupid we are, but such dumbass thinking really makes me wonder "Is our children learning?"
Well if they think that this is a problem, then the obvious solution is for all of them and their parents to stay in Mexico where they won't be as much exposed to English and American culture. It's what is best for them, and for us, a win/win situation. Stay in Mexico and have less sex. But don't Mexicans usally have bigger families than Americans??
I'm sure the study controlled for all other variables.
Exactly. Teenagers that have the ability to communicate in the English are much more likely to get "out and about," leave the neighborhood for entertainment, etc. The teenagers that can't speak English are pretty much stuck in their home and neighborhood where parents and neighbors can keep an eye on them.
Teens have broken the language barrier and they have more sex as a result. Now that's fffffuuuunnnnyyyy.
I'll bet it's linked to rap "music".
Too late I already volunteered with Salma Hayek.
In my case... the more mexican food I eat, the wider I get and the less women want to have sex with me...
LOL.
i am a hispanic and i am offended.why must you degrade others to further your own peril? are you not a male who has no faith in calcium? damn you and your fleeting words of minorities.you disgust me sir. have you no respect for the decent people living in your bathroom?
Sir, they do not live in my bathroom but clean it.
Your command of the English language is sadly lacking and I am quite sure you smell like a bad fish taco.
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