Like many students at university, I have taken to spending my free time watching the wonderful abomination that is The Jeremy Kyle Show. For our more 'cultural' readers who may not have heard of the JK phenomenon, let me enlighten you with my brief dictionary definition:
The Jeremy Kyle Show - 'A reality T.V show, in which vagrants, scumbags, hooligans and inbreds air their dirty washing in order to prove that they're 'right' or to embarrass a fellow family member in front of the 'Great British Public'.
What these buck-toothed parasites don't actually know is that at the end of the day they are making a spectacle of themselves. Next time they're walking down their local High Street or sewer with their new found celebrity 'status' they will be wondering why on earth the 'Great British Public' all have their 10ft barge poles at the ready.
I realise I am somewhat digressing from the article topic but, believe it or not, this is all relevant. After a brain-tiring day of studying Geoffrey Chaucer, I felt it would be fitting to vegetate in front of JK. What a bad idea. What has society come to when a 12-year-old girl BOASTS about losing her virginity? In my honest opinion, this child should be fitted with a chastity belt and sent to a convent. But hey-ho, call me old-fashioned!
So this is where my article starts...
The average age in the UK to lose your virginity is 17 (one year above the age of consent). In reference to the BBC, though, over 1/4 of British youths have lost their virginity by the age of 15. So I decided to look into this by interviewing 30 people between the ages of 18 and 22, to see what they thought and to see if pressures are responsible for people now losing their virginity before marriage. So a (confidential) survey of 'Loss Ages' was taken. Here are the results:
14 - II (2)
15 - IIIIIIII (8)16 - IIIIIIIIII (10)
17 - III (3)
18 - IIIII (5)
19 - II (2)
I do realise that as I discuss this, I will sound like a weird combination of both my maths teacher AND my sex-ed teacher... so wish me luck.
As I mentioned earlier, the age of consent is 16 and the average age in my survey was 16! What a cohinkydink! On asking these people whether it was a regret or not, the majority said how they were in a relationship at the time, felt it was the right decision and still think it was the right decision today. Which is kind of cute in a way. One thing that did stick out, however, was that both the 'Fourteens' said that they regretted their first time, and if they could change it, would. It may be the old father figure inside of me that is upset by this and wants to give the people in question a cuddle, but it was their decision, however mature they may be. The 'Fifteens' were a mixed bunch, with only a few regretting and the majority in long-term relationships and feeling that it was the right thing to do.
Gone are the days of saving yourself for marriage. I'm not going to lie - I'm no Mother Theresa (she has a beauty far superior to mine) but the youths of today are exposed to sex and therefore are more open to experiment and have a lust for knowledge. Does the media promote the need for sex? Yes. YES IT BLOODY WELL DOES. I work in my local branch of W.H.Smith (or a 'shit Waterstone's' as Shaun Beale likes to frequently remind me) and everywhere you look, it's just SEX, SEX, SEX. EVERY PAPER (mostly tabloids): 'He's having SEX with her', 'she's having SEX with him', 'you need this for your SEX life', 'your partner will leave you if you don't have SEX', etc. The list goes on. Pardon the pun, but we have sex coming out of everywhere. It's subliminally messaging the delicate minds of the youthful and making virginity out to be like an energy card in a game of Pokemon. It's just something to be discarded, but we can't get rid of it. Sex is a part of life and we can't escape it, no matter how good our Internet child-filter is.
It cannot be avoided.
FRIENDS: Oh my goodness, friends are the worst. Out of my friendship group, I was somewhere in the middle of the 'timeline' (if you can even call it that). The girls were the first to go, which has science to help aid that explanation as girls do mature before us guys. I, sadly, still haven't matured. But relating back to peers, it is not the fact that friends pressure you to have sex, but you almost you feel you should be 'doing it' in order to fit in and to have something to talk about. I personally felt as if I needed to do it, as my friends had already started and, being 16, I wasn't exactly breaking the law...
... unless I involved myself with a minor. But the only A-minor I saw was on my guitar!
*tumbleweed*
On a more serious note though, I waited until I was in a long-term relationship, with someone I was in love with.
- Did I feel pressured by the media? HELL NO.
- Did I feel pressured by my friends? KINDA, BUT I STILL WAITED LIKE A GOOD BOY.
- Should I have waited until I was married? HELL NO.
- Do I regret it? HELL NO.
One thing that was prominent throughout all of this was that most people were in relationships at the time AND DID NOT CARE about external influences affecting their decision. I think it shows that however far things may have changed over time, people still hold their morals close to them. Okay, so they don't wait until marriage, but sex is a great way of showing someone you love them. It's just a case of the low-life cretins of this country that let us down, and gain publicity for it.
My faith in humanity = restored.
When you feel it's the right time, it's the right time. Take no notice of what anyone else says. Look out for number one.
Alex White
The Jeremy Kyle Show image courtesy of www.pophangover.com - This image may not be situated in the same location in the post if this page is viewed from a mobile application, but this should not adversely affect your reading experience.
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