Opposing Views: Issues, Experts, Answers
Email addresses will be used to email the information on your behalf and will not be collected, shared, sold, or used by Opposing Views for any other purpose. See our privacy policy.



OPINION: Oprah Wrong About Approach to Teen Sexuality
How to really prevent teen sex
I am a married mom of three--girl 21, boy 10, and another girl 8. The mythology of the "good old days" keeps alive the misconception repeated above that "fifty years ago we didn't have the mess we have today." Of course we did. Only then girls were shipped of to stay with relatives out-of-town during the pregnancy or teenagers were forced to marry. The image of a "shot-gun wedding " is hardly new. Many couples from past generations were married when younger than 18, and the average age for first-time sex is still around 16-17. Going back even farther than 50 years to World War I, there was a huge outbreak of VD--even with the campaign "she may look clean..." meant to encourage abstinence among US soldiers. This became such a national scourge that condoms were routinely distributed to the next generation of soldiers during WWII and the military produced films warning against "victory girls" (groupies for guys in the military.) These films also included info on signs of infection and presented a visit to the doc for treatment as routine as a 6-month dental cleaning, nothing shameful or embarrassing, and obviously not unexpected. Teen sex drives haven't increased, perception has gotten fuzzy. Encouraging girls to masturbate is actually a great idea. I mean c'mon, once they realize reaching orgasm is alot more probable going solo, girls would be less likely to waste their time with inexperienced, premature ej-ing teenage boys. And you can still be honest with kids , give them condom info, and still emphasize values. I'm sure no parent wants to encourage underage drinking, either, but I think most still hope their kid would call for a ride home instead of being or riding with a drunk driver.
- LaBrujaRoja
April 19, 2009 9:53AM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.