[Mb-civic] How to prevent youth sex - Lily Rayman-Read - Boston Globe

[William Swiggard]

How to prevent youth sex

By Lily Rayman-Read  |  October 1, 2005

I AM NOT a parent. I have never had children of my own, dependent on me 
for their well-being 24 hours of every day. I do not know the struggles 
of balancing work and family, money issues and home maintenance.

What I do know about are the effects on children of being raised with 
both parents working full time. I am one of those children.

Recently there have been attacks on the media for indecent lyrics, 
television shows, and movies, and for a rise in youth sexuality and 
sexual awareness. The media are being blamed for creating a culture 
where 8-year-olds want to dress like Britney Spears and go out in public 
wearing make-up and skirts that barely cover what was in the not so 
distant past covered by a diaper.

Who is making the decisions to let that 8-year-old leave the house? Are 
parents involved enough in their children's lives to know what they are 
wearing, where they are going, and what they are doing?

According to a study by New York University's Child Study Center, ''only 
about one-third of parents of sexually experienced 14-year-olds know 
that their child has had sex." That statistic is hardly heartening given 
the outcry against this so-called ''sexual revolution."

The average age young people are becoming sexually active is 
continuously dropping, to the point that finding 12-year-olds engaged in 
such activities is no longer shocking to some people.

It used to be that college was the time for sexual exploration. Now that 
time is reached in middle school. The problem is that parents are not 
keeping up.

Not only are children becoming more sexually active at younger ages, 
they are also not receiving the education or ''sex talks" that need to 
go along with taking those actions. Many young people are unaware of the 
consequences of sex, especially when it comes to sexually transmitted 
diseases. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites that 
about 25 percent of sexually active teenagers get a sexually transmitted 
disease every year, and 80 percent of infected teens don't even know it. 
Where are the parents explaining the issues and concerns that go along 
with having sex?

Parents need to be in control and have better communication with their 
children before they pass the blame to other sources for what their 
children are doing, watching, listening to, and participating in. It 
seems as though parents are allowing technology and the media to replace 
parenting.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/10/01/how_to_prevent_youth_sex/
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