You say that like it's a bad thing. There's more to life than sex, pity you haven't learned that yet.

Common sense and basic sex ed?

No, only an idiot parent thinks that telling their kids "sex is wrong" will actually stop them. If a teen wants to have sex, they will. If they aren't properly educated, they won't know the risks and won't use protection. It's way more responsible to give them protection if they need it than to just say no. I'd rather know my kids are safe and protected during sex than worry about them sneaking behind my back and not be safe.

A responsible parent would realise that you can't stop your kids from having sex, you can just try to ensure that they're safe when they do.

Teaching kids about safe sex and how sex works is fine. But teenagers are not emotionally ready for a sexual relationship. And parents should encourage their teens to wait until they are ready, and often that isn't until they are in their early 20's.

"You can't stop a teen from having sex, it's irresponsible for a parent to try. Teach them to have safe sex instead"-says the 14 year old holding a baby with the baby's daddy playing COD in the back ground.

The whole "teenagers will have sex if they want, better teach then safe sex" mantra really bothers me. Basically what your saying is if a kid really wants to do something, let them. But we get up in arms when teenagers smoke, drink or do drugs. The fact is, if they REALLY want to smoke or drink or do drugs they will. But people fight hard to try and prevent that from happening. But on sex we don't try to prevent it, but actually encourage it. If a teenager gets an STD from having unprotected sex, they don't even have to tell their parents anymore , just go to the fee clinic. If a teen girl gets pregnant, they can go get an abortion and mom and dad will never know. Some High schools even give out free condoms and so does planned Parent hood. No one bats an eye, but if drugs or alcohol or cigarettes were treated in the same way people would be up in arms. Teens and for that matter even some adults are not ready for the emotional side effects of sex. It's not about denying teens pleasure, it's about keeping them safe and their future relationships healthy.

#246: That's a good point, to an extent. As far as comparing having sex to smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol, I'm pretty sure teens are more likely to die from alcohol- and drug-related accidents than from having sex and winding up with an unwanted pregnancy. That's why drugs and alcohol are more discouraged than safe sex. Think of it this way: is there really a safe way to do meth?

You do know that meth was made during WWII as a stimulant to keep soldiers fighting? Cocain and heroin were medicines, and cigarettes were portrayed as being better for you than fresh air. It wasn't until years later that the side effects were known and people fought against the research for years before they were accepted. Current research being done now is pointing to mental health problems in teens who engage in sexual behavior. But in regards to the physical health, they may not die from STD's but women can become sterile from untreated STD's, they can die from botched abortions and strains of STD's are becoming antibiotic resistant, so if people continue to engage in risky sexual behavior (not just teens) how many years will it be before a treatable STD like syphilis becomes a killer again?