^^^^^ GAH! That's just the thing! You can't STOP teens from having sex. You can advise them not to, but when it comes down to it, teenagers have been having sex for AGES. So it's all fine and dandy to teach them about abstinence, and many will take a vow of abstinence, but many do not. So it's better to teach them what to do in case the situation arises than just pretend it's not going to happen.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You know, my psychology teacher says that in cultures where teen sex is accepted kids usually do it responsibly, and in cultures where it's absolutely forbidden kids usually do it responsibly (or just abstain) but in cultures where kids are told "Oh dear God, don't you dare have sex!!! But if you decide to do it anyway here's a condom," kids usually DON'T do is responsibly, and do it MORE than in either of those cultures. They think it's because of the bizarre mixed message they get in sex ed. Don't have sex. Now, here's how you have sex responsibly. So really, when you're teaching your kids about sex, you just need to pick a side and stick with it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That's pretty much true for a ton of things. Generally in countries where they're more liberal about things, it's less of a problem. Take the drinking age for example: in the US it's 21, which is pretty high compared to other developed countries. The figures for drunk driving and underage drinking in the US are huge, because teenagers feel the need to rebel and drink because they're not legally allowed to. But in places where it's much lower (UK, France, Italy) it's been ingrained into their culture so much it's not as much of a problem, therefore it's much more accepted socially.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I was never told don't have sex but if you do use a condom, just use a condom. But I haven't been in sex ed for a few years so it's probably changed.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

we were taught don't have sex, and we were told all the reasons why condoms aren't foolproof and that you can still get aids, fall pregnant, etc.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

by far the best analogy for this i have ever seen.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I've never seen a school that actually teaches abstinence. It's just unrealistic for teens these days.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

our school teaches abstinence. we do this whole program called choices. then again, our society is probably different to the usa. in about 50-60% of circles it is socially unacceptable to have sex, and most of the more popular people practise abstinance.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Oh no, I'm from New Zealand, it's not part of the country's curriculum to teach abstinence. What country are you from? It sounds interesting.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

(Kaitlyn):I'm from south africa. I think the reason we get taught abstinence is because of the huge amount of people with hiv/aids. The problem is though that it's actually the poorer communities (who's culture tells them to have as many children as possible)that are affected by aids.

by Anonymous 12 years ago