Teen sex, is the answer better education.Mature discussion

[Adam Black]

and I imagine I would be highly embarresed going into a shop and buying [a condom] (is that even leagal if youre under 16?)

Ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, let's stop under-16s going into shops and buying strips of rubber. The horror.

I don't really have an opinion on this matter, but I do remember reading a newspaper article about this (given to us during Sex Ed. in school) that said something along the lines of 'we should reduce the age of consent to 12, because then teenagers are given the choice to not have sex and take responsibility, and aren't pushed into it by peer pressure and the glamourisation of 'breaking the law.''

Erm. Yes. Something like that, anyway.

[edd8990]

Adhinko: It's not even legal to have sex under 16, there's no point in selling condoms to them.

Wrong. In Britain, there is NO leagal restriction on males having sex (Unles it is homosexual in which case - 18) The under 16 rule only applies to females.

[Mas Tnega]

Let's see. Females have to 16+, but males don't. Why have there been laws shown to me, listing various ages and stuff, and I've never seen that? In fact, why is it that I've never heard that ANYWHERE discussing stuff like that?

Could it possibly be that you've just made that up?

[Darkshine]

Adhinko: It's not even legal to have sex under 16, there's no point in selling condoms to them.

Wrong. In Britain, there is NO leagal restriction on males having sex (Unles it is homosexual in which case - 18) The under 16 rule only applies to females.

That statement is entirely false.

[BlueScreen]

Another woring trend that is emerging,

with the prevelence of the Morning after pill, contraceptive pills, and contraceptive injections, there is a lack of use of condoms.

condoms don't just stop pregnancies, but also other nasty effects of unprotected sex,

STIs

no matter what that catholic priest in Africa said recently, condoms really do prevent HIV, gonnoreah<sp?>, chlamidia and other nasty bugs, most of which if left untreated can seriously affect your life in the future.

and yes, to go along with it's high teen pregnancy rate, the UK has also got a rising STI rate.

[einstein]

Adhinko: It's not even legal to have sex under 16, there's no point in selling condoms to them.

Wrong. In Britain, there is NO leagal restriction on males having sex (Unles it is homosexual in which case - 18) The under 16 rule only applies to females.

That statement is entirely false.

Darkshine is precisely correct..... that is the craziest thing i have ever heard edd8990!

This is one of the problems with this area of society - misconceptions!

"you can't get pregnant standing up", "you can get pregnant from oral", "as long as you pull out early enough she can't get pregnant"... ad nauseium...

Personally I think sex-ed is the solution to a large part of the problem.... but there is only so much you can do to make people have safe sex...

Lets face it.... it is impossible to inforce a law that forbids sexual relations at any age... any enforcement is retrospective... and in most situations (such as the 14 y/o mother) the guy involved will probably be young enough that there is a defence to any offence. Thus it is impossible to stop young people having sex, it is a matter of stopping unwanted teenage pregnacies...

I personally cannot see any way of stopping unwanted teen pregnancies that does not place proper and full sex education at the apex.

The American Conservative approach is laughable. "Abstinence only" does not lower the rate of teen sex, it lowers the rate of safe sex!

The distribution of contraception by schools is a controversial issue, even outwith the US. In the UK, it would be seen by many as promotion of teen sexual activity... however proper education of where condoms (etc) can be obtained would give those who need them the means of gettin them (rather than giving them to everyone, and thus having ppl wanting to try em out )

I'm a big supporter of full sex education... an informed teenager is more likely to practice safe sex!

[Me300]

I know I had safe sex after prom this year.
BUt I seriously think that teen pregnancies are a serious problem, and if left unchecked, may eventually contribute to the downfall of society.

[ReflectingGod]

The problem isn't only one of education, peer pressure is a major influencing factor.

A girl (or indeed, boy) may often feel pressured into sex as their friends are (supposedly) all doing it, and they want to fit in.

Also a large number of girls end up with older boys, who expect them to have sex with them, and the girls are almost forced into it, and they feel it is something they must do.

It seems also, that the problem is greater in inner-city areas. Children from poorer families in cities, it seems, are more likely to get involved in crime, drugs, and underage sex etc.

This is a problem which is gonna take a lot more than education to solve, it needs to change the habits of a generation.

[Wishmaster]

Where I live (Norway) everybody from 16 to 18 can get free condoms from nurses and doctors. Also, girls in that age can get free P-pills from the same people. And the shame of buying condoms in a store has been reduced considerably the last 10 years. Under-age pregnancies are at an all-time low as well, however under-age sex is not! This mainly because of an alterage of attitudes, but also extensive Sex Ed. programs in school (in the last year of Ground- School our class go to put condoms on these fake peni's).

Now, I don't say that this is the way all nations should go, because Norway have only just above 5mill people on a stretch of land approx. twice the size of the UK. Small societies and see-through communities prevent ANYONE from stepping too much out of line.

Extensive Sex Ed. should be the basis of all anti under-age pregnancy/sex campaigns, since it is quite easy and cheap to do.

I won't discuss the religios aspects, as I am an atheist, but respects the various religions in this world. However, I do find the Popes laws against prevention rather stupid.

[Darkshine]

I think the main reason the legal age of consent exists is to protect minors from adults, not each other.

[Rkiver]

I read an article in an Irish newspaper called the Evening Herald. It's title was "Sex Miseducation" and concentrated on something from the US called "Silver Ring Thing". Essentially you sing up, swear to abstain from sex till marriage, and you get a silver ring. Now I cannot say that this article is 100% correct but from what I read I was horrified. They claim condoms don't really work, so you shouldn't bother. I mean what the hell are they playing at? Condoms do fail, about 1% of the time (I've had one split on me, rather annoying when it happens). They go around calling anyone who has sex before marriage a slut, and most damning of all is that only 20% keep the promise, the rest have sex, unprotected, as they now no longer believe in the condom.

This group has a travelling roadshow type thing, and are coming to Ireland and the UK this summer, I for one would never allow my child to go to something like that, as it is just spreading a really bad idea in my opinion.

Also from what I just read there about Norway, smart ideas. Norway has just a slightly larger population then Ireland, and they seem to have the right idea regarding sex education.

[Darkshine]

I read an article in an Irish newspaper called the Evening Herald. It's title was "Sex Miseducation" and concentrated on something from the US called "Silver Ring Thing". Essentially you sing up, swear to abstain from sex till marriage, and you get a silver ring. Now I cannot say that this article is 100% correct but from what I read I was horrified. They claim condoms don't really work, so you shouldn't bother. I mean what the hell are they playing at? Condoms do fail, about 1% of the time (I've had one split on me, rather annoying when it happens). They go around calling anyone who has sex before marriage a slut, and most damning of all is that only 20% keep the promise, the rest have sex, unprotected, as they now no longer believe in the condom.

This group has a travelling roadshow type thing, and are coming to Ireland and the UK this summer, I for one would never allow my child to go to something like that, as it is just spreading a really bad idea in my opinion.

Also from what I just read there about Norway, smart ideas. Norway has just a slightly larger population then Ireland, and they seem to have the right idea regarding sex education.

Channel 4 did a documentary on the Silver Ring Thing, and it's totally true. I found the organisation disturbing.

[Rkiver]

I showed it to people I live with, the description that came to all out minds is "Cult". Anyone care to disagree?

[coolsi]

Channel 4 did a documentary on the Silver Ring Thing, and it's totally true. I found the organisation disturbing.

I saw that, and it filled me with hate. That bloke was trying to make these kids not have sex at all, and then made them feel bad if they did have sex. Bastard.

[HairDryer]

A girl (or indeed, boy) may often feel pressured into sex as their friends are (supposedly) all doing it, and they want to fit in.

Also a large number of girls end up with older boys, who expect them to have sex with them, and the girls are almost forced into it, and they feel it is something they must do.

All i can do is agree to this statement as it is probably very near the truth. And i would also agree that 70% of the girls i that i used to be friends with (back in school) lied about having sex.

Wrong. In Britain, there is NO leagal restriction on males having sex (Unles it is homosexual in which case - 1 The under 16 rule only applies to females.

This is true in britain but it is not widely known.


In my opinion sex ed is seen mainly as a big joke in schools in britain, mainly because people find it embarassing to talk about in front of their friends because they dont want to say something "blonde".(no offence blondes).

Everyone would laugh and not really learn all that much from the lesson apart from if you have unprotected sex then you can still go out and by a pill the day after. This gave peers an extra method of pressurising because it is another reason why unsafe sex can be safe in their eyes.

I'm 17 have a bf and have had unsafe sex once since i started at 15,(mainly due to peer pressure) if i had not had a friend who had her life ruined at 14 by a pregnancy that wasnt deteced until she was 6 months in.

The fact is that 30 years ago people looked at teenage pregnancy as something to hide away, and was absolutely socially unacceptable. Now people are used to it and don't usually give it a second thought.
Anyway i was lucky to have seen the concequences of unprotected sex a year before i started, maybe if schools got teenage mothers to come and give a lecture on it then it might educate people a lot better than the "teachers" do.

*edit* missed a quote mark in my bbcode */edit*