A major survey carried out by BareAll has revealed that two thirds of teenagers are now waiting until the age of consent before having sex for the first time.
In my opinion, that’s a good thing.
As you all know, I’m a great believer in free sex but that doesn’t mean I believe we should be jumping into bed with any old body while we’re still not mature enough to deal with the psychological affects of sex and, perhaps more importantly, the physical results if proper contraception isn’t used. And being as the same survey showed that 38% of young people DON’T use a condom when having sex with a new partner, the chances of STDs and/or pregnancy are just too great to be dismissed.
70% of respondents claim that they learned the basics of sex through sex education lessons at school. Hmmm… that doesn’t seem right to me. Where are parents these days? Why aren’t they teaching their children about the good old birds and bees? Surely it’s important that young people feel confident and comfortable enough to be able to approach their parents with their sexual concerns? After all, once school’s out, who are they going to turn to then? Their mates? Like they’re going to be in a position to offer sensible advice!
It’s time we brought sex out into the open by talking about it around the dinner table and teaching our children that it’s a natural part of life along with eating, breathing and working. Sex should, in my opinion, be just another subject to discuss. And if we can do that successfully, when Janey or Johnny need to talk about contraception or anything else that’s related to sex, approaching a parent about it should be just as easy as approaching them to discuss a problem at college, work or whether or not they should buy a new outfit for the party they’re going to at the weekend.
Sadie xxx
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