After having been a teenager (do you all remember???) and raising four kids I can say with complete certainty that not allowing them access to condoms will NOT stop them from having sex. It is not the availability of these things that encourage sexuality..it is everything in media today. It cracks me up...you take a 14 year old hormone driven male..put tv shows on that glorify sex, stick up billboards showing more cleavage than you used to see in a Playboy...play songs that make sex the norm...encourage young women to display their bodies because they have the 'right' to do so and use sex to sell every product known to man...then tell him NOT to have sex. Get real! The thing that stopped most of us was not the absence of condoms..it was respect for ourselves and the fact that we viewed sex as something more important than it is viewed today. I would not want to be a teen in this day and age.

Bavarian, I agree...13 year old females ARE girls..not women but if you have ever worked with teens (ask any junior high school teacher) many of these young girls are being taught by todays society that they can use their 'sexuality' to get attention. I have seen so many young females that are much more agressive and sexually aware than their male counterparts. I don't think that the young men are any less culpable but face it...teen boys can be stupid when the hormones kick in (ask the average guy what their primary thoughts were at age 14) We are not going to stop this..if we can prevent some unwanted pregnancys or STDs then we should.

In the days of Romeo and Juliet, they had to start early in life because they didn't live long.

All I can say is WOW.

Let me add my 2 c: :)

Having a condom or two in your pocket doesn't mean you're GOING to have sexual intercourse; Not having a condom or two in your pocket doesn't mean you're NOT going to have sexual intercourse; Having a free condom doesn't mean that your parents need to stop teaching!; Not having a condom doesn't mean that other methods of sexual activity are going to happen anyway (or is that ok with you?); Preventing at least 99% of STD's (with the PROPER use of condoms) and unwanted pregnancies isn't a bad thing at any age is it?

Now someone will debate me on my use of 99%. Whatever!

Well we must be doing a really really good job with all this sex education. I mean teen pregnacies are up STD for teens is up. Schools have decided it is their responsibility and right to teach kids about the birds and bees and the benefits of same sex everything. Movies glamorize sex and make it matter of factly like sex is the same as a hand shake.
gosh since we know kids will have sex we might as well invite them to use our bedrooms at anytime they feel the need. i mean a kid might get bruise doing it in a car.

Apparently the majority believe that whatever a kid decides to do is OK because there going to do it anyway. Hell sit them down at the table and sahre tequila shooters with them why don't you. Geeezzzz

There is not enough sex education due to parents not talking about it or allowing it to be taught in school!!!!!!
BECAUSE they are going to do it anyway, with the use of condoms STD's would be down!!!
Old Fashioned thinking from adults keeps the young people from listening to parents!!!!
More sex education in school and sex discussions with the parents would take away the misunderstandings and put accurate information in these young peoples minds. Kids know more about sex today than we do today. Telling them about the stork and other birds and bees fairy tails will not help.

From the CDC website.
CDC - Teen Pregnancy Home - Reproductive Health

The Importance of Prevention
In 2011, a total of 329,797 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years, for a live birth rate of 31.3 per 1,000 women in this age group.1 This is a record low for U.S. teens in this age group, and a drop of 8% from 2010. Birth rates fell 11% for women aged 15–17 years, and 7% for women aged 18–19 years. While reasons for the declines are not clear, teens seem to be less sexually active, and more of those who are sexually active seem to be using birth control than in previous years.


Snapshot: STDs in the United States, 2011
Chlamydia Cases reported in 2011: 1,412,791 R ate per 100,000 people: 457.6; increase of 8% since 2010 T his rise is most likely due to increased screening, expanded use of more sensitive tests and more complete national reporting

Syphilis (primary and secondary) Cases reported in 2011: 13,970 Rate per 100,000 people: 4.5; unchanged from 2010 T he overall steady trend masks declining infections among women and increases among men, particularly gay and bisexual men

Gonorrhea
Cases reported in 2011: 321,849
R ate per 100,000 people: 104.2; 4% increase since 2010
T hough rates remain at near-historic lows, this is the
second consecutive year of increases

Syphilis (congenital) C ases reported in 2011: 360 Rate per 100,000 live births: 8.5; 7% decrease since 2010 S ince 2008, the rate has decreased by nearly 20 percent

The kids get their sex education from the movies, television and the Internet.
The permissive age has erased any mystery and of course anything goes!
btk

From the leading experts comes this non sequitur: You are gonna do it so we might as well hand out condoms. Your are gonna do drugs so we might as well make them legal. You are gonna...........................

I thought the obligation of the adult community was to treat children as if they were a protected species.

I see we shifted greatly from a nation of laws to a nation of rights.

I see parents, teachers ,etc that apparently let the tail wag the dog.

What happened to NO. What happened to concern about the psychological and physical affect of these vices upon one's body and soul.

Who you gonna believe.

The problem with statistics is that they are often manipulatd to fit the story

What happen to good old common sense.

"Beware if you spit at the heavens they will spit back.
Ïf you lie down with dogs you come up with fleas"".................................

A nation is only as strong as the character of its people

I'm worried

What you say sounds like your ways should work, but they do not work in these times, so I say lets drop good old common sense, fear and superstition and give facts and science a try. The good Ole ways are a thing of the past and to try to revive them is fruitless at best. Look to the future.

Well stated and I believe is the sentiment and concern of the majority of truly responsible/accountable folks. This is not an antagonistic statement but just a statement of opinion regarding the subject of rights VS laws VS permissiveness VS discipline VS authority VS moral values in decline.

btk

BTK, I do respect your opinion, but must disagree. I think too many of the older generation is stuck in THE GOOD OLE DAYS and is not seeking ways to move forward and improve. We have done so many good things in the last 50 years, but in the area of permissive sexual behaver, we are failing because of our old fashioned ways. I don't want the problem left up to the Young teenagers, but also we must not allow old people to make decisions on how to handle this problem. All we get from the older generation is GOD will be angry or WHEN I WAS DATING or comments like that. Young people today look at our generation and laugh because we are so out of touch with reality. We need to talk to them, not try to guilt trip them into our way of doing things. The GOOD OLD DAY ways are the very reason we are loosing the fight. Either change or please step out of the way and let someone else try.

Well said. We are dealing with AIDS, a deadly and incurable disease, something that teens back in our day never had to face. Condoms are the only way to go. Sometimes you have to accept that society has changed and work with what you have. It may not be what you would like, or what existed 50 years ago, but its what we have today, and we need to protect our youth from themselves. We can back up a condom program with education on how to "say no", and hopefully the message will get across, but kids will experiment, and we want them to do it safely.

My great grandma was 13 when she wed 14 first child my grandmother born at 1pound 12 ounces kept on the door of the stove to stay warm...she was born 1904... Not that I am saying this is good or bad but that was the way of lifestyle how things have changed

I don't believe it's just a matter of old fogies preaching "the good old days". I think there's still a large segment of society, both young and old, that believe certain basic principles of integrity, morality, and basic right-vs-wrong still apply.

We have to adapt with the times. But we don't have to give up those principles...they play an enormous role in the direction our society evolves.