What About Sex?: Teens Speak Out About Parents, Peers & Personal Responsibility
It’s a growing trend these days – parents, in their bid to be “cool and hip”, are allowing their teens to have more and more benefits that the parents may have been denied themselves while growing up.
Whether it be their own cellphone when they’re 10 years old, regular access to the kegerator in the basement when they’re 15, or being given their own new car just because they lived to be 16-years-old – more parents are deciding that the old rule of “as long as it’s at home, it’s okay” is a perfectly adequate way to raise their children.
Even when it comes to teens having sex in the house.
And it appears to be a growing trend, where parents are becoming more accepting of the fact that their youngsters – now older teenagers – are going to be having sex anyway, so why not do it in their own room where they have access to appropriate birth-control devices or otherwise in a safe/clean environment.
Parents justify their reasoning further: the kids won’t be out getting drunk; the kids won’t be out having sex with strangers.
Teens tend to be on the “heck, no” side of the fence. Their philosphy is that they may be having sex, but they really don’t want to be doing it anywhere near where their parents are – with our without parental approval. Heck, even companies are getting in on the teenager sexual escapades — there is one company that has designed smaller condoms specifically for 14-year-olds / tweens. According to a study the company quotes, 25% of teenagers report that the standard condom is “too big”.
What do you think? Is sex something that should be allowed in the home, with full knowledge and permission? Or should it continue to be handled the way it has been for decades — in secret, away from one’s parents? And should condom manufacturers take making tween-friendly, smaller condoms part of their product line?
Voice your opinion in the comments below…