I dated guys in high school, but I managed to avoid having sex with them. I was too busy getting it on with one of the girls, who like you, Erika, was super-smart and competitive, busy with activities ranging from the gifted students competitions to choir. (Yes, even back then I liked smart girls, but she was also a Miss Teen Ohio competitor too, which didn’t hurt either.) I guess she really was, as you say, “more interested in grades than dick”. Lucky me.

And you know, I wonder if gay safe sex is ever addressed in schools, because it sure as hell wasn’t back then.

Oh, have you seen this article? It’s an oldie but a goody. I find it wrong in so many ways, I don’t even know where to begin.
http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/2007/01/purity-balls

@pattypunker – I could not have said it better myself: “fear leads to bad and impetuous decisions.”

@InsolentBitch – Thanks for giving me a read once again. I think our dialogue is one that shows that people with differing opinions on certain views aren’t divided by a Lead Wall of Hate. You make some kickass points with regards to government spending – hell, I’m a social liberal and fiscal conservative (I don’t fit any sort of cookie-cutter political mold…dammit…no checkboxed for me). My decision was my decision – thanks for clarifying the “monster” perspective. Would the decision be different today? Most likely. Then? 17-years-old. Pee factory dog. Life. I did what I did and yes, I can live with it. I grew up in Texas, like Emily. The age of consent is 18. I had to lie about my age to obtain the abortion as well as birth control. That’s some shit, if you ask me. Which you were. So I said it. Birth control and sex education isn’t giving permission to go be a ho bag. In conjunction with parenting, it’s a guide for choices you’re going to be making until the day you die with regards to your sexuality. Who the hell wants to miss THAT conversation and journey?

Now I am going to bed before I inundate you any furhter with my nonsense and enrage you with my typos and incoherent randomness.

Peace out.

I also forgot to mention that I completely agree with you that preaching abstinence only takes away from the beauty of sex. I remember when my mom had the birds and bees talk with me. She said “mommies and daddies who love each other make love and it feels SO GOOOOD”. Ew. I just threw up in my mouth but the great thing was she was so open and honest.

Sex is beautiful and young people need to be educated about every aspect of it — mostly by their parents.

Good article!

I am a conservative (to the umpteenth degree) and I am a Christian. I agree with nearly everything you have said. Nearly.

I have had many debates with other conservatives as to why it is *so* utterly important that sex education involves birth control options. To me, sex education should involve abstinence, birth control methods, the way the human body works, where babies come from and why dry humping and blow jobs are so fucking awesome.

I personally feel you are a monster for aborting your tiny human, but I guess what matters is that you can live with yourself and your decision. I struggled for many years and lost many pregnancies before I conceived my son, so it made me appreciate life all the more. But that’s just me and my stoopid* old opinion. (You know, assholes … opinions … everyone has one and all that shit.)

I think *any* government overspending is ridiculous (why, look at Obama’s atrocities for a good example) but if they’re going to spend money on funding abortions (oh yes, yes they do, and in my state the state medicaid plan will pay for up to 5 – FIVE. WTF?), funding birth control education, funding family planning services, etc. then of course they should be able to spend money on abstinence education because that falls under the category of sex education (at least, in my mind it does and the voices say it makes sense too).

I absolutely concur that lazy ass motherfucking parents send their kids to be raised by the public school system. I think parents need to wake the fuck up and start raising their children. Public school is not a daycare, yo.

So yeah… parents need to play an active role. Birth control access is an absolute must to help teenage pregnancy, education about STD’s/etc needs to happen to help prevent the whores from getting holesions and shit and the government spends too much anyways and you happen to support that in many other ways so I am not quite sure what your beef is there. You probably don’t want me to list every bit of pork in our spending as of late, so I will spare you the temptation to stab yourself with a fork.

Oh, and where I live, kids can obtain care on a confidential basis and obtain birth control (any and all methods), abortions, mental health counseling and alcohol/drug services. So yeah.

As for naughtiness? I totally thought I was pregnant at 16 because my boyfriend’s penis touched (did not enter but TOUCHED) my labia and then my period was 3 weeks late, I was so sick, I was tired. I told my mom before I went on a CHURCH FUCKING CAMPING TRIP. My mom, totally awesome, said we would buy a test when I got home. I wasn’t pregnant, obviously, because that would have been immaculate conception or a pretty not-fucking-funny cliche’ teen statistic. It scared me so bad that I waited to have sex until I was married. Abstinence worked for me. But I know how teen’s minds work. They are underdeveloped and can’t think far enough ahead. Semi-retarded, if you will.

So yeah I agree with you for the most part. Except about abortion because, obviously.

*Yes, that was intentionally spelled wrong.

Point being, sex happens, there has to be dialogue. Open, honest dialogue. I have given my children 100% honest, but age appropriate answers and started conversations with them throughout their lives.

Sex isn’t dirty, wrong, or bad, and abstaining is a legitimate choice… but if, in the heat of the moment, you make ANOTHER choice, you should know what your options are. You would never walk out for a two day hike saying, “I choose to abstain from hurting myself or getting into trouble.” Nobody CHOOSES for hiccups in life to occur, but they do. You bring your knowledge, first aid kit, and whatever else you MAY need… so why is preparing for an adult sex life any different a journey than a hike through the woods?

Give kids what they need, treat them with an age-appropriate respect, and that’s all you can do. But saying, “Abstain from accidentally falling in a ravine” is insane.