Teen and Tween Sex at Alarming Levels
 
     Early Onset Age of Sexual Initiation Shocking Adults
 
 

Sociologists have demonstrated many problems for teens having sex.  This includes both pregnancies and social diseases, but even more so the serious development of intimacy and relationship problems as well as a tendency to gt involved with people with immature and even toxic personalities.
 
Most professionals in youth development and human services would caution against what is known as early-onset sexual activity, or early initiation of sex.  The problems of teenage sexual activity are well known but are being seen at greater levels know than ever before. 
 
Sexually Active Teens
Overall, the emotional and physical wellbeing between teens who are sexually active and those who are not, can be very significant. 
 
Problems often include:
   - Sexually transmitted diseases (roughly one-quarter of the nation’s sexually
            active teens have been infected by a sexually transmitted disease);
   - Out of wedlock childbearing;
   - Long term poverty and impoverishment;
   - Abortions and multiple abortions;
   - Impairment in intimacy, trust and relationship development issues;
   - Sexual Addiction;
   - And a range of psychological and emotional problems (including findings that
             both teenage boys and girls who are sexually active are significantly less likely to
            be happy and more likely to feel depressed, and when compared to teens who are
            not sex­ually active teenage boys and girls who are sexually active are
            significantly more likely to attempt suicide.)
 
Early Age of Onset of Sex
 An Iowa State study of nearly 1,000 low-income families in three major cities found that one-in-four children between the ages of 11 and 16 reported having sex, with their first sexual intercourse experience occurring at the average age of 12.  Reportedly, the results even shocked the authors of the study.   
 
According to one researcher,  if 12 years old was the average age for sex in this one study, that meant that some kids were starting at 10 or younger… maybe even some as  early as 8 or 9.
It is also not uncommon for tweens or teens who have early-onset sex to parent multiple children in a short period of time.
 
Other concerns show a relationship between juvenile delinquency and early sexual behavior.
 
 
Sex Education for Tweens and Teens
Parents, teachers and social service workers have long been concerned with youth involvement with sexual activity, and the far reaching consequences.  Now, perhaps, there is even greater reason to exercise such caution and concern as it is found that the age of onset is much lower for many than previously thought. 
 
The real question that remains to be answered is: has sex education in the schools truly accomplished the original goals, or has it - as many claim - inadvertently resulted in higher levels of sexual activity and early onset of sexual activity - especially for tweens and teens?
 
 
High Risk for Teens
In either situation, early onset of sexual activity remains a high risk factor for tweens and teens both, and also itself is a contributing factor to other high risk dynamics like poverty, school drop-out, and prolonged immaturity.
 
The "talk" about sex with your child is no longer a recommendation, but must be a primary concern in parental responsibility - and not once, but on a continual basis.  One cannot leave their children to the fates and whims of the times, especially in an over-sexed and sex-crazed culture.
 

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