European parents and teen sex

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by Docman

As many of you know American parents are quite strict when it comes to teen sex.

Blanket statements suck.

Originally Posted by Catbelle

Well it depends on the parents... some parents don't like it at all and don't allow it, others don't like but they prefer their teens do it at home rather than somewhere else, and other parents don't know anything at all about what their kids do (most usual situation)

I think that things have changed a lot in the last years, now teens start sexual life earlier than before, but there are more information about safe sex as well. But in my opinion and regarding what happens around me, parents don't usually know where and when their sons/daughters have sex.

Sounds exactly how I'd describe American parents.

You hope your kids aren't doing it, but if they are you probably won't know and if you do...what can you really do about it? Give them the safety talks and hope for the best.

[pigeonhole]

What is necessary for Americans and other Anglo Saxon people to understand, is that, apart from the UK, there is not really such a thng as casual sex in Continental Europe (having "friends with benefit" is unheard of, mostly) and the further South you go, the less liberal society remains towards sex in general. So even if European parents on the surface seem liberal, that doesn't mean they accept that their children (boys and girls alike, it's probably worse for the girls) lead a promiscuous life (meaning having "frinds with benefits" or dating different partners all the time). On the other hand, if sonny or little princess have a regular partner, they are quite tolerant with the situation generally, they can even come to sleep at home (provided the parents don't hear some...noises at night, the threshold of affectation , in middle class at least, sinks fast then) and don't need to be married. My wild guess is that parents, even those who are in favor of gay marriage, don't accept this as readily in case their children are homosexual.
In a general sense, one could say Continental European parents are more hypocrites than Anglo Saxon ones, and that under the veneer of tolerance lurks a generally conservative attitude.

[Acajack]

I think one of the reasons people outside the US think Americans (and American parents more precisely) have hang-ups about their kids and sex is that they hear about purity balls, purity rings, purity marches, and also stuff like scandals and opposition to vaccinating elementary school kids for the human papilloma (?) virus, etc.

[cali3448893]

Originally Posted by Docman

Don't you just love it when a thread goes off topic?

To get back to the point what are european attitudes toward their teen children having sex? Is it something to be hidden as in america or something natural? And do the allow their teens to have sleepovers with their boyfriend/girlfriend in their house?

Yeah what thread doesn't go off topic, I go with the flow...

[allenk893]

American parents are NOT strict. I come from a REAL strict Caribbean Christian family and the things American parents allow their teens to do are unfathomable to us. Just thought I'd clear that up as an American of a different ethnic persuasion. American parents are right up with there with Europeans. The only difference is Europeans don't put up with their kid's crap and physically disciplines them.