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Might be a fallacious question but here me out. I'm in my 20s as well and still a virgin. I live in Ireland and from this countries Catholic roots (though I've heard the States isn't much better), there's still a strong reluctance to talk about sex, relationships etc...in school. I got nothing about contraceptions etc..in my secondary school.
Some have argued heavily on here that it's the responsibility of parents to teach their kids and I sort of disagree with that because in my case....not a single word about contraception, sex, relationships etc... Perhaps it's because my parents thought I was hopelessly awkward and they knew there was more chance of me winning the lottery but I got nothing. I did learn a bit from the internet.
My question is, assuming there are others like me but with more social skills and actually try to have sex during their teens/twenties, why aren't their more pregnancies? I do know that teens get pregnant but those here in Ireland are mainly people from "the lower class" if you know what I mean. It's very rare that a teen will get pregnant.
I know that some middle class teen will get an abortion because they're more focused on education and a baby ruins that but regardless of that, I've never heard of a girl/boy couple in my school ever getting pregnant. It begs the question, is most sex ed really necessary then? Is a lot of it common sense along with info from peers? Should we not be seeing many more accidental pregnancies from horny teens?
The US has lots of sex ed. They teach you about the 52 different genders and sexes and you can pick which one you want to be. Sex before marriage is okay, if you get pregnant you can just get an abortion. The teen pregnancy rate in Ireland is about 7,8 per 1000 and the US is over 20 per 1000. So, lots of sex ed doesn’t help much. The best way to prevent unwanted pregnancy is to not have sex before marriage. The second best way is pharmaceutical contraception. Condoms work better than nothing and decrease the chance of spreading certain STDs.
From what I've seen and read, young people are more juvenile in all areas than they used to be. An 18-year-old today is like a 15-year-old was in the '80s. There's a huge generational difference, at least here in Japan. Kids here used to drive loud motorcycles day and night. Girls all wore miniskirts, even in January. Now, if you see them in public at all, they're just looking at their phones. They're sheltered and docile, and if they're horny they have the internet... no real need for an actual partner who could get pregnant.
Teen pregnancy statistics may be lower, but that doesnt mean teen sex has decreased either.
Teens are teens, sex is a HUGE deal to them, it was when I was a teen and with all the easy access to porn and how 'sexualized' teens are today, it doesnt make sense that the numbers would go down.
I had my first sexual experience at 13, I was in 7th grade in middle school, many of my classmates were having their first experience around the same time too, this was in the mid 80s...times are MUCH different today
Both teen pregnancy and abortion rates have fallen sharply in the US over the past dozen years. That they haven’t fallen more is because sex ed here is wildly inconsistent among schools, religions, and parents. It’s everything from ‘Just say no’ to totally comprehensive information about contraception, relationships, gender identity, pornography, and all the rest. Where and when those comprehensive programs are undertaken kids mostly do OK. But many people here are still extremely puritanical about sex. And it’s our kids who pay the price.
Last edited by citylove101; 09-09-2018 at 11:13 AM..
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If both pregnancy and abortion rates fall, isn't that a good thing? I don't know how sexually active teens are today, but if they're taking precautions, I call that a good thing. As for whether they're actually "doing it" or not, eh...whatever. Let people do their own thing regarding sex - including none at all if that's their choice. Ridiculing people for not having sex is every bit as bad as the most puritanical fundamentalists scorning people for having sex out of wedlock. In fact, I'll even go so far as to say that people forgot the whole purpose of the Sexual Revolution - only instead of scorning "whores", more people these days scorn "virgins". Do you really think that's what the Sexual Revolution was supposed to be about? Seriously?
I can't answer your question completely, but I will say that, yes, it's theoretically the parents' responsibility to teach their children about sex - and about money, and about nutrition, and all sorts of things. But that doesn't mean they do it. I hope you're not saying that because you've been stuck managing without more information, that information should be curtailed.
By the way, since this is the politics forum, I can't help mentioning that under President Obama, teen pregnancy dramatically decreased in the U.S. - supposedly an all-time low - but Trump has now ended those programs that Obama put into place, so it may start climbing again.
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