Teens Listen?

In 1988, George Michael won a Grammy award for his album Faith. This disc featured sexually graphic songs, the most controversial being ‘I Want Your Sex.’ Apparently teens were listening to Mr. Michael. That same year, the Centers for Disease Control surveyed teens and learned that 50% of males and 37% of females aged 15-17 had gotten sex sometime during their short lifetime. While a generation of teens was learning to just say no to drugs during the 80s, many of them were saying yes to sex.

Hey Kids! Want Good Sex? Try Abstinence.

As a mental health counselor, I am really troubled by the numbers of adolescents that I have counseled who cried for days and hurt for years because they engaged in “safer sex” within dead end, unfulfilling relationships. Sadly, they learned that “safer sex” can be hazardous to their emotional health.

I think the current political debate concerning abstinence vs. contraceptive based sexual education has failed to include an important variable in the discussion of what to teach in school: sexual well being.

In many contemporary sexual education curricula, young boys and girls who listen carefully in health class will be ...