A study by San Diego State University shows a shocking cultural shift in the attitudes and practices of teen girls regarding sex. What should you do to help your teens avoid the pain and suffering this could bring?
by Cecil E. Maranville
A dozen years ago, a friend of mine was zealously vocal about protecting his then junior high school-aged daughters from young men. He somewhat seriously quipped that he would not allow the girls to date until they were well into their 20s! They were delightful girls, pretty on the inside and the outside. I could readily understand his protectiveness!
Actually, the girls grew up to be fine young women and, undoubtedly, their dad's loving protectiveness played a part.
However, the sons of these now grown women may need the same kind of protectiveness—from girls. There has been a dramatic cultural shift in America, affecting the present generation of young teens in a profound way.
Whereas parents once instinctively sheltered daughters, warning them about undisciplined and unscrupulous young men, parents must also now warn their sons about predatory young women. Girls in their early teens routinely approach boys at parties to offer to perform sexual acts on them.
"Young women are leading the way in tearing down sexual taboos in North America, where teenagers are having more sex at a younger age than their parents and grandparents... Freewheeling young women in the United States and Canada first have intercourse at the age of 15, partake more in oral sex than previous generations and are far less prudish, according to a landmark new report by California's San Diego State University" ("Young Women Lead the Way in Tearing Down Sex Taboos," AFP, Oct. 4, 2005).
There have been several high profile cases in the United States in the past year involving female teachers who are charged with sexually assaulting students. Fox News ran a piece on the subject last February, titled "When Ms. Teacher Goes After Male Pupil."
Reporter Catherine Donaldson-Evans cited Louis B. Schlesinger, a forensic psychologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York: "These are teachers with boundary problems. Their boundaries are very fluid."
