Saturday, March 3, 2007

Talking about Teenage Sex

Hi, I have decided to do my next post on teenage sex. Here it is, in red:

According to a survey done by the New Paper on a group of 1553 students, 27% of teenagers of 13 to 14 years have had sex.
It is a shocking number to be sure. And it is a worrying trend. 23% of all these teens have visited a pornography site before and 12% have been or made someone pregnant.
Now, we should wonder, is it acceptable to be so familiar with sex despite their age?
Some worried parents have come out with all guns blazing, blasting at this trend. Their chief concern is apparently teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy would result in trauma and affect the teenager’s growth.
I hold rather contradictory viewpoints when confronted with this kind of questions. On one hand, I am very hopeful to open up Singapore and prise it away from stolid conservative thinking. On the other hand, I feel strongly for the Confucian morals and the importance of keeping sex away from children.
Obviously, premarital sex and underage sex is derogatory to society and individual. The problem is putting your finger on that wrong. If you are religious, you have an easier time. You shouldn’t do it because the sin of lust is forbidden in the Bible.
For the others, the task is not so straightforward. I have collated some arguments against teenage sex.
Ø Teenage sex distracts the teenagers from studying
o However, you may observe that this applies to only some people.
Ø Teenage sex puts teenagers at risk of pregnancy.
o They can have protected sex.
Ø Teenage pregnancy can be traumatic.
o If they get pregnant, they would be responsible as they would probably have gone through sex education, and made their own decision.
I have probably left out many, but these are the arguments I hear the most from parents. I have mainly found these arguments unconvincing logically, but they are very personal to the teenagers in question.
Recently, MP Ang Mong Seng proposed a radical solution to correct this social trend. Why don’t we, he proposed, form a CCA where guys can meet girls and learn the right way of dating? It can be CCA and we can give points to them.
The first thing you think off when you read this, would be the flood of guys rushing to join the Friendship Club, as Mr. Ang proposed it to be called. On the other hand, girls wouldn’t approach it with a ten-foot barge pole. Girls care about image, and thus, joining this club would effectively brand them as desperate. Guys don’t mind because we all know deep down, every guy is somewhat desperate.
You might also notice that the focus of the debate about friendship clubs is not about pre-marriage, or how to date correctly, it is more likely to be about the social stigma of being ‘desperate’ or otherwise, be about sex.
I cannot offer another good solution, but I do hope the authorities realize sex education is no longer working.


I don't know if this is good? It involves more 'Is' than the previous post.

Please comment, before Ms Kuang's comment is final.

The link is http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,124106,00.html