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Abstaining From Sex – Virginity is Making a Comeback

Posted 14 months ago|19 comments|740 views
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As a father of three daughters, the recent news release of kids abstaining from sex gave me a little sigh of relief. I'm no fool and I do know that sex is rampant in many parts of society; however, there does seem to be a trend towards kids holding off on losing their virginity and discovering sex for the first time.

The study I am referring to is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statics, (that is a mouth full). This group conducted a detailed study of the sexual habits of approximately 13,500 men and women between the ages of 15 to 44. In the report, they described who was having sex, what kind of sex and who was not having any sex.

Apparently, according to this report, virginity is resurrecting itself in a large group of kids. This report found that men and women between the ages of 15 and 24 who had not had sex was up 27 to 29 percent over the last time the report was published in 2002. So why are the numbers trending up when it seems that sex is all around us in movies, television, Internet porn, and general peer pressure?

Some experts have speculated that there are more virgins because of better sex education, abstinence advertising, or that those responding to the survey were a bit embarrassed to admit their sexual habits. I would speculate that it might be all the above as well as the over-exposure of sex in the lives of the typical teenager. Most teenagers have had more exposure to sex than many adults could fathom. There has to be a point where it becomes numbing and does not end up being the priority in their lives. After watching an episode of the MTV show 'Skins' about high school kids who are obsessed with sex, alcohol, and drugs, the over-exposure is very apparent.

Again, as the father of teenage daughters I am breathing a little sigh of relief. However, this will not stop me from sitting at the kitchen table, cleaning my shotgun when one of my daughter's dates arrives at the door to pick her up. I'm just saying...

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14 months ago: Same here -- I pity the guys who think they got "agency" over my daughter. My kids don't watch TV and they couldn't care less about it, although we do watch movies, little house on the prairie and the waltons.

They know all about how goats make more goats, they've seen the process from start to finish, and they extrapolate that to humans, insects fish and even pollenating plants all by themselves without any help from mommy and daddy, and they are 5 and 8. They have no illusions of why all this exists and happens as it does, it's just natural to them, like the birds and the bees.

In movies where there's mild romantic behavior, they like to tease the characters because that is what little kids do -- squirm when adults show affection. By the time they are teenagers, my hope is that they have the tools to focus on the things in life they have been doing for years, so that this new sex thing they feel does not take them over as it does so many kids.
14 months ago: Same here -- I pity the guys who think they got "agency" over my daughter. My kids don't watch TV and they couldn't care less about it, although we do watch movies, little house on the prairie and the waltons.

They know all about how goats make more goats, they've seen the process from start to finish, and they extrapolate that to humans, insects fish and even pollenating plants all by themselves without any help from mommy and daddy, and they are 5 and 8. They have no illusions of why all this exists and happens as it does, it's just natural to them, like the birds and the bees.

In movies where there's mild romantic behavior, they like to tease the characters because that is what little kids do -- squirm when adults show affection. By the time they are teenagers, my hope is that they have the tools to focus on the things in life they have been doing for years, so that this new sex thing they feel does not take them over as it does so many kids.
14 months ago: Nice piece.

Contrary to popular opinion, folks can keep their pants up if they want to.

http://www.rantrave.com/Rant/Why-Sex-Edu...

So many things in life can get out of whack or out of balance. Our young people are bombarded with the "Have sex now" and "We know you can't control yourself" message over and over again.

It's a testimony to having convictions, acceptance of responsibility and guts.

The world can't suck us or our young people down the tubes unless we let it.
Leah Healthnut
Leah Healthnut
San Jose, CA
14 months ago: Agreed. I personally find it offensive when the implication is made that teenagers can't control themselves. Temptation is only that: it can be overcome or avoided altogether with some forethought. It takes strong moral character to buck peer pressure, but it can be done, and I hope this trend is accurate and that it continues. I think news like this in itself can encourage young people to stand firm.
14 months ago: FYI -- to the moderators -- I don't recall posting the comment above twice, nor do I recall flubbing a click that may have caused that -- is there an answer? Please feel free to remove the extra comment, but if it reads "Comment removed by R&R staff" please append a note the removed comment wasn't unacceptable by virtue of its content but rather by the mundane fact it ended up being inadvertently posted twice. I suppose I could remove it, but I noticed Sunny has a duplicate comment at the link below that just came in at the bottom of the page and she just deleted it:

http://www.rantrave.com/Rant/99ers-Respe...

Maybe there's an internal bug or something that just needs to be squashed.

Thanks.
Leah Healthnut
Leah Healthnut
San Jose, CA
14 months ago: This has happened to me quite a few times, and now whenever I see that someone has deleted their own comment, I assume that's probably what happened.
14 months ago: Refresh.
14 months ago: Wow! All of these parents the think their kids are "homegrown virgins"! Yeah. All of these parents of a houseful of girls that think they are "homegrown virgins"!

Enter...TCG, Jr.

Just POKING fun.
14 months ago: I appreciate the fact that teens are choosing to remain "pure" ...but some of the alternatives that is not called "sex" is also being promoted... and those things still can be a violation of their purity. It is encouraging that their is a movement afoot though, that chooses not to be manipulated by the pressures of society and media.
TheLegendTomWing
TheLegendTomWing
 Administrator
Philadelphia, PA
14 months ago: I was recently reading about the explosion of STIs (formerly STDs). 1 in 4 women getting HPV or something like that. I wonder if this also may have something to do with it.
14 months ago: TLTW,

The stats would be higher if they didn't change the acronyms quarterly...
markbyrn
markbyrn
 Moderator
14 months ago: ...but some of the alternatives that is not called "sex" is also being promoted...

I think Truthbrary has the key there - there's all kinds of sex that don't involve the act of coitus but it's also true that when the subject is treated as a repressed hush hush 'dirty' taboo, the young folks might not feel as much pressure or desire to taste the forbidden fruit as they might have in the past.
markbyrn
markbyrn
 Moderator
14 months ago: Pluto, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure you can delete your own comments. Even though I'm moderator, I have two options to delete my own comments - either as a regular member or a a moderator. So I'm assuming you have one option to delete your own comment eh?

Unfortunately my moderator status doesn't give me any insight into the inner workings of the website - let Alex Layton know if it keeps happening.
14 months ago: What sucks is that some folks do still treat sex as a taboo instead of a gift. A gift to be enjoyed at the right time.

Check an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue and you can see what they are trying to do to our kids.

Because of the bill of goods we've been sold we have young have girls out there with a petri dish between their legs and guys that feel they are supposed to screw around with as many girls as possible, as if that make them a man. And some adults are okay with this. Sick stuff.

I'm glad the mindset appears to be changing. Lord knows our young people have enough pressure these days without the folks who are supposed to be looking out for them exploiting them instead.
Altruist
Altruist
Eugene, OR
14 months ago: Good Post.

I wonder if one factor is that the young are not being manipulated by sex crazed advertising as previous generations. The newer generation has found ways to avoid those annoying advertisements.

The movies also glorify unrestrained sexual behavior, perhaps the new morality is a protest to being manipulated that way also.

In almost all developed nations if educated women are given access to birth control, they will limit unplanned births and are waiting until they are much older to develop serious relationships.

This is an exercise in freedom and I applaud it.
14 months ago: Right! Mr. Tunnel vision. Have not been out of the house since 1960? Eh? Seen many billboards or ads in teen magazines or websites lately?

What a moronic thought.
14 months ago: Try Walmart in the young teen girls section. Posters of Mylie Cryus plastered with her legs spread wide. Nothing "sexual" about that Walmart sales poster? Yeah. Thought so.......
14 months ago: This is one reason why I hate corporations: they parade around as corporate citizens but have this double standard. I hate the exploitation of young girls to promote sex.

Damn it TCG you really pissed me off now...I was having a nice morning spanking the badcyborg and truthbrary elsewhere, and now this, a legitimate thing to really disdain!


14 months ago: Damn! I just had a thought. Maybe they are turning CONSERVATIVE?

Would that not chap your rear?

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