...Not to mention a few other skills. |
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My teen has already been told that HJ/BJ is sex by me. My mother told my brother the same - I accidentally overheard that conversation, but then my somewhat older sister started dating at 12 and had a baby at age 16 by same boy. Yes, it changed her life. My parents suddenly had a 5th child and she ended up married (to someone else) far too early.
DH has also said he prefers DS to wait until he's 18 - legally an adult. Of course, teens are teens, but we have expressed our views and in fact, both of us waited until we were in college. DS has also had the Unitarian church sexuality/relationship course. They used the s.e.x. book by Heather Corinna founder of http://www.scarleteen.com We thought it was a good reference book, but very in-depth. Our son actually said that sometimes he had to put it down because it was more than he wanted to know right then. |
| We are in private school and I noticed around 5th grade some of the girls started to be extremely focused on the boys. Following them around, always texting them nonstop, not liking other girls because they were now in competition for the boys. I pointed this out to my dd so she could see how at some point girls were doing anything to get attention from boys. This is when the girl groups started to divide. Those who declared themselves popular (the ones throwing themselves at the boys) and all the rest of the girls. I steered my dd away from these girls who seemed to be rushing into more teenage behaviors. These girls also have more time unsupervised. I think you need to really pay attention to who your child is hanging out with. Kids influence each other and their brains are not developed to make adult decisions. Talk to your kids about sex, alcohol, drugs, etc. I tell my kids all the time not to be in a rush to growup because time goes by fast. Keep them busy, focused on family, and not to worry what everyone else is doing. Also the message should be that alcohol and drugs mess with your brain and result in kids and adults making bad decisions and result in self destructive behaviors. We also talk about the train wrecks they see on tv like Lindsey Loham etc who have messed up their lives with alcohol etc. Kids who drink early are more likely to engage in other high risk behaviors like sex at an early age. |
Um, "blow jobs" "hand jobs" and "fingering" are all sex. Someone's genitals are getting wet. "Sex" is not penis-inside-vagina. That's intercourse. |
Trust me, I've seen plenty of shitty HS drivers. Pretty much every day. But that doesn't mean they don't have to LEARN how to do it well. Do you have any kids, how old are they, and did you let them get their license? |
| I'm 40. Some kids in my 7th grade class were sexually active, most, including me, were not. I cannot say that in the long run the kids who were sexually active in 7th grade seem to be worse off/less successful/less happy in life than the rest of us. It still probably wasn't a good idea. |
Congratulations - here's your award
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OK, so at what age does a responsible (non-absentee) parent leave a child unsupervised with friends? 12? 13? 14? 15? 16? 17? |
| I think you need to know your child and know their friends. I know who I would not leave my child alone with. It just takes constant involvement and communication with your child. My kids are doing much better than I did. My single mother worked all the time and I hung out with some good kids and some kids that did things that we should not have been doing. I want my children to have the opposite of my childhood. I just try to remain aware, involved, and close to my kids. |
I didn't say that. Maybe you should on your reading comprehension. I just related my best friend's experience and said that when the time comes I'm going to keep the channels on communication open and not condemn them if they do decide to become sexually active before I'd like them to. Seriously though, I didn't lose my virginity at 13 but I did a few years after that and it was fun and didn't do me any harm. I didn't spend my teenage years in the US and I find this horror at the idea of teen sexuality kind of weird. Don't you remembe being teenagers? |
And they will vow to give their children the opposite of their childhood by giving them independence. (Not a comment on what you're doing, specifically -- more a comment on how people generally react to the way their parents raised them.) |
Sometimes but I think it depends. I had a stressful childhood because of my parents failings. I was not very happy. My kids are generally happy and don't have much stress in their lives. I make a conscious effort to be a better parent. I think kids seek out drugs, alcohol, and premature sexual relationships because they are not happy at home or with themselves. |
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Most 13 yr old girls having sex aren't having sex with 13 yr old boys. It is the 15/16 yr olds that they think are cool. In order to compete with the 15 and 16 yr old girls, the 13 yr olds have to act and dress older and be willing to do more to get these older boys. If you look on instagram at some of the 13 yr old girls accounts, you will see what I mean. It often really isn't a great dynamic. Also many of the 15/16 yr old boys are experimenting with drugs / alcohol so then the 13 yr old girls get pulled into that.
13 is also very young given how kids are raised here to be dealing with contraception (and doing it right), STDs (that can happen regardless of contraception, pregnancy and decisions about pregnancy, rejection and emotional pain. Really sex at 13 is pretty much asking for problems. Kids at 13 are not responsible or independent or mature enough to deal with everything that come with being sexually active. I think the posters who are fine with it either beat the odds themselves or come from cultures where very early sexual activity is the norm (girls being married as preteens). |
I'm guessing they're also the ones who think multiple abortions in high school are no big deal. |