Question 2:
Most of you seem to agree that child sexuality is natural and normal on its own, but becomes problematic in the context of our culture. Do late-twentieth-century images (e.g. Calvin Klein ads, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Barbie, etc.), books (most famously, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Forever and other books by Judy Blume), and films (Kids, the new Lolita, PG-rated movies with sex and nudity) involving child/adolescent sexuality promote or encourage kids to become sexually active before their time? Do they influence the rates of teen pregnancy and STDs, and the age at which kids lose their virginity today? Or, could it be argued that they promote positive sexual identities, comfort with one's own changing body, better gender/sexual relations and a freedom to ask questions?
in previous years, teen pregnancy rates have actually not increased by a tremendous amount, and
teens are definitely more informed about what can happen and what they can do to prevent STDs and
pregnancy. Because we can be sure that there will be some teens will lose their virginity at a
young age, it is better to have them informed than to try and keep the information from them in the
hopes that what they don't know about, they won't be curious about. In our generation, young girls
are becoming pregnant not because they lack knowledge about contraception, but because they either
want to have a baby (someone to love them when they feel no one else does) or because they lack the
self esteem necessary to tell their boyfriends that they're not ready for sex or that they want them
to use a form of protection.
