How can we stop teens from having sex before there 18?

Answer 1

I think there are already over 38 answers to this one, so I'm probably repeating what somebody else has said, but I thought I'd check in with my ideas on this subject anyway.

1. Supervision. Children who have adults paying attention to what they are doing, where they are, and who they are with. Teenagers didn't have nearly as much sex when I was a teen 20 to 25 years ago... because our parents were watching us like hawks. As an older teen <16-18> even when I left home, mom nagged like a mother hen. Parents today don't pay a bit of attention to what their children are doing... then they act all surprised when their unsupervised children get into trouble. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR FREAKING KIDS, PARENTS!
2. Insist on knowing your children's friends. Meet the friend's mother... make sure you meet the father/step-father. Make sure you would feel comfortable with your child in that home without your supervision. Discuss your feelings on the subject with those parents. If they don't share your values, don't allow your child to be at that home without your supervision. Make sure you meet any older children they may have. Watch how your children interact with them. If you see any warning signs, put your foot down. Be the parent.

Many of you will say that is easier said, than done... teen-age children aren't that easy to deal with. I agree, when children aren't used to being properly supervised then a parent decides to do the right thing, the teen becomes belligerent. If you wait until your child becomes a teen to properly supervise them, they will think you are "intruding" on their lives.

They will no doubt accuse you of wanting to pick their friends. You aren't, though; you are picking which ones your teen can spend time alone with... or at least without your direct supervision.

Parenting isn't something you do when everything else is done for the day. Parenting is something you do WHILE everything else is getting done.

I was having a discussion about this, the other day with an acquaintance. She was raving about how well things are going with her 14 year old daughter being home, alone during the day for the summer. She tried to tell me that teen-agers are more mature now than they were when we were teens. I argued that they aren't a bit more mature now than when we were teen-agers. I said that they are more independent, not more mature. The last thing we need is for teen-agers to think that they can make their own decisions. They don't really get their rational mind until their second year of college. (or two years into their second marriage, which ever comes first)

Teenagers engaging in sexual experimentation isn't a new thing. We used to wait until our later teens, but we all did it. The truth is... even when we did it; it was when our parents weren’t supervising us. It's no different today. There are just a lot more of them with NO supervision.

Answer 2

You can't.

Some teens merely need to be told to avoid it, and they will.
Some teens will try it and keep a steady relationship
Some teens will go wild over it.

The best you can do is to provide reasons to wait, and to make sure that if they do that there are either very certain consequences or that the consequences are minimal. Whether you go for the major consequences or minor consequences are largely a matter of personal viewpoint. Many conservatives push towards major consequences (have the baby, bring it up or give it up), while liberals tend to allow for more minor consequences (for the couple) such as contraception, abortion, etc.

This is a tough question, and has ramifications far beyond spirituality and religion. It strongly affects demographics, education, the economy, health care, etc.

Answer 3

Teach and show them pictures of herpes and other std's. That should scare some sense into them. And tell them how hard it is growing up supporting a kid when you are still in high school. My cousin had sex before she graduated and the guy left her with a baby. Now she just got out of jail and is living on minimum wage and her mothers kind heart. But she works at mcdonalds and is living at some crack pot apartment. You dont want to end up like that.

Answer 4

OK..................it’s true that it’s difficult but not impossible.

Teens do tend to explore things its natural at an early age they explore their toys and other stuff by trying to open each and everything they own and/or have.

When they enter the teen age and go through and feel lots of physical changes; with enormous sex appeal for the opposite sex and that’s when they’re most vulnerable to do it.
As and when they go mature they learn to understand and control their feelings and also become more selective towards their choice of life partner secondly the most important urge to have an everlasting relationship also make them very careful but........
at teen age they tend not to worry about al that heck and rather go for the fun and at that age its difficult to control that urge.

so i would say that we need to start giving sex education to the kids at an early age so that they would know what they were going through and secondly be more concerned about their health (STDs; Pregnancy and the least considered but very important when they involve emotionally and then break up, they don’t know how to deal with that situation and thus it hurts their growth their education and also their physical heath).

Answer 5

I was brought up on the beauty of sex. taught that it's not just a hand shake to be given to anyone. And that it should only be done when you are ready to become pregnant or get someone pregnant. (Pill or not It CAN happen) Plus taught about how easy it is to get diseases if you are promiscuous. Plus that it is not the end all be all of existence like society would have us believe. And that it is really a special gift if you are ready and have a committed partner. Beyond that you can't do anything.

Answer 6

That is a very unlikely scenario, so what we must do is educate kids about making smarter choices when they do decide they are ready. Burying our heads in the sand on the issue of teen sex hasn't worked so far so we need to try something else.

Answer 7

Millions of years of evolution have programmed us to reach fertility at a certain time. This and the massive release of hormones into teenage bodies means that the urge to procreate is not really controlled by a conscious process. The fact that we have arbitrary laws regarding when someone can procreate is meaningless to the genetic drive to reproduce.

The best thing one can do is give teenagers as much information as they need to take precautions should their natural curiosity and drives overcome their societal induced guilt.

Answer 8

Use sex education classes to teach kids about all the sexually transmitted diseases you can get. Let them know statistics like 1 out of every 6 people has an STD. Teach them especially about how lots of people have AIDS and that it can kill them. Teach them also about how easy it is for them to get pregnant and be stuck raising kids before they're ready for it. And especially start teaching kids that only sex inside of marriage is okay -- tough order, I know, but it's got to be done, or else they're probably not going to listen to the rest of it (because it doesn't look like they're listening now).

Answer 9

OK first of all why would you want to do that and No i dont think there is any way to stop teens from having sex i dont even think god can do that, like that is totally impossible

Answer 10

Lock them all up and throw away the key.

Or live by example and do the best that we can as adults to lead teens through this volatile time.

I like the second option better...