Experts agree that input and feedback from parents are most crucial to kids. Children will turn to peers only after parental assistance has proven unavailable or inadequate, according to an analysis of over 100 studies on peer influence by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. It is important for parents to decide what kinds of sexual behaviors they find safe and appropriate and to communicate them to their children in a straightforward manner. While open dialog is important, parents should also keep up on what their kids are doing and thinking, possibly limiting a child's access to peers who are sexually active, say some experts. Educating the young about sex is critical in light of the fact that about one in four teens acquire a sexually transmitted disease before age 20.
Adolescents also have the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's director of the Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention, Judith Wasserheit, notes that there has been a disturbing increase in chlamydia and gonorrhea among males as young as 15 years of age.