For many teens, sex is seen as a mark of adulthood. Most adolescents begin having intercourse in their mid to late teens. From the statistics, it is evident that this is a subject that will not go away. Messages about sex are everywhere from beer commercials to music lyrics, peers to politics. This page explores the different messages teens receives about sex.
Teenagers receive competing and confusing messages about sexuality.
Often these messages are clashing and incompatible. The 42 United States Codes Annotated Chapter 7 provides funding for abstinence education. Abstinence education means an educational program which teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard. Currently, every state is implementing abstinence only programs. Content and quality of the programs vary greatly.