The call to action was backed by liberal groups who had hoped that the government medical icon would use his bully pulpit to urge educators to give the facts of life to teenagers and point them toward an increased use of contraceptives. The latest addition to political-correctness was based on the premise that teenagers will be sexually active, no matter what anyone says or does, and that to prevent unwanted pregnancies and diseases, there should be greater use of sex education in the schools. The assumption is that if condoms are regularly used and used more widely, there will be fewer unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. On the surface, these facts and recommendations may seem like no-brainers, but actually, no kidding, the situation is considerably more complex than we might think. The fact is that the teen years times of raging hormones and rebellion.
Teenagers don t have to listen to their parents anymore, as if they ever did.
They are more mobile and less dependent than before and have plenty of places to hide. Their main source of information and values is the peer group. Some kids belong to conforming peer groups and other kids belong to rebellious peer groups. They know the facts of life, the mechanisms of conception and the means to prevent it. They get the information one way or the other and compare notes.