We are offering fewer and fewer coherent models for conducting and sustaining intimate relationships. Lifelong marriage, whether or not the desirable norm for sexual relationships, at least had the advantage of being imitable. With our relentless focus on disease and pregnancy, we leave our children without much explicit guidance when it comes to high-risk activities of the heart. We talk to young people as if their genitals are a matter of public concern, but their souls are none of our business. Those who do ask that question say they often hear surprisingly sentimental answers.
Surveys show that the vast majority of young people want to marry and raise children with a spouse.
With responsible adults focusing mainly on the pitfalls of sexual activity, the task of showing young people what sex and love have to offer is left to that trusted family friend, television. In this universe sex is everything, and the beautiful people, the glamorous people, the people who matter, are having it all the time. There's almost no sexual negotiation, no portrayal of sexual communication, no limit setting, very little condom and contraceptive use. The Chicago study painted a picture of sex in America that was much more moderate and restrained. Society elicits sexual behavior in kids.