Some parents buy condoms for their teenage children in order to be sure that they are safe when experimenting with sex. Other parents are greatly alarmed to learn that their children have any sexual consciousness at all. There are many different opinions about what are the best messages to convey to teenagers regarding sex.
If young people are found to have condoms in their possession it is usually because they sufficiently curious about it or because they are actually sexually active. As a parent you will have to make a judgement on how to deal with it. The age of the young person will have a bearing on what kind of investigations you need to make. Any child below the age of 16 is still legally a minor and you must rule out sexual abuse or illegal relations between your child and an adult.
Although sex between an adult and a minor raise serious implications, this is not where the vast majority of the problems lie. Most youngsters are actually forming love affairs and potential sexual relations among their own age groups. The problems that can arise from this are no less serious however. Teenage pregnancy is on the rise and continues to plague governments who do not know best to tackle the issue
Some advisers will advocate that you should advise your children about contraceptives early so that under age pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases can be avoided. Some parents have been known to actually purchase condoms on behalf of their children.
Those in favour of discussing safe sex with teenagers argue that it makes sense to equip the child adequately rather than attempting to close the stable gate after the horse has bolted. They make the point that it is not realistic to expect young people to be impervious to the repeated sexualizing message replete in the media. Even if the youngsters could escape the onslaught from the media, they cannot resist peer coercion.
However, there is a strong lobby who disagree entirely with arming young people with condoms as a solution to tackle problems. They advocate abstinence as the only meaningful answer. Research seems to back up their position too. Studies have shown that young people are indeed affected positively by consistent and strong messages on abstinence. This is especially true when the messages come from a source that the young person respects.
TV is one of the biggest sources of information that young people really trust. Advocates of abstinence believe that the medium could be put to much better use by conveying anti premarital sex messages. Since TV has been so effective in sexualizing young people they say it can be equally effective in helping to curb teenage pregnancy by sending out the right messages.
So, there are two main courses of action you can choose to take if you find that your child is ready to buy condoms. You may choose to help the child take responsibility for safe sex by having the information and the contraception or you may decide to advise your child to wait a bit longer and heed the message of abstinence.
If young people are found to have condoms in their possession it is usually because they sufficiently curious about it or because they are actually sexually active. As a parent you will have to make a judgement on how to deal with it. The age of the young person will have a bearing on what kind of investigations you need to make. Any child below the age of 16 is still legally a minor and you must rule out sexual abuse or illegal relations between your child and an adult.
Although sex between an adult and a minor raise serious implications, this is not where the vast majority of the problems lie. Most youngsters are actually forming love affairs and potential sexual relations among their own age groups. The problems that can arise from this are no less serious however. Teenage pregnancy is on the rise and continues to plague governments who do not know best to tackle the issue
Some advisers will advocate that you should advise your children about contraceptives early so that under age pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases can be avoided. Some parents have been known to actually purchase condoms on behalf of their children.
Those in favour of discussing safe sex with teenagers argue that it makes sense to equip the child adequately rather than attempting to close the stable gate after the horse has bolted. They make the point that it is not realistic to expect young people to be impervious to the repeated sexualizing message replete in the media. Even if the youngsters could escape the onslaught from the media, they cannot resist peer coercion.
However, there is a strong lobby who disagree entirely with arming young people with condoms as a solution to tackle problems. They advocate abstinence as the only meaningful answer. Research seems to back up their position too. Studies have shown that young people are indeed affected positively by consistent and strong messages on abstinence. This is especially true when the messages come from a source that the young person respects.
TV is one of the biggest sources of information that young people really trust. Advocates of abstinence believe that the medium could be put to much better use by conveying anti premarital sex messages. Since TV has been so effective in sexualizing young people they say it can be equally effective in helping to curb teenage pregnancy by sending out the right messages.
So, there are two main courses of action you can choose to take if you find that your child is ready to buy condoms. You may choose to help the child take responsibility for safe sex by having the information and the contraception or you may decide to advise your child to wait a bit longer and heed the message of abstinence.