The
WPost reports new research that half of today's 15 to 19-year olds have had oral sex. Shouldn't the headline continue, "With Other Half"?
Not an academic question. Foes of sex education, condom availability, women's privacy, all like to pretend that teens aren't having sex, that any health care services, including birth control, STD prevention, etc. are likely to lead to more sex, immoral out-of-wedlock sex at that. How many teens know what "wedlock" means, anyway?
Public policy based upon illusions are dangerous. People die from them. Others are damaged for life. If wishes were horses we'd have all been trampled centuries ago.
Among the most dangerous contemporary illlusions (and there are many dangerous ones to choose from) is the myth that kids don't have sex, that sex education and the availability of sex-related health care will cause them to do what they are not already doing.
Us baby boomers know better. When we were teens, health class wasn't sexy. Visits to the doctor weren't sexy. Sex was sexy. If we had the chance, we got some. If we're lucky, healthy and not too busy blogging, we still do.