<<16 in the age of consent in most states.>>
But you can be arrested for showing to 16 yr.olds having sex.

<<Good question, why can you join the military at age 17 and not drink?>>
I think the laws in the US are very backwards. You can get married before you can get a drivers license. Join the military before you can vote and smoke the harshest most tarest pack of Malboros 3yrs before even sipping your first wine cooler and that is within the context of the law, but the law is not always just.

As for
<<I wasn't talking about 14 year olds...I was talking about 16 year olds and assuming they'd have sex with people of their own age.>>
I'm taking into fact that a majority of girls are having sex with guys older than them, usually 2-5yr age difference. And if you have a person experimenting, that age range will fluctuate.


<<I said that people who are taught that sex is sinful or dirty as part of being taught to abstain until marriage, could end up being sexually repressed.>>
And they also might not. It depends on the individual.

<<You don't have to experiment at a certain age to keep from being repressed...>>
True, you can start early and be repressed or late and be repressed. It depends on how you look at sex.

<<you may be repressed if you do.....>>
You maybe repressed if you don't.

<<I'm just saying that if you're taught it's sinful and dirty (As most people who are taught to abstain are) there is a good chance you will be....>>
How many people do you know who have abstained from sex say its because they were taught that it was sinful and dirty?
Could this be the ONLY reason someone would abstain from sex?




<Did I say they wouldn't.....please re-read the original post.>
No but you've assumed it many times.



I didn't say it was okay for people of any age or maturity level to experiment with sex.....re-read damnit.

<<Having the maturity level to deal with sex more or less implies that you'll be older then 16....probably closer to 18-21. Notice I said that age isn't the issue with respect to the 16 year old.>>
Wait so age isn't an issue when it comes to a 16 yr old having sex?
True anyone having sex needs to have a maturity level to deal with sex, but lets keep in mind that deals with the negative as well as the positive aspects of having sex.
Positives: Gain of sexual knowlege about self and partner and feels good.
Negatives: STD's, AIDS/HIV and pregnancy.
As for precautions, is not crabs spread between pubic hairs. What precaution can you take against that?


<<I think it is teaching women that they should only have sex if they're married, that they have to protect their virginity for "dignity of the family" and that should get married. It's locking them into one way of approaching life....the rite of passage is setting rules for the rest of their life....it doesn't work along the lines of..."once you turn 22, you can do whatever you want">>

But you and I were probably taught to preserve our virginity until marriage or for as long as you can. As well as most kids who have had the 'sex talk' with their parents. But to think that if a kid is taught that sex is a bad thing they will be sexually repressed is a little bit out there, especially when strict preachers kids (in most black churches) turn out to be the most undeprived sexscapading experimentalist known.

Anyway we're getting nowhere. I feel Dipo is a good non-religious start-over in combating AIDS in young people. Can you give an example of some other method that would work as well if not better?