It seems clear that comprehensive sex-education programs have failed miserably in addressing the problems of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, all of which have dramatically increased over the past twenty years. So what is the answer to curbing teenage sexual activity?
Answer One significant study, authored by Stephen Small from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Tom Luster of Michigan State and published in the Journal of Marriage and the Family, demonstrated rather conclusively that parental involvement and the transmitting of the parents’ values were significant factors in preventing early sexual activity. In a direct and refreshingly sensible way, Small and Luster put parents back in the driver’s seat (or the hot seat) when they said, “Permissive parental values regarding adolescent sexual behavior emerged as a strong risk factor for both males and females. Not surprisingly, adolescents who perceived their parents as accepting of premarital adolescent sexual activity were more likely to be sexually experienced.”59 The acorn never falls far from the tree. Another important study, conducted by Drs. Sharon White and Richard DeBlassie (published in Adolescence), found that parents who set the most moderate and reasonable rules for their teens in
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