According to Covenant Eyes, more than 40% of adolescents have intercourse before talking to their parents about sex.  I’m not sure who the sample included, but I have some thoughts about why this is.

Parents of children, especially those in the church, do not believe in original sin.  We talk often, especially pro-life oriented churches, of the “innocence of children” and “the innocents” as a group (usually infants or toddlers).  This is a misnomer and a gross misrepresentation of the biblical teaching on original sin.

One reason 40% of adolescents have sex prior to their parents having “the talk” is that parents simply wait to long to have it.  My own childhood did not have honest talks about sex at all.  Toddlers, it has been long known, engage in self-exploration long before they equate such action with being sexually aroused.  Rather than using this opportunity to discuss the body, I was chastised, “Don’t play with yourself! It’s dirty!”

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