Well, I definitely have two differing vies of this situation. I agree that the fact that she smokes 20 cigs a day is going to REALLY put her kid at a disadvantage, and hopefully someone will convince her of that before too long (looks like it's already been fairly long). I also think it's better to wait until at least high school to even START experimenting sexually, and as long as possible until actually having intercourse.
HOWEVER, society is starting to make things a bit tough for kids. It IS human nature to have sex. People have drive to do so, and we work very hard to squelch that drive. That's not always easy. We keep telling kids to wait longer and longer to have sex (remember when 15 y/o mothers were not abnormal <100 years ago?), and "letting them be kids" longer and longer, each not conducive to the other. We shelther kids, keep them in school, give them minimal responsibilities, and then expect them to make responsible decisions and do "the right thing"? It's a pretty big Catch 22 on a social level.
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