xepherys

Those stats, as with many stats, I think are not causal in nature. I think that poverty-stricken areas may have a higher incidence of teen parenthood (does anyone have stats on this?) but one is not the cause of the other, there is just a simpole correlation. My mother was 19 when I was born, and I make more money than both of my parents combined ever have. I'm also almost never sick. Sure, I'm just one person, but the logic doesn't follow that there is a true causation with the above stated stats.

Aurakles

I don't have the stats handy, but I do work (as an educator) in the poorest (or second poorest?) congressional district in the US, and I can tell you that you are certainly correct. A few months ago my students and I did research on this exact subject. What we or rather they concluded is that education (i.e., formal education) is linked to socio-economic status, and education usually leads to more informed decision, which would in turn lead to lower rates of teen pregnancy. Still, this is not to say that there are no low-income communities with educated people or that affluent communities do not have incidences of teenage pregnancy. It is just that low-income communities are disproportionately poor and under-educated. We/they thus found that compared to more affluent communities, teenage-pregnancy is more prevalent in poverty-stricken areas. In fact, the numbers were staggering, but again I don't have the data handy. As to the original question, I have to agree with what some people have already opined. Physical readiness is not the same as intellectual or emotionally readiness. I work with young people that are physically ready, many that are pregnant teens, and trust me, from my first-hand experience and from their own confessions they are not and were not ready for not just the emotional aspect of sex, but for the consequences, such as pregnancy and diseases. As to "educated teens," sure they exist, but academic education is never a substitute for social or emotional education, which comes with experience and thus age.

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spindles

I find it amusing that parents in this thread think they know what their children are up to at any given time. I recall how devious I was at 13 or so, and how many things I did that my parents didn't know about. OK - sex wasn't one of them, unless you include masturbation , but I bet it would've been something I kept to myself if it did happen.

I think this is part of the problem - no one wants to talk to their kids about sex so, suddenly, it is a taboo subject on both sides. This site espouses communication, yet there are a fair number here who don't seem to think communicating with their child about sex is a good thing.

If it IS a good thing, when should it start? I'm hoping to talk to my son about this when he reaches puberty, because it is possible that he may become sexually active. I'm lucky that I still have about 10 years before that happens. I know it is going to be hard for me - I'm just going to have to get over the society instilled embarrassment...

I do agree that there should be some protection of young people from older people, but if there is consensual sex at 13 between 13 year olds, then I don't see a problem.

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Zeraph

Xeph is basically correct, SES (socioeconomic status) is the biggest factor in things like teen preg, education, and deliquency. Coming from a psy student.

zz0011

As I understand it from my friend, he had a skwered view of what's proper in some respects, and still does.

I didn't mean to imply that I think it will happen to everyone as it did for my friend, but I do believe it can make a negative impact [some] in the years ahead of the person.

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