...to think that sex at 13 is NOT normal?

[WotchOotErAPolis]

Now that dear old Nanny State is considering distributing sex-ed material saying that sex at 13 is normal, AIBU to think that it's condoning illegal and unwise behaviour?

www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/education/schools-being-told-sex-at-13-is-normal

FFS. It's not a sex education resource. Get the facts right before you clutch your pearls.

I had sex at 13.

I look back and can't stand the thought of having sex when I was 13 but it happened, I regret it but it's not uncommon.

Lots of 13 yo are sexually active. If people face up to that fact and accept it happens it would be better for those 13 yo.
Less teen pregnancy, less STIs going untreated. Probably less grooming by pimps and predators.

I opened this link, looked at the source and immediately closed it. Let me know when you have some evidence from an unbiased view point.

Perfectly normal in the middle ages.

I am fully aware this is not the point of the thread, but, for the geeks out there, no, it wasn't.

Sex at this age is not normal or common. Children should be taught to have better respect for themselves not that it's ok

Hang on said up thread that there would be less grooming by pimps. Don't get that think that there would be more

Do I trust Brooks or Christian Concern more? Ummmmm, no contest.

If anyone from Brooks is on this thread, thanks for the wonderful advice, information and services you supplied me when I was a teen and you still supply. Keep up the good work.

My teens are 13 and 15 and know of no one who is having sex. I guess in my day in the same school, there were people already sexually active but they weren't I'm my social circle. I suppose it's the same for my kids thank feck

*in my social circle. Damn autocorrect.

Children seem to be more sex aware younger these days. I would rather that they learnt about responsible ,respectful and equal rights within sex than what they saw on the internet which seems to mostly lean towards degrading treatment with undercurrents of violence

I've no idea how to report posts but I can't believe thetes yet another post about 13 year olds and sex and people are playing the game.

Perfectly normal in the middle ages.

I am fully aware this is not the point of the thread, but, for the geeks out there, no, it wasn't.

Good for you geeks.
History Lecturer.

Amazingly enough, blue, you click on 'report'.

Sorry to be a bit harsh, but people aren't 'playing the game'. We just haven't seen there's been a rash of posts, which you obviously have. Maybe if you'd taken a moment to figure out how to report, instead of implying we're all complicit, the issue would've been dealt with already?

I have a 12y in year 8 and a few of her friends are now 13y and the rest will turn 13 this year.

Dd and her friends are nowhere near having sex. They aren't really even having boyfriends and certainly none in dd's social group have even had their first proper kids yes, let alone anything more.

Even growing up I don't remember anyone at this age having sex. A year or two later I knew of two people - with each other. Rest it wasn't til sixth form.

When I taught secondary a small minority of young ones talked about having sex. However, it wasn't common and the vast majority were nowhere bear that stage at 13.

It just isn't the norm in my experience. Thankfully IMO.

I've taught a lot of 13 year olds over the years and have never yet met one of them who was really mature enough to deal with a sexual relationship, especially if it went wrong.

I do think it is something we should be discouraging and be pointing out the legal implications as well as the emotional ones.

Medievalist lecturer.

Honestly, it wasn't, was it? Average marital age is early 20s IIRC. Unless you think they were shacking up with advanced birth control.

It's not the norm, but it happens, and there's no good outcome from pretending it doesn't.

Chill out. I've figured it out now and reported

Good good.

The document being referred to does not encourage or advocate sex for teens in the 13-17-year old range.

It appears to me to recognise that it does sometimes happen.

However, it does not say that teens should be ostracised or locked up if they do, or told that they are abnormal freaks.

Age of consent was 12 until 1885.
From what I remember, the higher up the food chain, the younger you were likely to be. There are a fair few records of births at around 14 to 16.

Bullshit.

This is a deliberate attempt to scaremonger to push an anti sex-education agenda.

They are referring to the traffic light tool which was created for teachers and other adults in positions of responsibility to help them spot signs that a child is at risk. It lists behaviours that are warning signs for each age group. As they say above the charts, 'All green, amber and red behaviours require some form of attention and response, but the type of intervention will vary according to the behaviour.'

It is NOTHING to do with what is taught in sex education in schools.

"Interest in..." not "having..."

Clearly Christian Concern, as well as OP can't see the difference.

Yes, that's true, and I agree. But that doesn't make it normal. Even back then, most people did not start having sex that early.

It was very much frowned upon to let very young brides get pregnant, even if they were married at 12, and I think that tells us something. People aren't stupid - they know there's a reason why sex very young is a bad idea.

If you look at parish registers, you can see what ages people were when they married. And you can also make a reasonable guess, based on incidence of children born to non-married parents, whether or not most people are having pre-marital sex.

Bluegill, I read it all again and I still don't get what you are reporting. Do you mean the OP?

I think the OP is foolish at best, but that's hardly a reporting matter or MNHQ wouldn't get a lot of sleep.