Hi Jeanie

Jeanie: We also have our kids wait to date till they are 16. They generally handle "situations" much better at that point and statistics on that bear out that percentages of those who dated earlier than 16 were sexually active much earlier on than those who waited. It sounds obvious the way I put it (obviously no one is going to be sexually active if not even dating but not what I mean. Kind of put it backwards, but you get the point???).

They have contact with the opposite sex through school and they have plenty of opportunities to experiment before they are 16 even with that restriction but you can only do so much. I was listening to the radio today and they had an article on the uses kids are putting their mobile phones too. Of those surveyed, it was a reporter doing a random sample not anything scientific, around 90% either had porn on their phones or had had in the past. Much of that was movies taken with phones by other kids. Many of these kids were around 16 though some were younger. They were shocked when the reporter pointed out that under Australian law they have technically committed the offense of child pornography if they film themselves having sex before they turn 18 and one man was recently charged with exactly that for a movie he had taken of him and his then girlfriend having sex when they were just 15. Is it such a different world out there now or was I just very sheltered?

All the best.

Russell