The wording on this question is interesting to me. Based on the question asked, I would probably answer ‘sometimes wrong’ based on concerns about knowledge, consent, etc. However, if the question were ‘is sex between 14-16 year olds a bad idea?’ I would answer Almost Always. I think a lot of the younger generations make more distinctions between what is ‘morally wrong’ and what is a generally a good or responsible choice. Obviously, you don’t have the data, but I would be very interested in the difference between those two concepts.
A completely different factor for the decline of teen pregnancies could be teen driving. The percentage of teenagers getting a license is dropping and the age they get a license is driving. There are also restrictions on teens for who can be in the car. Less ability to make your own privacy could also lead to less sex and fewer pregnancies.
Your analysis of shifting sexual ethics raises an interesting question about the role of marriage in contemporary culture. Historically, sex and marriage were deeply linked, with marriage often seen as both the socially sanctioned context for sex and the foundation for raising children. However, as views on premarital sex have liberalized and teen sexual activity has declined, do you think marriage is increasingly being viewed primarily as a structure for child-rearing rather than for maintaining an ongoing sexual relationship? In other words, is the purpose of marriage shifting from being about legitimizing sex to primarily facilitating parenthood, with sex becoming less central to its function over time?
Dan, thanks for your thought response. To be honest, I am continually surprised at how sticky the idea of marriage is, even to groups that I might expect not to gravitate to traditional family values. I wonder if the General Social Survey offers enough granular data to help untangle these overlapping factors—like whether declines in marriage are more strongly tied to changes in sexual ethics, attitudes toward child-rearing, or financial considerations? If so, which variables or questions in the GSS would be most useful for isolating those trends?
My perspective has been that sex is not for children. It has big world ramifications and belongs in the world of adulthood. Not really a religious position exactly.
A midwife writing in the American colonies around the 1740s noted that nearly half of all first pregnancies only lasted six months. My parents were born in 1932 and 1934. Six months after their parents got married.
As odd as it may seem, my generation did not discover sex
Ryan, does abortion affect these numbers? A co-worker wonders if your comparison of teenage births since 1991 misses what he think may be the most prevalent factor - single/ teens having abortions. Thoughts?
Porn is the bigger adversary because it is arelational, purely hedonistic and just poison to the young mind.
There is also a fertility issue where many parents don't know if they'll see grandkids before they're 65 if at all. I'd rather message the beauty and joy of marriage and family, as culture is providing the push to wait and avoid counterpoint. I read the apostle Paul as saying if you struggle with lust take a spouse and order your love.
Given the cultural environment, I think people are reconsidering the order of goods within chastity. The dark celibacy of loneliness, bitterness and addictive self pleasure seems further from God then teenagers playing at love and marriage. I am open to thoughtful correction on this view, so please respond.
I would emphasize that sexuality properly ordered is powerful and self giving. The reverence around sexuality is akin to the reverence for a power tool or firearms: incredibly powerful in proper use, but dangerous when mishandled. Shame and reverence are easily misidentified.
I would argue that the shame around porn is appropriate because it commoditizes and makes impotent that which should be powerful and reverenced. The distinction between appropriate shame around porn/cheating etc and misplaced shame around sexuality itself is subtle, and I get how it's all lost in translation. Therefore, emphasizing the positive of self giving sexuality in a committed relationship feels like cleaner messaging for the current milieu.
I wonder if liberalization of attitudes towards teen sexuality are, paradoxically, tied to teen sexuality (and its consequences) being less common.
As a teenager in the early 1990s, when teen pregnancy was 4x more common than it is now (as you noted), and when HIV was a death sentence rather than a manageable disease, basically everyone had first-hand observation of the consequences of teen sexuality. Here are some reasons why my teen friends and I had conflicted feelings about the morality of teen sexuality when we were teenagers in 1990: 1. you could get pregnant and 2. you could die.
As the consequences of teen sexuality become both less dire and less common (because we have technological fixes for potential consequences, and because teens are just having less sex), it's much easier to see teen sexuality as morally permissible. The 1995 film "Kids" is a great snapshot of views of the bleak consequences of teen sexuality (and its resulting immorality) from this time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_(film)
The wording on this question is interesting to me. Based on the question asked, I would probably answer ‘sometimes wrong’ based on concerns about knowledge, consent, etc. However, if the question were ‘is sex between 14-16 year olds a bad idea?’ I would answer Almost Always. I think a lot of the younger generations make more distinctions between what is ‘morally wrong’ and what is a generally a good or responsible choice. Obviously, you don’t have the data, but I would be very interested in the difference between those two concepts.
A completely different factor for the decline of teen pregnancies could be teen driving. The percentage of teenagers getting a license is dropping and the age they get a license is driving. There are also restrictions on teens for who can be in the car. Less ability to make your own privacy could also lead to less sex and fewer pregnancies.
Your analysis of shifting sexual ethics raises an interesting question about the role of marriage in contemporary culture. Historically, sex and marriage were deeply linked, with marriage often seen as both the socially sanctioned context for sex and the foundation for raising children. However, as views on premarital sex have liberalized and teen sexual activity has declined, do you think marriage is increasingly being viewed primarily as a structure for child-rearing rather than for maintaining an ongoing sexual relationship? In other words, is the purpose of marriage shifting from being about legitimizing sex to primarily facilitating parenthood, with sex becoming less central to its function over time?
Dan, thanks for your thought response. To be honest, I am continually surprised at how sticky the idea of marriage is, even to groups that I might expect not to gravitate to traditional family values. I wonder if the General Social Survey offers enough granular data to help untangle these overlapping factors—like whether declines in marriage are more strongly tied to changes in sexual ethics, attitudes toward child-rearing, or financial considerations? If so, which variables or questions in the GSS would be most useful for isolating those trends?
My perspective has been that sex is not for children. It has big world ramifications and belongs in the world of adulthood. Not really a religious position exactly.
A midwife writing in the American colonies around the 1740s noted that nearly half of all first pregnancies only lasted six months. My parents were born in 1932 and 1934. Six months after their parents got married.
As odd as it may seem, my generation did not discover sex
Ryan, does abortion affect these numbers? A co-worker wonders if your comparison of teenage births since 1991 misses what he think may be the most prevalent factor - single/ teens having abortions. Thoughts?
I'm pretty dense and can't understand what you are asking.
Are you saying that the prevalence of abortion has changed people's views of teen sex?
Porn is the bigger adversary because it is arelational, purely hedonistic and just poison to the young mind.
There is also a fertility issue where many parents don't know if they'll see grandkids before they're 65 if at all. I'd rather message the beauty and joy of marriage and family, as culture is providing the push to wait and avoid counterpoint. I read the apostle Paul as saying if you struggle with lust take a spouse and order your love.
Given the cultural environment, I think people are reconsidering the order of goods within chastity. The dark celibacy of loneliness, bitterness and addictive self pleasure seems further from God then teenagers playing at love and marriage. I am open to thoughtful correction on this view, so please respond.
I would emphasize that sexuality properly ordered is powerful and self giving. The reverence around sexuality is akin to the reverence for a power tool or firearms: incredibly powerful in proper use, but dangerous when mishandled. Shame and reverence are easily misidentified.
I would argue that the shame around porn is appropriate because it commoditizes and makes impotent that which should be powerful and reverenced. The distinction between appropriate shame around porn/cheating etc and misplaced shame around sexuality itself is subtle, and I get how it's all lost in translation. Therefore, emphasizing the positive of self giving sexuality in a committed relationship feels like cleaner messaging for the current milieu.
I wonder if liberalization of attitudes towards teen sexuality are, paradoxically, tied to teen sexuality (and its consequences) being less common.
As a teenager in the early 1990s, when teen pregnancy was 4x more common than it is now (as you noted), and when HIV was a death sentence rather than a manageable disease, basically everyone had first-hand observation of the consequences of teen sexuality. Here are some reasons why my teen friends and I had conflicted feelings about the morality of teen sexuality when we were teenagers in 1990: 1. you could get pregnant and 2. you could die.
As the consequences of teen sexuality become both less dire and less common (because we have technological fixes for potential consequences, and because teens are just having less sex), it's much easier to see teen sexuality as morally permissible. The 1995 film "Kids" is a great snapshot of views of the bleak consequences of teen sexuality (and its resulting immorality) from this time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_(film)