The Puberty Problem

I have an 8 month old daughter, and lately I have been thinking of things such as sex education.

The current Bush administration and a large number of conservative-minded people seem to want to keep kids in the dark about sex. They don't want schools to provide contraception, they want a very basic curriculum for sex ed (read: "Here is how babies are made, THE END), and they preach ABSTINENCE, ABSTINENCE, ABSTINENCE!

Here is what is wrong with their plan:

1. The onset of puberty is much earlier for children today. I reckon most kids have begun puberty anywhere between the ages of 9 and 14.
   


2. Adults from a generation in which the onset of puberty was typically 13-17 really aren't the best judges of how modern children handle puberty and sexual urges at a younger age. But then again, when has the older generation EVER been any good at trying to relate to the younger generation?
   

Let's roll back the clock about 50 years when the onset of puberty began late in Junior High School or in High School. Under those conditions you only had to deal with handling puberty, etc., for 2 or 3 years. That would mean that most people's first sexual experiences would occur when they were truly adults, not just biologically. I reckon that a 20 year old getting it on for the first time would be much more aware of the consequences of his/her actions and much better able to deal with any unforeseen/unfortunate happenings brought about by their sexual activity.

In modern times when children experience puberty in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is it really reasonable to ask them to "keep it in their pants" for 5, 6, 7, 8 years? It is not only unreasonable, it's pretty fricking stupid to expect a 16 year old High School student who hit puberty 6 years ago to not be extremely curious and extremely RESTLESS to finally "do the deed."