Must We Fear Adolescent Sexuality?

Girl with Pen has a fascinating guest post by sociologist Virginia Rutter on Juno and love. Anyone obsessed with the movie (which seems to be just about everybody, including Ms. Oprah, these days), should check it out.
Be sure not to miss one of the links later on to an academic article called “Must We Fear Adolescent Sexuality?” by Dr. Amy Schalet. It is a cross-cultural study of parental attitudes towards teen sexuality in the United States (where adolescent sexuality is an evergreen hot button issues) and the Netherlands (where anxiety around adolescent sexuality is nill). She essentially asks: how is it that two countries similar in terms of wealth, education, and reproductive technologies have had the highest and lowest rates of teen pregnancy, respectively, in the Western world?
The answer: basically that adolescent sexuality is dramatized in one country (good ol’ U.S. of A.) and normalized in the other. Parents in the Netherlands repeatedly expressed believing that love between teens is very possible, whereas American parents scoffed at it. Parents in the Netherlands said they’d be fine with their teen spending the night with a boyfriend or girlfriend (9 out of 10), whereas America parents said “No way Jose” 9 out of 10 times. Dr. Schalet also talks about the ways in which Dutch educators diffuse tension around adolescent sexuality by taking an open, informational approach. Again, normalizing sexual feelings and approaching responsible choices as inevitable! Damn do we have a lot to learn.
Thanks to Debbie at Girl with Pen for the great discovery!