Teenage Girls and Sex

Anyone catch last week's Oprah with Dr. Laura Berman? Having taught middle/high school for several years this video didn't surprise me at all. I used to proctor a study hall and several of my former freshman would drop in to say hi. I was one of those teachers that kids trusted and boy did I hear some stories.

One in particular disturbed me to no end, a former student of mine allowed a boy to perform oral sex on her on a playground with other boys watching. She was 15 years old. Teenage girls, especially, feel the need to trade their bodies for acceptance. They don't even realize the damage they're doing to themselves and their physical/spiritual being.

The whole premise of the show was that parents need to educate their children, especially their daughters about sex. The suggested age for starting to talk about sex (as a natural function, not necessarily a passionate act) was 10 years old. Many audience members (including Gayle King) protested saying we're giving kids too much information; I disagree. I think adults don't arm kids with enough information to survive in today's world.

I drew the line at Dr. Berman's suggestion of introducing vibrators to teenage girls (15 and up). I think you can educate and teach respect for the body without going this far.

What do you think? How old should a child be before his/her parents have "the talk" and what would that talk be like in your home?