Society must confront the sexualisation of children and teenagers.

international | gender and sexuality | opinion/analysis Wednesday June 21, 2006 13:37 by Ryan

The Irish scandal of teen sex must be tackled.

There is a complete lack of parental control and responsibility for their children in this country.
Young girls and young boys totally unequipped for adult life are enagaging in sexual intercourse at increasingly young ages.
This is a direct result from imagery on television, the internet, print media and most importantly from the behaviour of their adult peers.
Every day I recoil in disgust as I see young girls barely finished playing with their dolls dressed in skimpy clothing with rouged lip and make up and overhear them openly using the most profane language and engaging in sexually explicit conversation or blatant heavy petting in public.
Young boys are supposed to fulfill a predatory hard drinking macho stereotype.

Is it any wonder when parents take no interest in what their kids are wearing, what they are saying, listening, seeing or going to that their is such a high level of alcohol consuption among minors, such epidemics of sexually transmitted disases or unmarried teen mothers?
It is a moral disgrace that teenagers are drinking underage and having sex.
Adulthood should be 18 years.
Adults in their twenties, thirties and forties are responsible - they engage in a culture of heavy drinking, sexual license and unplanned unmarried motherhood.
It is no then suprise that with this horrendous example that young children are out of control?

This is the root of poverty in Ireland.

Young girls are abandoned by their teenage fathers and forced to bring up their children alone.
They fail at school and never go to college - they are doomed to low wage unskilled labour for the rest of their lives and perform poorly as mothers to their children who are fatherless uncontrollable perform poorly at school and are more likely to become violent criminals or unemployed in later life. This misery for both parents and children leads to alcoholism and social disorder, crime and violence. Socially disconnected individuals who never learned responsibility in the home repeat the cycle as teenagers - drinking heavily leading to fumbling unsafe sex and teen pregnancy.

Whole classes of people have never experienced the security of family - a father and mother who are married and bring up their children respecting themselves and others.

What must we do?

First of all parents who allow their children especially young girls to wear skimpy clothing thongs or tops wih exposed misriffs must be made aware of the danger they are exposing their daughters to.

Second if young girls fall pregnant below the age of consent - it is their parents who should be prosecuted for neglect.

Third abortion should be available on demand to prevent teenage pregnancies and condoms should be more widely available.

Fourth the age of consent should be eighteen and young men or young women over 18 who have sexual relations with minors whether girls or boys should be treated as sexual offenders and universally reviled just as elderly priests who abuse children.

A campaign should be impliment to removed sexual imagery from magazines in supermarkets.
Sex magazines should be limited to sex shops where only adults can purchase them.

Films which are classified unsuitable for minors under 18 should not be shown to young teenagers.

I personally went with my girlfriend to see the movie "Monster" starring Hale Berry which contained explicit sex scenes - during which i noticed young girls accompanied by their teen boyfriends giggle and laughing.

Staff and owners of cinemas and video stores who allow minors to view adult material should be prosecuted severely.

Minors should not be allowed to use the internet unaccompanied by an adult.

Fifth there should be a madatory comprehensive sexual education programme in all schools.

If the Catholic church or other religious groups oppose it in their schools they should be prosecuted.

Sex should be limited to consenting adults.

Once you are over 18 you should be allowed to do as you please.

But children must not be allowed to have sex and should be protected from themselves and from perverts who take advantage of them.