We all start getting sexually curious at some point in our lives. For most of us it's in our high school years, but for others it's sooner. Just because we have these urges sooner doesn't necessarily mean we should start acting on them. Nowadays you hear about 14 year old girls, and sometimes younger, having sex. To me that's outrageous! At the age of fourteen you're just a young girl who has barely stopped playing with her Barbie dolls and barely has any kind of idea about what you're getting yourself into. At this point young teen girls could be introduced to sex in vulgar, meaningless, and almost abusive sexual relationships (not abuse in the sense of beating but in the sense of sexual overuse, so to speak). As a young woman you're still too underdeveloped and it's easy for you to be manipulated. You may think you're grown up at the age of 14 but you are far from it.

I say even fifteen is still too young. I myself was a 15 year old girl who first had sex at a drunken college party with some 18 year old guy who disrespected me and treated me like I was dirt. The next day when I woke up and realized what I had done I felt dirty, used, and utterly disgusted with myself and my very first sexual partner. He took advantage of a drunk 15 year old and I have despised this man ever since. I always wished that I had waited a year or so before having any kind of sexual experience just because my first was so rotten. But at the age of 16 would I have been ready? No, I think not.

I do feel though, at the age of sixteen you should start to experiment with your own sexuality. I'm not saying jump on every hormone crazy teenage boy or girl you meet, but at this point in life you should've already had Sex Ed and therefore know a little about sex. But you still don't know everything. Start researching and experimenting in the comfort of your own home. The more you are acquainted with sex by the time you have it, the less likely you'll be to make rash or stupid decisions. I think it's important for young teen girls and guys to understand as much as possible. No matter what we do or say as parents, as teachers, as friends, we will never be able to stop the young population from having sex. Wouldn't you rather have young teens be informed instead of ignorant?

Knowledge gives us the tools to make our own decisions, and while we don't always make the right ones we should all at least be informed. Being introduced into sex too late can leave you feeling inadequate, unsure, and unaware. I'm not saying always but I know a few people who feel this way. Having sex too early can leave you scarred and fearful if you have the wrong experience. So, what do you think? What is an appropriate age to start being sexually active?