At least once a semester I go on a rant to my students about virginity. To me, there are few more destructive concepts in the world. In making my point today, I could focus on cultures in which virginity is so overtly prized that girls are routinely subject to “virginity tests,” which means that an examination is performed on them to see if their hymen is intact—under the mistaken beliefs that a) ...
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My 15-year-old son has been in a relationship with a girl the same age for about a year. We like her a lot, and we think their relationship is healthy and loving. They were friends for a long time before they started going out. I have two questions: 1) We think he’s too young to have sex, but we don’t know how to explain that to him and also, without condoning the decision, tell him that if they d...
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My 10th grade son has a nice group of kids he hangs with—they’re boys and girls, and still pretty innocent. I like them all and know their parents. He wants to have a sleepover with them and swears nothing will happen. I think at this age, this is true, but I’m concerned this becomes a slippery slope and that if I say yes this time, it makes it harder to say no in the future when they&...
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