-Deleted my post to withdraw from this conversation.-

Middlemoor:I twisted nothing. You said one thing, then another that contradicted it, so I asked you to clarify it. If you cannot do that without going on the offensive then that is your problem, not mine. Historically, teenagers have never been considered children, because childhood ends at the onset of puberty. Until a century or so, if you were a girl that was unwed by the age of eighteen there was something wrong with you. I don't advocate that, but it is fact, and it is in our social consciousness. The concept of teenagers exists now primarily because of the shift to "adulthood" to the arbitrary age of 18... they are not children, but they are not adults either. I also agree that teens should actually be educated about it, as I have said in my first post, so don't you DARE try and get all high and mighty on me because you will fail.

This is what I posted:

* Girls must be encouraged to be open about sex, but understand that it's not something they have to do.

*People need to realize that sex isn't a game...it can have lasting consequences.

*We need to start treating our girls like children again and protect them from the bad messages out there.

The final statement, in the context of the statements around it and supported by the elaboration followed, was referring to society. It was about how wider society perceives young girls and the objectification that is occurring. It was not to be taken as a support for "keeping them in the dark"

I see, you delete your entire post to try and make me look bad. Real mature.

And just in case it isn't clear for anyone else... this is a debate thread. If you can't handle someone challenging your statements, you shouldn't post here.

That's not the case. I removed my replies the way this discussing was heading was upsetting me.

I wanted to contribute something positive to this thread and it turned out horribly. I didn't mean the things you insinuated and I felt like your "challenge" was more like putting words in my mouth. Even having to explain this here feels like a flame war. I don't want to be a part of this on Vizzed. This is not why I came here.

Middlemoor : Trust me, this is not a flame war. I hope you never see one of those. I hope that we can resolve this via PMs.

Middlemoor : I understand where you're coming from with wanting to protect young girls.... but we can't "protect" them from sex forever. Once they become teenagers they need to know what sex is and understand it's consequences. The ramifications of no knowledge or street knowledge is much worse than being told the truth.

I have 2 daughters and as much as it would pain me to know if they were having sex as teenagers I would rather teach them how to do it safely rather than not teach them anything in some attempt to shield them from it. Sex is going to happen and we can't blindly hope that hiding it from kids will make them safe. Of course you don't expose them to it too young but once they show interest you need to give them an appropriate amount of information. If you refuse to tell them what they want to know there is more than enough information available via friends, TV or the internet that may or may not be true or what you want to teach a child.

Elara : I agree with you that we can't put sex back into the box it was trapped in for so long. I can only imagine how little some women knew about sex prior to their wedding nights when they were forced to have sex and neither the husband or the wife really knew what they were doing.

However, I do think that the media has gone too far with the objectification of sex and physicality. Too much emphasis has been placed on having the perfect body etc and that having sex with anyone at any time isn't a big deal.

geeogree : I agree. I am sure that many women were quite surprised.

I have never said that I agree with what the media does... honestly I think they have taken the whole "sex sells" thing way too far. I honestly find it surprising when I go through a series of a show and there is not a sex scene or five. And then there are the "reality shows"... I am not even going to comment on those, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But yeah, it is all rather insane, and the only option we really have is to make sure that the younger generations at least have the facts so that they don't make mistakes and end up doing something really stupid.

geeogree: "I understand where you're coming from with wanting to protect young girls.... but we can't "protect" them from sex forever. Once they become teenagers they need to know what sex is and understand it's consequences. The ramifications of no knowledge or street knowledge is much worse than being told the truth.

I have 2 daughters and as much as it would pain me to know if they were having sex as teenagers I would rather teach them how to do it safely rather than not teach them anything in some attempt to shield them from it. Sex is going to happen and we can't blindly hope that hiding it from kids will make them safe. Of course you don't expose them to it too young but once they show interest you need to give them an appropriate amount of information. If you refuse to tell them what they want to know there is more than enough information available via friends, TV or the internet that may or may not be true or what you want to teach a child."

---

Ok. I didn't say any of that, but I agree.

(Trouble getting quotes working properly.)

Well, that was my interpretation of what you said. If you agree with me then I'm not sure what the problem is.

Problem is, I didn't say anything contrary to this:

- "but we can't "protect" them from sex forever."

Or this:

- "The ramifications of no knowledge or street knowledge is much worse than being told the truth."

Or this:

- "I would rather teach them how to do it safely rather than not teach them anything in some attempt to shield them from it."

Or this:

- "Sex is going to happen and we can't blindly hope that hiding it from kids will make them safe."

Or this

- "once they show interest you need to give them an appropriate amount of information."

Or this

- "If you refuse to tell them what they want to know"

In fact, my post started in the first opening lines with: "Girls must be encouraged to be open about sex..."

I agree with what you're saying but I'm not sure why you're saying it to me.

I'm not replying to this thread again so if you want to continue down this path of accusations and have the last word, that's fine with me.

geeogree : Apparently we cannot paraphrase his statements, even if we agree with him.

I think this thread is done.... seems like somebody is taking it far too seriously.