Teen Sex: There\’s An App For That

Back in New York over Easter weekend I did a double take as a news scroll went past during the evening news: NYC releases sex app for teens. Had it been anywhere but New York I would have assumed that I misread the scroll, but it didn\’t take long to confirm that I indeed saw what I thought I saw.

The Bloomberg administration has launched an app intended to reduce teen pregnancy called “Teens in NYC Protection+” that provides a wealth of health data for kids who are — or are thinking about becoming — sexually active, The Post has learned.

Information about everything from free clinics for HIV and STD testing to receiving condoms and emergency contraception is just a touch away on a smartphone.

But parents can object, right? Fughedaboutit.

Parents who visit the site are in for a surprising lesson about state law.

“Teens in New York state have a legal right to get sexual-health services without the permission of parents, guardians, boyfriends, girlfriends, relatives or anyone else,” the site advises.

By comparison, a teen is not allowed to go on a school trip without parental consent.

The following should assuage any concerns you might have.

Officials say they’re unapologetically using every resource at their command to convince teens not to get pregnant — and that includes explicit sex and health education.

Evidently everything but stressing the one thing that has a one hundred percent success rate at preventing pregnancy: not having sex.

Of course the minute one mentions abstinence in a conversation about sex education, that individual is ridiculed for his Medieval sexual attitude. Kids are just going to have sex, we\’re repeatedly told, so we need to teach them how to avoid pregnancy and/or the transmission of disease. Abstaining from sex until marriage or even sometime after adulthood is an unrealistic expectation.

What\’s especially infuriating is that this is coming from the home of Nanny Bloomberg. Under Bloomberg\’s guidance, the city has basically eradicated smoking from all public locations, and I think some private ones as well. To paraphrase Denis Leary, I\’m pretty sure that smoking is now only legal when one is inside their house, underneath the covers, and several hundred feet removed from the nearest human being. Five years ago, the city banned the use of trans fats in restaurants, and recently Bloomberg also attempted to ban the sales of soda over 16 ounces until a Court intervened.

So on the one hand, Mayor Bloomberg and the rest of his minions believe that they can forcefully alter human behavior through changes in the law and through public education, and they have no reservations about using the law to get people to behave in a certain, pre-approved manner. Indeed the ceaseless campaign against smoking has led to declining cigarette consumption in the United States. Yet when it comes to sexual activity, these same people throw up their hands and say that there\’s nothing we can do except release apps and hand out condoms.

Why can\’t we apply the same social pressure to root out underage sexual activity that we do to other activities that we deem inappropriate? Other than extreme libertines, do adults generally think it wise for teenagers to become sexually active? Most likely not, yet the same people that want you to put down that big bottle of Coke are suddenly too timid to suggest to teens that they should take a cold shower.

Now some will argue that sex is different. Those raging hormones make it just soooo haaaaard to refrain from sexual activity. Besides, sex is a good thing, or at least it\’ s an activity that almost all human beings will engage in at some point. Moreover, sex is what leads to the creation of new life, and if you\’re over 30, make over $100,000 per year, live in a nice house, and promise not to have more than two, then it\’s perfectly acceptable to procreate.

But everyone eats, and resisting the call of the donut can be just as hard as keeping one\’s pants on. Moreover, food sustains life – yes, even the sugary stuff.  It\’s an activity that, properly ordered, is vital to human existence – kinda like sex. The trick is channeling your impulses and indulging only when it is proper, and in the right quantities – again, just like sex. So if we can devote public resources to emphasizing proper eating habits, and it is certainly appropriate to develop public education programs even if legislating soda sizes is a bridge too far, then why can\’t we also do more to stress the virtues of waiting? I entertain no delusions about public efforts to teach the value of complete abstinence until marriage, but perhaps we can at least do more than just tell our kids to make sure they wear rubbers when they \”inevitably\” have sexual intercourse. Because if we signal to our kids that we don\’t think they have the fortitude to wait, how can we possibly expect them to?

© 2013. Paul Zummo. All Rights Reserved.