In another example of how real life can be more drastic than the soaps (recently cancelled by ABC-TV), a 12-year old girl, with special ed needs, gave birth to a baby boy after being raped and infected with a sexually transmitted disease That means she was impregnated when she was 11 years old! Sad. Shocking.
How astounding is it that one report has estimated that up to one in four 6 graders in Philadelphia have reportedly been sexually active.
Girls are maturing at younger and younger ages, due to hormonal changes. Just in our lifetime, baby boomers were getting their period at 15 or 16; then the next generation of girls were menstruating by 13, and now the age of sexual maturation has plunged as low as 8 -- even more reason to support comprehensive sexuality education as a solution instead of blaming such sex ed, as some do.
The rape happened in a YMCA camp, by a 17 year old boy -- even more reason to have life skills education in schools, for boys to learn how to keep their hormones in check, how to treat young girls, what sex is and what constitutes rape.