US Teens are fairly conservative.

[Agent Proto]

Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050731...s_050731205712

WASHINGTON (AFP) - It might surprise their parents, but in the age of graphic lyrics and violent video games, American children entering their teens remain very cautious about sex and dating and still trust their parents and church.
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In a story on the lives and thinking of American 13-year-olds, Time magazine reports that sixty percent of the 500 surveyed by the magazine are against sex before marriage, and 63 percent believe they are too young to date at their age.

The 21-page cover feature characterizes kids at 13 as "backstage adults" in a particularly precarious formative period.

"It is the age of childhood leaning forward and adulthood holding back, when the world gets suddenly closer, the colors more vivid, the rules subject to never ending argument," writes Time editor Nancy Gibbs.

If anything is surprising in Time's feature, it is how normal and conservative -- in a day of provocative music videos, widespread Internet access, and lurid cable television shows -- today's 13 year olds are.

Nine out of ten of those polled on line by the magazine said their relationship with their parents is good or excellent, and only seven percent said their parents were too strict.

And 63 percent consider their religious faith at least somewhat important in their lives.

But today's early teens face new issues their parents, and even older siblings, never faced, like cyber-bullying, according to Time.

The magazine reports on a Clemson University survey showing that over one-fifth of children in eighth grade, those between 12 and 14, have been victims of on-line bullying, which includes receiving ugly text messages or being hurt by on-line rumors.

And with that, I would like your opinions... especially with the cyber-bullying, which I find kind of silly in the first place.

[Dixie]

Interesting....I never knew.

[Rye]

Cyber-bulling is like crank phonecalls, except online, and it's usually from school mates, I'm guessing.

That is a bit surprising.

[Silver Valentines]

Well, that really surprises me.
About cyber-bullying: I think that if people seriosly make time to torture others on-line then they honestly need to get out more, but its just what I think.

[UWAOOOOU]

Well I dont think its accurate because most teens I know think sex before marriage is perfectly fine but yeah, all round teens arent as messed up as the general stereotype.

[Shlup]

My first thought was that I'd like to know where they got their sample population for those statistics. 500 is a pretty good number, but not all if they're from the same schools.

Anyway, uh, I dunno. Sounds about normal.

[Silver Valentines]

Well I dont think its accurate because most teens I know think sex before marriage is perfectly fine but yeah, all round teens arent as messed up as the general stereotype.

thats what I was thinking, I know pleasenty of teens who think sex is fine any time, maybe it was based on just a certain group of kids?

[Raistlin]

I don't like how "conservative" equates with "church-going."

Republicans are only half-conservative, too.

Anyway, doesn't surprise me very much.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

It's just 13 year olds though. It seems opinions generally change drastically between the entering of the teen phase and the later teens, were much development takes place. I'd say 13 is too young for this survey to have a great deal of validity, a 13 year old has only begun to develop into his or her own person at this point.

[herbie08]

My first thought was that I'd like to know where they got their sample population for those statistics.

Clemson University is an agricultural college in up-state South Carolina. My guess is they probably used rural South Carolina as their population, which I can tell you from experience (as if I needed it) is pretty damn conservative.

[DocFrance]

I don't like how "conservative" equates with "church-going."

I absolutely hate that stereotype. I always get funny looks when I say I'm a conservative atheist.

[BatChao]

I'd wager that 95% of those teenagers will have sex before they're married anyway. It's the way teens have always been. At the beginning they're all: 'Yea, we are sooooo good. Sex before marriage = BAD!', but then around their junior/senior year in high school and college time, all that goes out the window. Of all the people I knew from high school and college, I think maybe five haven't had sex yet... yea... and I know a LOT more than five people.

[spartancode117]

Being an american 13 year-old, i dont like music where they cuss every other word, and as for sex before marrige, do what you want. its not my problem.

[Slothy]

Well I dont think its accurate because most teens I know think sex before marriage is perfectly fine but yeah, all round teens arent as messed up as the general stereotype.

As Behold the Void said, they're only 13. I never knew anyone at 13 who had actually had sex. It isn't really a major concern at that age. I'm sure both sexes are thinking about to some extent, but at that age, most people aren't seriously considering having sex in the near future. I would like to see the survey done with the same people in a 2-3 years though. I have to agree that there may be a significant shift in responses.

[theundeadhero]

I think the stated Junior/Senior year mentioned above is actually a little too late. The Sophomore/Junior year would be a better representative.