Poverty Causes Teen Sex Problems

Today, I just started reading the book Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex by Judith Levine. Not being specifically about poverty, Levine argues in the book that sex is not necessarily harmful to minors, and that trying to keep children ignorant about sex and puritanically abstinent often backfires.

So far, I have only read about two chapters of the book. In the short part that I have read, Levine points out that poverty causes many of the problems associated with sex. For example, poverty increases the rate of teen pregnancy, unwanted births, abortion, rape, sexual assault, child molestation and sexually transmitted diseases. Namely, that happens because poor children have less access to quality education and health services. Also, poverty and poor neighborhoods are conducive to violence and crime, which increases sex crime and sex violence.

While trying to hide sexuality from kids tends to backfire, poverty reduction would actually help reduce the rates of many sexual problems especially among minors.

I cannot fully recommend Harmful to Minors until I have finished reading it, but so far I like it very much.

Even if you have not read the book, you can discuss it and its topics in this thread at the Book and Reading Forums.