I would not want to be a teenager in this day and age. The average age at which contemporary Americans have their first sexual encounter is at 16 years and two months. (At 16, you can get your driver's license. Is this a coincidence?) But the number differs by sex, by region, and by individual.

Imagine being 16, and your hormones running riot on your system. Imagine looking deep in the eyes of your first Meaningful Other. And imagine having to say: "Uh, sweetheart, before we go any further, can I ask you something? Are you a virgin? Certifiably so? And if not, when was your last test for AIDS, gonorrhea, herpes, genital warts, and other nasties? Can I see the results, please? Do you like me enough to not fool around with others? What kind of birth control do you prefer? What are the odds on that method?"

Forget it. To ask sensible, potentially life-saving questions like that, not only do you have to know what to ask, you also have to have the guts to ask them. Mere factual education is not enough; if I were a teenager today, and learned just the scary facts, chances are I would still be single and lonely by the year 2005. Next to facts, you also need the attitude that will let you act on them. You need indoctrination. And not just you, everybody else around you needs to be well informed and just as well adjusted. Are they?

Utah has a yes-but-no policy on sex education in public schools. The way it was explained to me by the State Education Office, yes sex ed is a part of the core curriculum, which means that every student has a right to be taught all the facts of life. But no, that right is not unconditional, because the parents have to give their consent for the student to attend the sex ed lessons. But yes, if a student has a question about sex, that question needs to be answered fully, honestly, and right there, consent or no. But no, such questions can not be engineered, they must be spontaneous. Can each teacher answer those questions? Yes, there is a curriculum available. But no, teachers can not be required to teach sex ed. But yes, outside instructors can be allowed. But no, that is at the principle's discretion. And yes, he can decide not to have sex ed taught at his school.

For the majority of young persons in Utah, the resulting lack of full knowledge is not going to have any effect. They are going to do what they have been told is right, and abstain, and marry young. It is the young who don't belong to the majority social grouping, or who rebel against its dictates, for whom a little bit of knowledge may be a deadly, dangerous thing.