<p>Yea you lost me there too. 
</p>
<p>This is a birth control thread not a RTL one. Please donât hijack this threadâŠstart one on RTL if you feel inclined to discuss that topic.</p>
<p>I was reading the thread, and I saw that the woman who originally posted the taking condoms to africa story was on the thread. Will you tell the story for those of us who missed it?</p>
<p>so I tried to redirect it back to camp 
I had my first period at camp
a good friend did as well although I donât know when either of my girls first had their period- neither would tell me.
They were afraid I would have some sort of celebratory event apparently !
Anyway- my oldest who worked for several years as riding staff at a residential camp although she did not work as a counselor has told me many stories- but so far none of them involve kids actually having sex.
However one of the women in my book group has a daughter who is fairly wild- and my daughter has told me several stories involving the daughter at camp, before we put 2 & 2 together to figure out that I knew her.
My youngest wants to work at this camp as well, but since she is better with actions than words I hope she doesnât run across anyone having sex, she might dump cold water on them!</p>
<p>I do remember everyone in middle school being scared of getting their first periods at camp. The young, female teachers would sit us down and tell us that their feminine products were there for us to use if something happened, that we could take them, no questions asked, etc.</p>
<p>For me & a close friend, it was right before leaving for a science team trip across the country. Eek.</p>
<p>While running through the woodsâŠI came across a couple in embraceâŠclearly French KissingâŠI was more stunned than were they and I called my mom to tell her all about it. I was at camp for 8 weeks every summer and you can believe meâŠamongst the older set sex was always being planned and sometimes happening. CounselorsâŠstaffâŠolder campers, up through Frosh college age.</p>
<p>I always pack supplies for my Ds when they go awayâŠbefore they got their periods as well, because other girls may need themâŠand someone always didâŠmy Ds were grateful to have themâŠand I sent a variety of productsâŠ</p>
<p>It has been very interesting having a daughter who was staff at the same camp her sister attended ( although her sister attends the same camp still- older daughter doesnât work there anymore- younger sister is so relieved cause she had higher expectations put on her when she was âDaisyâs sisterâ)
Besides the girl who came home with expensive boys jackets that she collected as trophies, there was the sanitary pad (used) that was wedged behind the toilet so far they couldnât get it out. the changing sheets in the middle of the night, the kids who were taken off their ADD medication to get a break while they were at camp!The kids who snuck out to the local bar( they are on an island so they couldnt go far)
It makes the girls who show up at meals in their bikini tops ( cause they didnt have time to change) seem fairly tame</p>
<p>Obviously itâs important to keep teenagers from doing anything at summer camp that theyâll regret later. Getting pregnant or acquiring STDâs would have terrible long-term consequences. But other than sending condoms with your kids and giving them talks, Iâm all for a laxer approach to camping. People in the 16-17 age-range are champing at the bit, eager to try things out and see what happens. Theyâre only just figuring out who they are, and theyâre testing their boundaries. I see this as a healthy thing. And a summer camp is a great place to do this, because they donât know anyone and they can reinvent themselves. And if they try acting in a certain way and find that it blows up in their faces (as anything stupid inevitably will), they donât have to live with a bad reputation amongst their peers for the rest of their high school days. Because if you get a reputation as a âslutâ or a ârebelâ or something like that, and everyone around you expects you to act in a certain way according to the label they have put on you, you WILL act like that.
So the beauty of summer camps is that you can dabble your foot in a lot of different sorts of water without having to live up to it later if you decide you donât like acting that way. This is not to say that people should have no supervision at all, or that they shouldnât be kept from doing anything really dumb that could have long-lasting effects (unprotected sex, mind-altering drugs, reckless stunts), but it doesnât hurt to let them push their boundaries a little. There are always exceptions, of course, but I think most teenagers are less stupid than adults give them credit for. And hey, trust sure feels nice sometimes.</p>
<p>Boy, I canât believe how matter of fact everyone is about teenagers having sex! Does no one believe that this is something that should happen only in a long term committed relationship? And there is someone that will remember things that happend at camp - yourself. The stupid things that I did are indelibly etched in my mind and not because someone else was a witness. Iâm not saying I was a perfect teenager or that I didnât have sex before marriage but to expect it of kids not even in High School just seems kind of callous. Besides the danger of pregnancy and disease there are emotions that can scar a child just as much. </p>
<p>I have a daughter thatâs a counselor at camp right now and a son who is a camper (I pick him up on Saturday) so maybe this is hitting a little close to home. But, in the years that my daughter has been a camper and counselor I have never been concerned about this. Not that I could do anything anyway, sheâs 20 but I canât imagine letting a younger child go to a camp where there would not be penalities for premarital sex - like expulsion. Thatâs not tolerated behavior at camps my kids have attended. heck, they canât even take cd players or gameboys.</p>
<p>âheck, they canât even take cd players or gameboys.â</p>
<p>Maybe if they did, thereâd be less in the way of sex? ;)</p>
<p>ok sorry, just one more post about the off-topic.</p>
<p>ariesathena wrote:
thats not an appropriate analogy to make, considering there is death involved in having an abortion. sorry, this is one subject i feel very strongly about. (and i support civil unions, so donât call me a conservative)</p>
<hr>
<p>on-topic: i agree with kitkattail. people are matter-of-fact about teenage sex because that is how teenagers are. yeah, itd be nice if everybody were angels, but human nature is very primal. its more of an acceptance of reality to be matter-of-fact about teenage sex than actual approval.</p>
<p>
Kathiep - We are talking about older teens having sex, not middle schoolers. 16-18 year olds are at most, a couple of years away from leaving home for good, and may be only a few weeks away. At that point, the die is cast. Colleges are certainly not going to impose any penalties for pre-marital sex. Why should a camp automatically expel kids who are close to college age for having consensual, discrete-but-not-quite-discrete-enough sex? Thatâs the usual scenario. Whatever message the parents want the child to have about family values or sex ed has either sunk in by then, or it has not. And even if we feel confidant that our own child will wait until they are in a committed relationship, the hard fact is that most young people do not (or maybe one partner thinks itâs a committed relationship and the other one doesnât). That means that even âgoodâ kids are going to be exposed to sex, if not at camp than very soon after when they start college, whether they decide to be involved or not. We can be matter of fact about it, or we can put our heads in the sand.</p>
<p>It is not âtoleratedâ at camps, but kids can be very sneaky and will cover for each other, so it does happen. We are not saying that we want kids to have sex at campâŠI for sure wouldnât want my Ds toâŠbut if we donât have the discussions and give them the knowledge to handle themselves</p>
<p>I mean, we make them wear seat belts, we put bike helmats on them, we give the vacinations, and we prepare them for adulthood as best we canâŠpart of growing up is dealing with sex and its close relatives, its ramifications physically and emotionally, and how to be responsible.</p>
<p>I think they should have green wooden âsexâ passes (and should be closely monitored! ;))</p>
<p>A - I was actually referring mainly to birth control. Sex is a choice, but most health insurance plans donât help pay for birth control - whether or not you are taking it for ârecreationalâ use. I was put on it by a doctor to treat abdominal pain, but since itâs birth control, I had to pay the whole thing myself - no prescription drug coverage. Oh⊠and then people get pregnant. Go freakin figure.</p>
<p>I donât think sex needs to be confined to a long term committed relationship.
I would not advocate for junior high students to be having sex- but I think they should have sex education in schools
I also wouldnât be shocked ( just surprised) if one of my daughters confessed to having a sexual relationship with someone that they are not in love with
Like I stated above unless it explicity was required by the camp- I donât think being caught having sex is usually a reason to send a camper home.
I have had sexual relationships ( as an adult ) with men that I would never marry, indeed some that I had little in common with save a very powerful mutual attraction. even though those relationships were relatively short lived- I learned much about myself in them- and they were as special to me, in their way as relationships that were much more spiritual and emotional.</p>
<p>I donât think it is uncommon to have your first sexual experience however far that took you to be in the summer. From what I remember- the long warm nights, the absence of much clothing, the freedom of knowing you donât have to get up at 6am to go to school the next day all seem to contribute to a fairly romantic atmosphere- I believe the sun has something to do with the increase in hormone levels too- at least in Seattle we are determined to stock up for the long grey winter!</p>
<p>Talking about sex isnât going to encourage your kids to have it, so I donât think âtreating it matter-of-factlyâ is implying that these parents would want their kid to do it. Itâs not something that parents can control. This is why Iâm so angry with people who only want to teach abstinence. I strongly disagree that teaching about birth control leads to increased sexual activity. So yea, itâs prevention, not encouragement.</p>
<p>oh sure ariesathena, i agree with you there. and it comes back full circle. contraception is a necessity these days.</p>
<p>I agree zante
whether you are contemplating drinking- sex- suicide or cheating
if you have a teen ager, they have already thought about it- discussing it isnât going to plant the idea in their heads</p>