Let's talk about sex baby

I saw a thread elsewhere where people were talking about sex and sex education.  And I'll admit that I've often thought about and wondered some things but never asked before, not really sure why. I'm more comfortable with you guys than some random forum so here I am. So first I'll tell you a bit about where I stand, and then I have a few questions:

My children are all teenagers, though my boys are now considered adult by US standards. I have always been very open with my kiddos about sex.  My daughter has been on the pill off and on since she was 14.  It would have been totally on but she sucks at remembering it so we've tried other contraceptives with her. Most of you know that I had my kids really young and I desperately DO NOT want that for my children. So while I teach them that in my opinion sex should be reserved for marriage, I also teach them to use birth control.  I'm not so naive as my parents were. 

Which brings me to them. My parents never mentioned sex. We never had "the talk", the most I was taught about sex was that it was dirty and if you did it outside of marriage you were sinning.  Fat lot of good that advice did me lol xD

So I'm wondering:
Where are you from? (just generally speaking, you don't have to be specific if you don't want)
Did your parents talk to you about sex?
Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
If so did or has it affected you in any way?
How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?



I'll start:
I'm from the United States, more specifically South Carolina.
Already answered
duh, of course, already answered
Yes, I suppose so. It really didn't stop me from having sex before marriage. Just made me feel a lot more guilty about it.
Quite a bit actually. The internet wasn't around when I was younger. But it has definitely shaped my ideas about what I want to teach my own children. I confess when they were younger the very thought of them having sex before marriage was appalling to me (hypocritical me lol ).  But the more I read and talked to others the more I realized that approach didn't work with me and wouldn't work with them. Now I just preach safe sex.

Also can we keep this civilized? RMRK has matured quite a bit and I am hoping to see that maturity come out in this thread. That is why I am putting this in the general chat section and not the sewers.

Well

Where are you from? (just generally speaking, you don't have to be specific if you don't want)
Canada, From Toronto
Did your parents talk to you about sex?
I wasn't given any sort of talk at all, just the whole boys have diffrent parts from girls and the whole stranger danger thing.
Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
from above^ my aprents really didnt mention anythign like that, I know alot of religious indaviduals implored that message
If so did or has it affected you in any way?
Not really, I think sex is the ultimate connection you can have with someone you love, whether its wrong to do it before marrige was lost on me. If i love the person and they love me back, its okay.
How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
Not much Influence

Thank you for having the courage to answer <3

Where are you from? (just generally speaking, you don't have to be specific if you don't want)
Kentucky
Did your parents talk to you about sex?
No.
Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
I went to Catholic schools, so we were told premarital sex is bad, but kids obviously don't generally care. =o
If so did or has it affected you in any way?
No.
How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
Very little. I am my own man.

1.Puerto Rico.

2.Not really, there was no talking about it, but it was not really something that felt hidden.

3.Where I grew up it seemed like a competition to see who was really having the most sex at a younger age and if you were not having sex then you're either gay or something was really wrong with you.

4.It has pretty much ruined every possible relationship I have ever tried to have.

At a very young age I started to notice that while men were basically put on a pedestal for having sex, a woman was considered a whore or worthless if she had sex under those same conditions. I felt it was really unfair that the person who has the most to lose out sex was being treated so badly for doing the same thing.

I say the most to lose because as I grew up and got to know my mother I learned a lot about her and her dreams and what she wanted to do. She is very smart and was a very athletic person who could have done anything she wanted, but she had children when she was young and that pretty much killed off the possibility of achieving any of those dreams.

Over time I met more women/girls and learned that many were just like my mom with dreams and goals and that having children basically stopped them from going after them.

I don't think that sex is bad, but I always think about a woman's dreams and goals over sex and how just one night of sex can stop someone from going after their dreams.

And that leads many women to think that I'm either gay or there is something really wrong with me.

5.I learned how dark and deprave the darkest corners of the human mind can be, mostly because I run out of programming stuff to read and start reading news which keep linking to other news and it's a never ending vicious cycle of horrible information.

I'm from Pittsburgh. I never really had the sex talk with my parents, but I had sex-ed in 5th or 6th grade. I don't know if it had a stigmatizing effect or not, I just know that I wasn't, and still am not, careless about it. I'm an old man, so the internet didn't really have an effect on my opinions while growing up, but I do feel that it has both positive and negative effects. On one hand, it has introduced me to people who differ from me sexually, giving me more of an open mind about people, and making me less prone to prejudice or hate. On the other hand, I feel that the prevalence of pornography websites has unquestionably desensitized me, and probably most others to not just sex, but violence and other things. I feel the same about sexual awareness as I do about everything else: The more knowledge a person has on the subject, the better a person can respond to different situations.

1.Jamaica
2.Barely, just mentioned it but not towards me
3.My parents attached a sense of neglect to it.
4.Not really where my parents failed the wider public didn't, hence i came out fine.
5.Every little as my knowledge came from experience not theory, so i didn't rely much on the internet when it came to sex.

Where are you from? (just generally speaking, you don't have to be specific if you don't want)
Hallowed northern Europe
Did your parents talk to you about sex?
No But we had excellent sex-ed
Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
Not at all, you either had it or you don't. Women who had lots of sex were ridiculed a lot however.
If so did or has it affected you in any way?
Ain't had one !
How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
I don't really know how to answer this. It hasn't influenced my thoughts but it does make for things to think about at times.

Where are you from? Englandshire =o

Did your parents talk to you about sex? Nope. I learned about sex via friends at school mostly, and then sex education at school. Also somewhere around that time I got internet access, so you can guess some of the things I was researching

Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? Don't ask, don't.. well ask. I was indoctrinated into Mormonism as a child, anything more than a light hug was no-no lol.

If so did or has it affected you in any way? Well I went through my teen years with internet access, so I guess not really

How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex? I think I should probably be on zinc supplements.

Where are you from? (just generally speaking, you don't have to be specific if you don't want)
Texas
Did your parents talk to you about sex?
Somewhat, never seriously.
Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
My parents think I've been having sex since I entered high school, the only thing that's been reinforced is the importance of protection.
If so did or has it affected you in any way?
I'm pretty good about protected sex and I have no interest in having children until I'm 30 (which is what my father has always told me to wait to anyways.) Although I will admit there were a few dumb moments.
How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
A lot.

Thank you all   I appreciate all of you taking the time to answer me.  You're awesome people <3

There's one big question though that might make a big difference: How old are the kids in question?

For some of the older members, we didn't really have decent internet access and such until the past, what, eight to ten years? By the time the internet grew to be as easy as it is today, some of us probably already had our own conceptions about sex and everything. Kids in this generation, however, practically grew up with the internet ever since they learned how to walk.

Well am 20 so ya, just saying.

Where are you from? (just generally speaking, you don't have to be specific if you don't want)
Texas
Did your parents talk to you about sex?
Somewhat, never seriously.
Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
My parents think I've been having sex since I entered high school, the only thing that's been reinforced is the importance of protection.
If so did or has it affected you in any way?
I'm pretty good about protected sex and I have no interest in having children until I'm 30 (which is what my father has always told me to wait to anyways.) Although I will admit there were a few dumb moments.
How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
A lot.

Same, but New York.

Where are you from?
Tennessee

Did your parents talk to you about sex?
My dad specifically said, "just don't do anything until marriage" one time. My mom randomly told me and my friend to always use protection one time when she was drunk. Other than that, no.

Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
I don't think I've ever viewed sex as a negative thing.

How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
I don't know if it's changed any opinions. I've learned more about it through the internet though.

Where are you from? (just generally speaking, you don't have to be specific if you don't want)
Texas
Did your parents talk to you about sex?
Somewhat, never seriously.
Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
My parents think I've been having sex since I entered high school, the only thing that's been reinforced is the importance of protection.
If so did or has it affected you in any way?
I'm pretty good about protected sex and I have no interest in having children until I'm 30 (which is what my father has always told me to wait to anyways.) Although I will admit there were a few dumb moments.
How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
A lot.

Same, except Melbourne and my parents still think I'm a virgin. I think.

Where are you from?
England.

Did your parents talk to you about sex?
I think it came up once with my Mom when my brother had a girl that liked him in high school, she just wanted to make sure he knew how to protect himself. My Dad has a more "Do what/who you want as long as you're safe" attitude towards it.

Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
My parents seemed pretty cool with it (see above) and the area I lived in didn't have any specific stigmatisation towards it outside just protecting the children.

How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
It hasn't really changed anything, but it has been a big learning tool on the subject.

Tez, how did I not know you were from England?

I think I brought it up on IRC once or twice and in Bean Bags.

Where are you from?
South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Not too country, not too city.

Did your parents talk to you about sex?
I think my mom once or twice gave me the "be safe" speech. She gave me a bag o' condoms once when I was in high school. We also had sex ed in high school. My parents were divorced, and my dad left most of the real parent stuff to her, while taking care of the money stuff himself. Until I got older, anyway, then my dad showed me how to shave and all that manly stuff.

Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
No, but I personally always felt that other people are way too serious about sex, or make too big a deal about it. Both in the "don't do it until you're married" AND the "have as much as possible" way. I still feel that way, despite being in a 3+ year relationship (and having plenty of sex). I dunno, I guess I never saw the big deal about it, aside from getting pregnant too soon. But that's more about stupid people, and less about sex in general, you know?

How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
Enough, I guess? Not in a good or a bad way, really. Sex on the internet is just kind of ... there.

Where are you from? (just generally speaking, you don't have to be specific if you don't want)
Northwest Indiana, AKA the Steel Belt.

Did your parents talk to you about sex?
Yes, but only out of necessity. I walked in on my half-sister and her boyfriend having sex when I was 4. They told me they were making themselves into a pretzel. When I walked into the kitchen and told Ma... well anyway, she wound up pregnant and they shoved as bunch of of those "So you're a teen mom" pamphlets in my face. Lots of gestation pictures.

Other than that, when I was 16 my half-brother Jim handed me a bunch of condoms and said "don't go stickin' yer dick in the dirt."

Was there any sort of 'stigma' attached to sex? (It's bad/wrong/whatever)
There was this double standard that having sex made you a more manly man, but a slutty, dirty woman. I have always found sex to be a wonderful thing as long as it's consentual and dignified.

I also grew up in the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Hell, when I was a kid, they still called it GRID, and we got all kinds of information concerning STDs and stuff like that. By the time I was in 7th grade sex, homosexuality and IV drug use education and awareness were practically required topics.

If so did or has it affected you in any way?
Yes. Since I am now in charge of 3 girls' lives and am married to a woman who was a molestation victim, I have a dangerous line to dance on. I have to help the wife feel like sex between us married folks is perfectly OK and there's no reason we shouldn't have as much fun with it as we want, while at the same time teaching my daughters that you don't have to give it up just so some boy (or girl) will like you and stay with you. On the other hand, it's not something to be afraid of- it IS enjoyable- but you HAVE to be responsible about it.

How much influence has the internet had on your opinions about sex?
Zero.