Have been reading a book recently, The Logic of Life by Tim Harford. And no it is not some lame books that tell you how to live your life the way it should be. This book is actually quite cool. It is written from a economist's perspective so it kind of made me think differently, made me think about issues that never occurred to me before.

I was shocked when the introduction was roughly as followed (plus this topic was not mentioned at the back cover):

' ''Parents, brace yourself.'' With those words, Oprah Winfrey introduced America to the shocking news of the tenenage oral sex craze. The America 'blowjob epidemic' has now been addressed everywhere however it is often exaggerated but it's no myth.'

Ok..Just keep reading.

' What are the cost, benefits and likely consequences of a blowjob? Okay, perhaps the benefits are too obvious to be stated, particularly for the recipient. But it should also be obvious that the cost of a close substituition for oral sex has risen; regular sex is more costly than it used to be, because of the spread of HIV/Aids. HIV is much more likely to be spread by regular sex than oral sex. Many teenagers also know of other sexually transmitted disease such as gonorrhoea, an infection that might make a girl infertile if transmitted by penetrative sex but when transmitted by oral sex may have much milder symtoms, such as sore throst. The cost of oral sex are, quite simply, lower then the cost of regular sex.

If teenage girls really do weigh those cost and benefits before going down on their boyfriends, this is a straightforward explanation for the growing popularity of oral sex. Since regualr sex is riskier than it used to be, and since teenagers are unlikely to have given up on the idea of having sex, the rest is basic economics. When the price of Coca-Cola rises, rational people drink more Pepsi.'

Wow!!!!! Need some time to digest the information...

'Perhaps Oprah shouldn't be quite so worried. Oral sex isn't a symptom of more promiscuous teenagers. In fact, it's a sign that teenagers are behaving MORE responsibly, in enthusiastically - and rationally - choosing an alternative to riskier sex.'

BREATHE!!!!

I was just thinking if compromises can be made when debating about teenage sex, in this case from penetrative sex to oral sex. Although it book offers reasonable explanations, I still do not think that we, teenagers, should participate in such activities. Even the thought of it sends shiver down my spine.

After reading it, I kind of sense a tone of hopelessness in getting teenagers to stop sexual activities of all types in America. Maybe America has long given up on telling teenagers to stop these kind of activities and move on to the next stage of protecting teenagers against the possible consequences. I strongly feel that this is one way of life of America that Singapore teenagers should not follow. These stuff takes time to happen so I'm quite sure that our generation wouldn't evolve so quickly but I don't want to spent the later part of my life worrying about what my kids are actually doing in school!