Loss of virginity does not make a kid bad
A study back in February tried to link a cause and effect that the earlier a child lost their virginity, the more likely they were to end up juvenile delinquents. While on a rudimentary level that seems it could be true as an 11-year-old with an active sex life is probably not getting too much in the way of parental guidance, but now it appears to be patently false:
That new analysis, a reworking of the same data the Ohio team used, is one of several recent instances in which a more precise parsing of data has begun to turn longstanding societal presumptions on their head. By bringing evidence to bear on complex social issues, these studies are forcing individuals and policy makers to rethink such hot-button topics as the benefits of breast-feeding, the risks of teen child-bearing and, in the latest example, the harms long presumed to result from teen sex.
Like many of the newer studies, the latest one — led by Paige Harden, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville — uses the powerful techniques of behavioral genetics. The field specializes in studies on twins, which can help tell whether behavioral traits are the result of genes or the social environment and which have periodically stirred controversy when they focused on the genetic underpinnings of criminality and intelligence.
Information from: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/natio...
