As a young adult Saint Augustine of Hippo, a victim of his raging hormones, prayed poignantly to God: "Lord, give me chastity," then added, "But not yet."
In our current moral climate, it is difficult to understand the saint's dilemma. Today we take sex for granted as a carefree adventure, to be indulged even before the onset of adolescence. The sole remaining sexual "sin" is unwed pregnancy, for which the routine remedies are contraception or abortion.
In fact, sex among the young is more prevalent, less carefree, and more damaging today than in Augustine's time. In 21st century America one-third of 9th graders are already sexually involved. By the 12th grade, two-thirds of American school children are active. More than 7 percent of boys and girls began sexual relations even before they entered their teen years.
As a consequence, one in four American teenage girls has already contracted at least one sexually transmitted disease and is poised to pass it along to future partners. One in five schoolgirls will become mothers while still in their teens.