Anne Jarrell

About the author: Anne Jarrell is a former copy editor for the New York Times and reporter/feature writer for the Chicago-Sun Times. Her work has appeared in the North Atlantic Review.

A significant number of children are engaging in sexual activities before they even reach their teenage years. By the time they are teenagers, many of them will have had intercourse. Accompanying the sexual precociousness is a casual and brazen attitude toward sex. Many psychiatrists and psychologists are concerned about the health and emotional ramifications for these adolescents. They maintain that schools should provide not only sex education in earlier grades but forums where youngsters can explore their feelings and discuss the sexual messages promoted in popular culture.

On the Upper West Side of New York City, Dr. Marsha...