Deborah M. Roffman

About the author: Deborah M. Roffman, the author of Sex and Sensibility: The Thinking Parent's Guide to Talking Sense About Sex, is a consultant on human sexuality education for schools in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area.

Teens are becoming sexually active at young ages and many of their parents are surprised at their children's sexual precociousness. American popular culture surrounds children with sexual images and messages that urge teens to become sexually active. Parents need to become aware of the mixed messages their children are receiving and talk to them about their sexual values. Children need and look for guidance, limits, and values from their parents.

Oral sex and middle schoolers, freak dancing among 10-year-olds, allegations of rape by boys as young as 9. And recently a lacrosse...