“She’s pretty open. She won’t come home and say, ‘Pops, I had sex last night,’ but she’ll come to me with problems.”
Father of a 16-year-old girl

“My wife handles that.”
father of a 16-year-old girl

“They never are.” father of a
13-year-old boy

“Completely. We’re best friends.”
mother of a 16-year-old girl

If your teen was to have sex, do you think he or she would feel guilty after?
Yes................35
No..................52
Maybe...........10
No answer...3

“If the girl breaks his heart.”
Mother of a 17-year-old boy

“Everybody feels guilty after, but that’s part of life.”
Mother of a 13-year-old girl

“He probably would. I know I did.”
Mother of a 13-year-old boy

Does your teen use the Internet to have sexual relationships with strangers?
Yes..................3
No....................87
Not sure........9
No answer...1

“She only talks to people she knows, but she flirts.”
Father of a 13-year-old girl

“Once, and I took the computer away.”
Mother of an 18-year-old boy

“No, but then again you can never be sure.”
Father of an 18-year-old boy

Additional reporting by Mary Burke, Katie Charles, Renée DeFranco, Daniel Grushkin, Stirling Kelso, Nichole Marks, Suzanne Mozes, Elise Shin, and Bree Sposato.

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Articles by Stacia Thiel
• Table of Contents: November 21, 2005 issue of New York | Subscribe!