Moms Talk: Parents Who Permit Their Kids to Have Sex at Home

A few weeks ago, Elisabeth Hasselback moderated a segment on "Good Morning America" in which she interiewed parents on whether or not they would allow their teenagers to have sex at home.

I was surprised at the reasons given by those who said yes.

“They’re going to do it anyway.”

“If they’re going to do it, we want it to be in a safe environment.”

My personal favorite comment from a blog that posted the video on its site: “Well, they keep the condoms at the house anyway.”

Many parents keep liquor in the house, too. Does that mean the kids should help themselves to a cocktail when the mood strikes also? I do know that some parents allow underage drinking in the home, and give some of the same reasons: they’re going to do it anyway, so let them drink up at home so that they’re safe.

I understand wanting to keep your kids safe, but letting them have sex in the house? Are you there? Does the child say, “I’m going to need to be alone in the home on Friday from 9 p.m. to midnight?”

There are just too many questions and logistics to be worked out, and who wants their parents in the next room while they -- I can't even finish that sentence.

Teenagers on a separate panel also seemed to think it would be weird for their parents to give them that much freedom.

One young woman felt that the permission would remove her ability to say, “Oh, I can't have sex with you, overzealous boyfriend, because my parents would kill me!”

The other young women agreed that if their boyfriends got wind that their homes were free-sex zones, they would have a hard time saying "no." A young man said he would be distracted while having sex with his parents downstairs in the living room.

I was very disturbed by the mom who seemed to equate “hidden sex” with unsafe sex, or more specifically that the kids would chose unsavory or multiple partners.

She didn’t say anything about teaching her kids to learn how to be good judges of character, or choosing someone who would respect your decision to say "no," which seems to be missing from this conversation. A father on the panel argued that the open-door policy on sex would be more likely to label a child promiscuous than anything else.

What is the line between wanting to keep our kids safe and opening your home as a place for them to make bad decisions?