Young Sex in Chile

(Santiago, Chile) Last year, a national scandal resulted when a video-hosting web site displayed a clip of "a 14-year-old girl eagerly performing oral sex on a teenage boy" on a Santiago park bench.

About the same time, the public became aware of the sexual awakening occurring in Chile among the nation's yutes, and the incident on the park bench was found to be only a symptom of a general societal trend.

The sexual awakening in the 14 to 18 age group has been attributed to three primary factors, (1) the ouster of dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet leading to the end of strict traditional standards, (2) the explosion of the Internet containing explicit content, and (3) the almost complete lack of sex education in the schools. Frankly, I'd add a fourth -- lack of adult supervision.

More than any other South American country, Chile is connected to the Internet with use highest among the 6 to 17 age group. An industry in under-18 networking sites, featuring photo and video sharing, has grown on the web which enables the youths to meet and plan weekend make out parties.

And the parties are big affairs with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of kids showing up to bump and grind to the music while attempting to make out with as many members of the opposite sex as possible.

At the Bar Urbano disco, boys and girls ages 14 to 18 are stripping off their shirts, revealing bras, tattoos and nipple rings.

The place is a tangle of lips and tongues and hands, all groping and exploring. About 800 teenagers sway and bounce to lyrics imploring them to “Poncea! Poncea!”: make out with as many people as they can.

And make out they do -- with stranger after stranger, vying for the honor of being known as the “ponceo,” the one who pairs up the most.

One 14-year-old girl, Nicole Valenzuela, admitted that everything starts with the kiss and leads to penetration and oral sex. “That’s what’s going on, sometimes even in public places.”

Unfortunately, without adequate sex education, the pregnancy rate among girls under 15 is rising and the threat of an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases lurks.