MADELEINE BERG; Senior, 18, Corona del Mar High School, exchange student from Sweden

I come from a culture where sex is socially accepted, even among teen-agers.

I think that over here, kids are forbidden to have sex, almost even to talk about it, which makes it even more exciting. We have a saying in Sweden: “Forbidden fruit tastes the best.” I think a lot of American kids have sex for all the wrong reasons--either to upset their parents or impress their peers, but not because of love.

If teen-agers are treated as young adults instead of children, they are going to start behaving like that, too. They will realize that sex is something special, and that they should save it for someone they love, and not use it as a weapon against parents or to impress their friends.