A majority of kibbutz youth feels that age 18 is the correct time to begin having sexual relations. This attitude was revealed in a survey of the three main kibbutz organizations, Artzi, Meuchad and Ichud, conducted by the Oranim Kibbutz Research Center in Tivon, Michael Nathan of the research center, reporting at the International Symposium on Sex Education yesterday, said that 60 percent of the 11th and 12th grade boys and 70 percent of the 11th and 12th grade girls favored that age.
However, Dr. Moshe Lancet, head of the Kaplan Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics, told the symposium that “when it comes to sex, Israeli high school students do a lot of talking, but very little else.” Lancet based his remark on a survey he conducted jointly with Sophie Kav-Venaki of Tel Aviv University’s psychology department and Dr. Baruch Modan of the Sheba Medical Center. Their study found that of the 229 high school students surveyed, only 19.4 percent of the boys and 12.7 percent of the girls had had sexual intercourse.
A third survey, conducted by Dr. Zeev Segal of the Haifa Municipality’s Social Welfare Department, revealed that Israeli high school students showed considerable maturity in their thinking about marriage and family planning however romantic and unrealistic they may be about “love.” Segal told the symposium that his survey of Haifa youth showed students believed in “going steady” with several partners before choosing a mate and were against “rushing into marriage.”
The surveys showed that the students considered 20 or 21 the ideal age for girls to marry, and 24 or 25 the ideal age for boys to marry.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
