Speaking from one who was born in Poland, I can tell you that Polish teenagers are sexually active. Despite the fact that Poland is about 95% Catholic, less than half of the Polish population does not actively exercise Catholicism except for major holidays (i.e. Easter, Christmas, etc).
But back to the topic... the idea that Polish teens don't kiss or hold hands because of shame is not true (at least in my experience). They are no different than that of American and Canadian teenagers. The only major difference I see is that birth control is not promoted so actively as in the States, and even if a couple does desire to practice safe sex, birth control is not so easily available as it is in the U.S. or Canada. There are no Planned Parenthoods to help a teenager out when a condom is needed. My mother explained that birth control is discouraged by the Catholic church as well.
Unfortunately, the lack of instruction on practicing sex safe means more unplanned pregnancies. My brother-in-law's little sister, who is nineteen, got pregnant at eighteen by her boyfriend. They did the "honorable" thing and married late last year. Meanwhile, one of my female cousins also got pregnant a few years back and married as well. Recently, last year, another female cousin of mine got pregnant by her boyfriend. She's twenty-three so not exactly a teenager, but she still lives with her parents and younger brother in addition to her new baby boy. Her two older sisters are living out of wedlock with their partners. Their mother (my aunt) also got pregnant as a teenager out of wedlock with her first child. All these girls live in Poland and are Catholic. Anyone seeing the pattern here? My sister and I constantly joke that we will send each girl a package of Trojan condoms as a Christmas gift.
Teenage sex is not limited to the U.S. European countries such as Poland or Germany or Sweden are not exempt, either. Every country has the same problem.
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