US 13-year-olds are actually quite normal: Time poll It might surprise their parents, in the age of graphic lyrics and violent video games, American children entering their teens remain very cautious about sex and dating and still trust their parents and church, according to the newest edition of Time magazine. In a story on the lives and thinking of American 13-year-olds, Time reports that * 60% of the 500 surveyed by the magazine are against sex before marriage, and * 63% believe they are too young to date at their age. The 21-page cover feature characterizes kids at 13 as "backstage adults" in a particularly precarious formative period. "It is the age of childhood leaning forward and adulthood holding back, when the world gets suddenly closer, the colors more vivid, the rules subject to never ending argument," writes Time editor Nancy Gibbs. If anything is surprising in Time's feature, it is how normal and conservative-in a day of provocative music videos, widespread internet access, and lurid cable television shows- today's 13-year-olds are. * 90% of those polled o­n line by the magazine said their relationship with their parents is good or excellent and * o­nly 7% said their parents were too strict. And * 63% consider their religious faith at least somewhat important in their lives. Press Trust of India Posted Aug 01, 2005 - 03:15 PM  Print this story    Email this to a friend