Birds do it, bees do it, even hippos do it – so what's the big deal?

Back in the age of chaperones, you absolutely could not lose your virginity until after the wedding. Say that to most high-schoolers today and they will laugh in your face. Sex is a reality, and a pleasant one at that.

Some parents promote abstinence – which is all well and good – but surely they can't mean forever. The day a girl decides to abstain no longer (whether she waited for marriage or not) she risks contagion of human papillomavirus, a major cause of cervical cancer.

Mention Gardasil, a vaccine that inhibits HPV, thus protecting against cancer, and some parents object. Suggest making the vaccine mandatory and they go ballistic.

"It should be a parents' choice," they rail, even though they do not demand that choice for other vaccines against communicable diseases like mumps, chicken pox, whooping cough and polio. Odds are they followed their pediatrician's immunization recommendations, sans questions. Whether the disease was acquired by sharing spit or air, all that mattered was protecting the child.

"The vaccine will promote promiscuity," they argue, even though it is scientifically proven that the whooping cough vaccine does not promote breathing.

"I can't talk to my sixth grade daughter about sex," they wince. Then don't! Just go get her the shots that could save her life.

Our new generation plays fewer games. For the most part they acknowledge they have sex before marriage, and probably with more than one partner. Sadly, we have no vaccine against the deadly AIDS virus, but we can protect our daughters from the leading cause of cancer in women.

And yet, even in this modern day and age, when so many sexually transmitted diseases threaten our children, some parents still cannot talk to them about sex. What is it that makes us more willing to risk their lives than broach the subject of this basic, natural instinct?

Sex is essential to life on this planet. It's about time we just outright acknowledged it. Doesn't it make more sense to educate children about moderation, care, respect, the right time and right place? Would we hesitate to discuss these same qualifiers as they apply to drinking, shopping, even exercise?

Easy for me to say – I don't have a daughter entering sixth-grade, so talking to one about sex is not my problem. But I can assure you that if I did, I would take her to the doctor and get her the three shots of Gardasil.

Why? Because it is the ideal age. Because it is my responsibility to protect her and give her every possible chance in this world. Because I had cervical cancer when I was very young, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone – much less my daughter.

Florida State Rep. Anitere Flores recently blocked a vote that would have made the vaccine mandatory, and thereby covered by insurance and availability to those who cannot afford it.

Open your eyes – and your mind – Ms. Flores. There's New Hampshire, the first state in the nation to approve free distribution of the vaccine; and Australia, which cares enough about its young women to offer the vaccine for free.

It is time for us to grow up and choose life for our children. In the words of R.D. Laing, "Life is a sexually transmitted disease."

And life is good. Particularly, cancerfree.