The marriage rate

Just about every youth worker I've ever met would agree with this statement: "It's best to not have sex before marriage."It makes sense until you pair it with data from the U.S. Census Bureau. "The average age for first-time brides and grooms is the highest it's ever been: 26.5 years old for brides and 28.7 for grooms." sourceIt makes even less sense when you consider that the age of puberty continues to drop. "At 7 years, 10.4 percent of white, 23.4 percent of black and 14.9 percent of Hispanic girls had enough breast development to be considered at the onset of puberty." sourceSo let me get this correct. A students body is "ready for sex" by, on average, 13 years old. (Most states have statutory rape laws outlawing sex before 16) However, the average person is waiting until their late 20s to get married. And one of our primary messages continues to be that students should wait for sex until marriage?No wonder they  think we're crazy!While I agree, like we all would, that it's best to wait for sex until marriage. It would make sense that we must also argue for early marriage for that to be realistic.It would seem that we, in youth ministry, need to help change some minds. You can't argue both for no sex before marriage and realistically expect a person to wait 15 years. Our bodies just aren't built that way. Instead, more realistically, we need to argue for no sex before marriage and getting married in the early 20s. (Or sooner)What do you think?