I should have changed 'abstinence education' to 'education about abstinence' (as I don't believe in abstinence-only education. People are GOING to have sex; they do have a right to do it safely and minimize their risk of really negative long-term consequences) ... some education that focuses on safe sex neglects to spend time explaining what abstinence means beyond 'abstinence is waiting until marriage to have intercourse' ... which is a lousy and very narrow definition. I think good sex-ed should include both how to be safe if you choose to have sex and how to feel good about a choice not to. It scares me a little that the world has become the sort of place where it is more okay to talk about all sorts of bizarre fetishes than to say 'I'm waiting until x relationship milestone' to have sex. (For the record, I am fine with the discussions of fetishes and so on... I just don't like the pitying 'oh, honey, WHY?' looks and comments that I get when I say that I am waiting until I find someone that I want to marry and who wants to marry me to have sex).

As to the emotional aspects... I think that they vary from person to person. For some people sex and love must go hand in hand or they wind up feeling cheap and dirty, for others, not so much.