As I was re-reading this post and reading through the comments, it struck me that one of your points sort of got lost: <b>What are we ignoring while we’re in the process of spending so much time and energy focused on these few particular issues?</b>

With so much focus on sex and romantic relationships, there isn't room to focus on other aspects of the conversation. Marriage is so much more than just the sex aspect and by placing so much emphasis on it, we're losing the opportunity to teach the next generation about other qualities that are just as important in a marriage - honesty, love, compassion, understanding, etc. And these are qualities that are valuable in other types of relationships as well (parent/child, siblings, friends, even strangers). 

My take-away from your post, Kristen, is that we should be teaching children to be good people in all kinds of relationships, essentially having a broader view of the issue. Children and teens who are happy and secure in themselves and their lives are less likely to be talked into something they're not comfortable with - whether it's premarital sex or early marriage (and no, I don't have a statistic or reference for that, but it sounds good, doesn't it?).