Teenage Sex

I multi-task in the morning: I read the newspaper, drink coffee, eat breakfast, listen to NPR, and one eye is on the "Today Show." This morning on the "Today Show," Tyra Banks was being interviewed by Matt Lauer, talking about a survey on teenage sex. The statistic: 1 in 5 teenagers is having sex in middle school and high school. Furthermore: on a recent Tyra Banks show, young girls from one of the survey clusters were on television and the majority of the young girls (13-18 y.o.) raised their hands when asked if they are having unprotected sex. Many of these girls already have genital herpes--which is permanent--and one girl has been treated twice for clamydia.

I googled Tyra Banks and came across this link to Cosmo-girl on www.momlogic.com. Click here to find out more.

The reports cite that one of the reasons that so many teenagers are having sex openly in public and private schools is because parents do not talk to their children about sex at home among their family.

In the past week I have heard from members of the church where I work about their "shock and awe" that I posted conversations with my son about sex in high school. We talk about sex in our household a great deal. Why? Because I don't want my son or daughter to have sex unless they are in an intimate and caring relationship, and preferably with the one they are wedded to or in a significant relationship for the rest of their life. As cited in the previous post, we asked my son how high schoolers understand the difference between heterosexual sex and homosexual sex. That post shocked some of the oldest members of the church where I work. Why did it shock them? A hunch: I don't think they've had such open and honest communication with a young person in their lives.

But hear--and read--me out: we are talking about these things not for salacious purposes. We are talking about these things because a previous generation of parents before us failed in their job and role models to talk about all the important things of life: money, power, God, education, music, art, physical education, drama, and sex...to name a few. Having open, loving, healthy conversations with both of my older children is something I cherish because it bodes well that their children will also have open and honest conversations with their children.

To quote Bob Dylan: "Times they are a'changin'."

As for me and my household, to quote Joshua, we shall talk about God, love, and sex.

Pace!

B