Just Say Know

I want to shed some "lyte" on sex education.  Today the National Center for Health Statistics released a study that shows for the second year in a row, the birth rate for girls between the ages of 15 to 19 rose by 1.4%.  Last year the birth rate for the same age group shot up an incredible 3.4%.

I think the jury is in on the effectiveness of "abstinence only" sex education.  A one year rise is an anomaly, two years in a row?  A disturbing trend.  It certainly doesn't help that the teenage daughter of the one the candidates for the vice presidency of this country was pregnant during the campaign.  High profile teen pregnancies like Jamie Lynn Spears have done nothing to discourage teens from having unprotected sex.

I find it amusing and sad that we have no problem with commercials that advertise for erectile dysfunction drugs, but an honest conversation about birth control?  Please, the pill is being marketed to control PMDD, or to clear up your skin.  Not a mention of its true purpose, to prevent pregnancy.  I certainly haven't seen any commercials for the morning-after pill, called Plan B.  Can you image how Focus on the Family would react if it was advertised, say, during the Super Bowl?

Telling teenagers not to have sex is fine, but not informing them about contraceptives is criminal.  And too many parents rely on the school to educate their kids about sex.  Sweet, weeping Jesus, why not just have the school raise them for you?  You should start talking to your kids about sex as soon as they start asking about it.  You don't have to tell them all the details, keep it age appropriate.  If they don't ask, use any teaching opportunity, like, a high profile teenage pregnancy to get the conversation going.  Trust me, they are talking about sex with their friends.  

My husband and I have been debating the whole sex issue since our kids started high school.  I want to give them condoms.  I don't want them to not have them when they need them.  My husband went even further and suggested we put them on the pill.  Even I thought that was too close to giving them tacit permission to have sex.  But I have been talking to my kids about sex for years.  

Look people, it is another bodily function.  You potty-train them, no one farms that chore out.  Think of sex education in the same light.  Take a deep breath, and start the conversation.  Knowledge is power, and we need to empower our kids to make smart decisions.  Just Say Know.