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Sexual Education
May. 1st, 2006 11:22 pmDo I lose my membership in the Liberal Left-Wing Conspiracy if I admit that I actually think abstinence education for teens can be a positive thing?
I don't advocate abstinence ONLY education, because I think that people should be prepared for risks - and have the knowledge to make decisions fully-informed, even if they choose to make decisions that may harm them.
But when I read through the information on abstinence encouraging websites such as these...
http://projectpledge.org/
http://www.awareprogram.net/index.php?aw1=faq
I have to say that though I may not know about the agendas of the groups promoting them, at least on the surface the things these sites say sound reasonable and useful to a questioning teen.
After all, having sex can be pretty traumatic, can lead to bad stuff. It can also be beautiful, loving, and spiritual. Do I think that sex within a marriage is more likely to have that loving, spiritual dimension? Umm, yes. Do I think that ONLY sex within marriage can have that loving, spiritual dimension? Ummmmm, no.
But I do think that sex within marriage (assuming a good and loving marriage) is more likely to have that dimension than sex within a relationship but outside of marriage. Here's why: sexual contact makes us vulnerable, and marriage offers a greater commitment, which leads to a greater sense of safety. This greater sense of safety allows us to lower more barriers and thus have a sexual relationship that can be more emotional intimate.
I feel weird writing this, but basically these are my thoughts as I try to select some abstinence related links for teens for a website that I'm working on, that has to have some abstinence links. Of course, there are plenty of other abstinence for teens pages out there that repulse me, but not all of them do. I'm not trying to advance an agenda here, just thinking out loud about something where I feel my perspective has been changing over the last few years.
I don't advocate abstinence ONLY education, because I think that people should be prepared for risks - and have the knowledge to make decisions fully-informed, even if they choose to make decisions that may harm them.
But when I read through the information on abstinence encouraging websites such as these...
http://projectpledge.org/
http://www.awareprogram.net/index.php?aw1=faq
I have to say that though I may not know about the agendas of the groups promoting them, at least on the surface the things these sites say sound reasonable and useful to a questioning teen.
After all, having sex can be pretty traumatic, can lead to bad stuff. It can also be beautiful, loving, and spiritual. Do I think that sex within a marriage is more likely to have that loving, spiritual dimension? Umm, yes. Do I think that ONLY sex within marriage can have that loving, spiritual dimension? Ummmmm, no.
But I do think that sex within marriage (assuming a good and loving marriage) is more likely to have that dimension than sex within a relationship but outside of marriage. Here's why: sexual contact makes us vulnerable, and marriage offers a greater commitment, which leads to a greater sense of safety. This greater sense of safety allows us to lower more barriers and thus have a sexual relationship that can be more emotional intimate.
I feel weird writing this, but basically these are my thoughts as I try to select some abstinence related links for teens for a website that I'm working on, that has to have some abstinence links. Of course, there are plenty of other abstinence for teens pages out there that repulse me, but not all of them do. I'm not trying to advance an agenda here, just thinking out loud about something where I feel my perspective has been changing over the last few years.
