THE VOICE OF REASON

Teen pregnancy here in our quant little corner of the world is my target today, a town where Church is of the utmost importance to most families. Kind of makes ya go humm doesn’t it.
I think that most of my fellow Seymourian’s seem to forget that they too were once teenagers, probably doing the same thing as their teens, having sex. Yet they choose to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that they are raising their kids better than their parents raised them. Telling themselves all along that they are going to keep their teens from doing what they did. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Come on, protect your teens. I strongly urge you to get them on some sort of birth control. Get a grip on the reality of today’s society. They are having sex. They are not going to stop. Have you stopped having sex as adults? No, I think not. Sex is a natural thing that everyone has, and if you’re not having it, I bet you would like to be. Teens are no different, other than to them its still experimentation, even as adults we still experiment from time to time to spice up our sex lives.
What this all boils down to is the simple fact that our teens are having sex, probably lying right though their teeth telling you, “no mommy or daddy, I’m still a virgin I promise” with glowing halos over their little heads. They all know how to play sweet and innocent; they have to learn that game to be able to do what they want without the headache of their parents yelling at them. Whether they go to church or not, they are going to experiment. I am sure that several of you reading this know teens in within your own church that have become pregnant.
I know this is a very church oriented area, but please know that taking your teens to church is not a form of birth control. In fact it breeds a rebellious type of attitude in many teens today. The forbidden fruit is always the tastiest.
Is it worth ruining your teen’s future, trusting their word they aren’t having sex. No, I think not. A lot of these teens actually get pregnant on purpose under the misguided idea that having a baby is fun, or that they are going to keep their boyfriend by getting pregnant. Here in Seymour last year we had dozens of teen pregnancies. To me that is alarming and should serve as a wake up call to all who have a teen at home.
Again at the beginning of this school year there are several teens who have started school already pregnant.
My daughter may also be misguided as a teen and begin having sex at an earlier age then I would prefer. But you know what, she will not get pregnant. She will have a birth control implant or shot so I am in control of her future, not her and an irresponsible act of having sex prematurely. I don’t want to see her not be able to attend college, have a chance at a future in the job market because she made a mistake. And with implanted birth control it covers her for years.
I know a lot of people think that giving them birth control gives them some sort of permission to go ahead and have sex. But here’s another way of looking at it, they may be little angels, maybe not having sex yet. But eventually they will, and who will be in control of their reproductive systems?
Having a baby at a young age shouldn’t be a punishment for having sex as some people seem to think. “Well if you hadn’t had sex then you wouldn’t be having this baby and ruining your life” That is just a terrible way to treat your child.
It’s your responsibility to protect them we don’t call them children for nothing. And ultimately you are the one who failed your child if they get pregnant. Not taking them to the doctor and having them protected by some sort of birth control is just irresponsible parenting.
I don’t feel a bit of compassion for the parent, I hear that a lot, oh her poor parents. Please, it’s the parents fault, I feel for the child who is now having a child because her parents were ignorant. We all started having sex at some point in our lives, or we wouldn’t have so many children running around. They are only doing what is natural. Why look at them as if they did something wrong.
We all want to see our children succeed in life and want the best for them, better than we had. Let’s give them the opportunity at life that we want them to have by keeping them protected even if they are irresponsible.
Teens are irresponsible; every year teens also drink to the extent of having alcohol poisoning. If your teen came home that intoxicated would you have the attitude of “Well if they hadn’t drank so much they wouldn’t be dying of alcohol poisoning? It serves them right.” Or would you rush them to the nearest hospital for a good stomach pumping, praying all the while for God to save your child’s life. That’s just an example of a double standard in my opinion, protecting them from one mistake but not another.
Here’s another one. I am sure that if your child is of driving age you are sure that their car is safe and road worthy. Surely you wouldn’t let your teen drive around town with bald tires for fear that they would have a blow out and an accident. They may think that bald tires are fun because they slide around on the road, not knowing and comprehending the seriousness of the issue. It is our job to make sure they are driving with the safest possible equipment isn’t it? I don’t think a parent in the world would argue with that.
So, why is birth control any different? Parental protection doesn’t apply to just some areas of their lives, does it? Come on people make sure your teens are protected in all aspect of their lives.