Abject failure of Sex Ed

[edwest2]

Before sex education was common in schools, the rumor was that teens needed someone to tell them about sex. Supposedly, parents weren’t doing it. The media cetainly portrayed it that way. The deception that was sold and believed by too many people was, “They’re going to do it anyway, so teach them what they need to know.”

Sound reasonable? To a point. The point being that in the 1960s, the Catholics I knew were told not to have sex until marriage. That was the only appropriate circumstance to have sex with another person. Chastity was valued and encouraged. Actual, non-sexual dating occurred. Chaperones and strictly enforced rules about when to come back home were also there to help teens.

This was distorted by The Pill. The birth control pill. Which, by the end of the 1960s, was the only excuse you needed to have sex with a guy. Now, 1 in 4 teen girls have an STD. Millions of babies have been aborted.

God bless,
Ed

 

[holdencaulfield]

It’s called liberal media. It’s there goal to destroy everything nice in the world. Hope that helps.

 

[dprewett]

I saw tihs in the news to. I am actually surprised it was reported. When I was growing up, one parent taught in the public school system and the other was a psychologist. You can imagin the way my sister and I were raised concerning sex. It was pretty much expected that we would experiment with sex from a young age. My sister was put on birth control at the age of 12 I think and I was given porn magazines and condoms by the time I was 15. Fortunatly I am now married to a wonderfull women that was raised by Catholic parents and has brought me into the church. We are raising our children with much different morals and the threat of VDS is one good reason to tell our children to wait untill marriage. My parents child rearing and lifstyle ended up very disructive, their marriage ended in divorce, my sister is an unwed mother whom at the time any of 5 men could have been the father, and it is still hard to have normal sexual relations after having experimented with sex of every kind. I think parents need to wake up and start parenting or our society is in real danger. Lets pray for the children that now have to live with a disease because society has changed normal God given sexuality into a comodity.

 

[mmm1]

Now, 1 in 4 teen girls have an STD.

God bless,
Ed

I was saddened by this shocking statistic that was revealed this week, too. You guys probably noticed that lots of people in the media are actually blaming this statistc on abstinence education during the Bush administration rather than the more likely factors in your post. So sad.

 

[mmm1]

I saw tihs in the news to. I am actually surprised it was reported. When I was growing up, one parent taught in the public school system and the other was a psychologist. You can imagin the way my sister and I were raised concerning sex. It was pretty much expected that we would experiment with sex from a young age. My sister was put on birth control at the age of 12 I think and I was given porn magazines and condoms by the time I was 15. Fortunatly I am now married to a wonderfull women that was raised by Catholic parents and has brought me into the church. We are raising our children with much different morals and the threat of VDS is one good reason to tell our children to wait untill marriage. My parents child rearing and lifstyle ended up very disructive, their marriage ended in divorce, my sister is an unwed mother whom at the time any of 5 men could have been the father, and it is still hard to have normal sexual relations after having experimented with sex of every kind. I think parents need to wake up and start parenting or our society is in real danger. Lets pray for the children that now have to live with a disease because society has changed normal God given sexuality into a comodity.

Hi, dprewett, & welcome to the forums. Thanks for sharing your experience which really illustrates some of the problems with a really permissive upringing. I’m sorry for the troubles your family has had, & I thank God for the graces He sent you & your beautiful wife who brought you into the Church. God is acting in our world, & I’m sure your life now will have a good effect on your family. God bless!

 

[dprewett]

God is great, After my sister gave birth my wife and I were able to help her through RCIA and she is back in school making straight A’s intead of sex and drugs.

 

[Swan]

While you are correct that the media has a big role in promoting sex (people have sex on first dates on everything from dramas to sitcoms), I think that we need to look at some other things that started happening around the 1960s-70s for additional reasons. I’ve been thinking about this a lot - my best friend and I, both 50, were recently talking about how different kids are not than we were (and we were pretty wild in some ways). I “came of age” in the late 60s, early 70s and when I look back what I remember the most is the Vietnam War - death and destruction broadcast into our living room. And the Cold War was in full swing - constant threat of nuclear anihilation. I think these specters of death being so omnipresent really impacted the psyche of my generation. If we’re going to die anyway (as things seemed to indicate) why wait? Let’s enjoy ourselves now before the nukes get us. I think a lot of it was lost innocent and lost hope due to the world situation, which, because of TV, we now knew all about. And I think this has continued. The world is so much smaller now with the interenet and 200 cable channels. We see the horror, the hopelessness, the famines, the death. I don’t see how this cannot affect our psyches in many negative ways. Young people are more pessimistic, more street wise than they were, and at earlier ages. I’ve seen jaded ten year olds! It’s really tragic and I don’t see anything changing. Of course, many adults are affected as well, so where are the kids going to get their perspective?

 

[mmm1]

While you are correct that the media has a big role in promoting sex (people have sex on first dates on everything from dramas to sitcoms), I think that we need to look at some other things that started happening around the 1960s-70s for additional reasons. I’ve been thinking about this a lot - my best friend and I, both 50, were recently talking about how different kids are not than we were (and we were pretty wild in some ways). I “came of age” in the late 60s, early 70s and when I look back what I remember the most is the Vietnam War - death and destruction broadcast into our living room. And the Cold War was in full swing - constant threat of nuclear anihilation. I think these specters of death being so omnipresent really impacted the psyche of my generation. If we’re going to die anyway (as things seemed to indicate) why wait? Let’s enjoy ourselves now before the nukes get us. I think a lot of it was lost innocent and lost hope due to the world situation, which, because of TV, we now knew all about. And I think this has continued. The world is so much smaller now with the interenet and 200 cable channels. We see the horror, the hopelessness, the famines, the death. I don’t see how this cannot affect our psyches in many negative ways. Young people are more pessimistic, more street wise than they were, and at earlier ages. I’ve seen jaded ten year olds! It’s really tragic and I don’t see anything changing. Of course, many adults are affected as well, so where are the kids going to get their perspective?

Those are some really good points too, Swan. Hopelessness, war & violence can all lead kids to all kinds of risky behavior, even, in extreme situations, terrorism.

 

[mmm1]

God is great, After my sister gave birth my wife and I were able to help her through RCIA and she is back in school making straight A’s intead of sex and drugs.

Oh, gosh that’s awesome. Thanks be to God! I also give her so much credit for giving birth…

I think God will be able to reach a lot of people working through you & your family as you cooperate with Him & His graces.

 

[Swan]

Those are some really good points too, Swan. Hopelessness, war & violence can all lead kids to all kinds of risky behavior, even, in extreme situations, terrorism.

Thanks. I just wish I knew what we could do about it. Kids spend so much time watching TV or on the computer that it is difficult to override their influence.

 

[edwest2]

This is not a viable theory. Many people in my neighborhood were World War II vets. They had seen death and destruction up close. They got married and had families. Went to Church and became contributors to their communities.

The media portrayed a black and white world where evil was not rewarded and where the good guys won. Then, in the 1970s, all the way till today, the line between good and bad was blurred. The Bruce Lee movies had kids walking around with nunchuks and imitating karate moves. Dirty Harry just blew the bad guys away. On TV, J.R. showed how evil people could be.

I grew up in the 1960s and I knew Russian ICBMs could be on their way at any time. I didn’t despair. I went to Catholic school. I was taught about hope and love. Real caring, not the perverted physical stuff.

Then, as the 1960s turned into the 1970s, I saw the poisonous philosophy of the Hippies seeping into my neighborhood. Potheads and kids on welfare. “If it feels good, do it.” Young adults were told not to trust anyone over 30, so they forgot the nuns, the priests and their parents. No one was going to tell them what to do! They were free!!

The so-called sexual revolution was only the “It’s Alright to Have Sex with Anybody” revolution. You’ve got the Pill, man. “Is she on The Pill?”

And some people actually believe that a Pill gives a woman control over her own body? And what about the men? Any self-contol there?

Once God is thrown out as your foundation, the world will present you with all the wrong alternatives. As if the wisdom of the priests and nuns was found wanting. They were wrong and they encouraged others to follow them.

God bless,
Ed

 

[Palomas]

Thanks. I just wish I knew what we could do about it. Kids spend so much time watching TV or on the computer that it is difficult to override their influence.

One way to diminish or eliminate the influence of TV is by not subscribing to cable (at least – just rent DVDs that you would watch where you could view them first before having the kids see them. Or just donate or recycle that ol’ TV and cultivate more traditional forms of entertainment such as board games. Can’t help you out on the computer question, other than getting filters (which I’m sure you already know about anyways); I feel computers are pretty important myself.

 

[dprewett]

No computers in childrens bedrooms. No matter how it looks let them only have accessto a computer in the middle of the living room were you can see what they are doing.

 

[holdencaulfield]

No computers in childrens bedrooms. No matter how it looks let them only have accessto a computer in the middle of the living room were you can see what they are doing.

It’s true, that way it’s impossible for them to do anything. However I think it’s better for your child to learn why pornography is evil, and not you just forcing them not to look at it. I would suggest telling them often about it, and why it’s sinful.

 

[dprewett]

Good point. Tell them why you only let them have a computer in the living room. I love my children and there God given curiosity is wonderfull on a computer that I personally control. you might be amazed that I give my children a lot of room to grow and discover but the e-net is like the wild west and I would not let my children around many of the people that have full access on the computer. I would trust my Daughter on a date with a young man I have met far before giving that same trust to a pediphiles new weapon.

a good parent is