Who Teaches Them About Sex?
WHAT joy a new baby brings! Parents rejoice over it, play with it, and tell their friends almost everything it does. But soon they begin to realize that it also brings them major new responsibilities. Not the least of these is the need to teach it to protect itself in an increasingly immoral world.
How can parents help a beloved little one grow into a mature adult who will enjoy a warm and happy family life and perhaps rear God-fearing children of its own? Some parents may view this as an almost overwhelming task, so some suggestions will no doubt be appreciated.
You probably teach your children much the way your parents taught you. But many parents were taught little, if anything, about sex. Even if you were taught well, the world has changed, and so have the needs of children. In addition, many readers of this magazine have adopted higher standards and a better way of life. Thus, you should ask yourself: ‘Has the way that I teach my children kept up with my current views and the growing needs of my children?’
Some parents allow their young ones to pick up such information for themselves. But doing that raises the frightening questions: What will they learn? When? From whom, and under what circumstances?
What the Schools Teach
Many parents say: “Oh, they will learn that in school.” Many schools do teach about sex, but few of them teach about morals. Former U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett said in 1987 that schools display “a conscious aversion to making moral distinctions.”
Tom, the father of two lovely daughters, asked their school’s representative: “Why don’t you just say that sex outside of marriage is wrong?” She said that she would like to say that but that the school cannot offend children’s unmarried mothers and their live-in boyfriends. Thus, schools will tell students that they have choices but will rarely say which choice is right.
‘I’ll Buy a Book’
Other parents may say: “I’ll buy them a book.” Perhaps a good book might help, but you should very carefully make sure that you agree with what it says. Few books on this subject deal with morals or even mention right and wrong. Some actually recommend immoral practices. And it is a rare book indeed that says that sexual activity should be limited to marriage.
Thus, the responsibility for teaching morals to children falls right back where God put it in the first place—on their loving parents. The Bible told fathers: “Inculcate [God’s laws] in your son and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.”—Deuteronomy 6:7.
Actually, parents can be the best teachers of their children. No book or school can ever replace the power of their conviction or of a sound family example. As William Bennett put it: “Studies show that when parents are the main source of sex education, children are less likely to engage in sex. . . . Parents, more than anyone else, make the difference.”
Some parents, however, are afraid that knowledge may lead to experimentation. This obviously depends to a great degree on what is taught and how it is taught. The reality is that young people are going to learn about sex. Is it not far better for them to learn in a correct and dignified manner from moral and loving parents than from someone in the street or the schoolyard or from dirty-minded adults?
But the question remains: How can you teach these things in a godly and respectful way? When young people hear that “everybody’s doing it,” how can you convince them that the best and happiest people are not? How can you help them realize that living by the Bible’s rule to “abstain from fornication” not only leads to the best and happiest lives but is also the only way that pleases God? The following articles will suggest valuable answers to these important questions.—1 Thessalonians 4:3.
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“The values parents instill in their children still seem to be what count most.”—U.S.News & World Report