There is surprise today that teenagers in New Zealand are not wild sex addicts drinking and drugging themselves into early deaths. Could it be that women's magazine sponsored research is not reliable (Kiwi girls most promiscuous in the world), or that parental control is still stronger than hoped and all the sex mad break free when they leave home.
However, a third of 12 to 18 year olds being sexually active is still very high, in my opinion. I wonder if there is a breakdown of ages. I tell my boys that they should not be having sex until they are ready to be fathers. Actually, I tell them a lot more than that, the purpose of sex (it is more than just pleasure) and needs to be treated as a sacred activity reserved for marriage only.
That's not what sex education in NZ teaches them. Sex is apparently a fun activity that just needs "protection" to be enjoyed without worry. The assumption being that teenagers are going to do it, so they may as well enjoy it. Can you imagine if the same rationale was being applied to robberies. "Here, we expect you to steal, so when you break into people's houses, make sure you wear gloves and a balaclava."
I have read that young people today are getting more conservative than the generations before them (see Teens tired of liberal parents). I wonder if this is a result of Gen-X parents (like me) who saw the devastation that the Baby Boomers let loose on society and have tightened up their parenting to ensure their children do not make the same mistakes they themselves made.
There is an advantage to teenagers becoming more conservative - teenage pregnancy and abortion rates go down. In the US, the conservative states have lower teenage pregnancy and abortion rates than the liberal ones do (see Teen Pregnancy Is Higher in Red States Than in Blue States).
Which reminds me of a weird conversation I had with some ladies a few years back, all of whom were older than me. They were lamenting how conservative their teenage children were. One lady was trying to convince her 17 year old daughter to lighten up her studies, get a boyfriend and have some FUN. Her daughter was having none of it and her mother was very concerned it would make her girl really boring. My children were still very young at the time (the oldest was about 8 or 9), so my opinion in that group was dismissed out of hand, but I was standing there, shocked, wondering what planet these women had come from. This was years before I became Catholic again.
Now I know that the ladies that I had this conversation with were Baby Boomers (on the younger end), a strange generation that rebelled from their parents apparently restrictive ways and inflicted their liberalism upon the West. Trying to talk to many of them about sexual morality is like banging your head against a brick wall. Result being, we'll be cleaning up their mess for years to come.
Related link: Survey busts myth of teen sex, drugs ~ Stuff
However, a third of 12 to 18 year olds being sexually active is still very high, in my opinion. I wonder if there is a breakdown of ages. I tell my boys that they should not be having sex until they are ready to be fathers. Actually, I tell them a lot more than that, the purpose of sex (it is more than just pleasure) and needs to be treated as a sacred activity reserved for marriage only.
That's not what sex education in NZ teaches them. Sex is apparently a fun activity that just needs "protection" to be enjoyed without worry. The assumption being that teenagers are going to do it, so they may as well enjoy it. Can you imagine if the same rationale was being applied to robberies. "Here, we expect you to steal, so when you break into people's houses, make sure you wear gloves and a balaclava."
I have read that young people today are getting more conservative than the generations before them (see Teens tired of liberal parents). I wonder if this is a result of Gen-X parents (like me) who saw the devastation that the Baby Boomers let loose on society and have tightened up their parenting to ensure their children do not make the same mistakes they themselves made.
There is an advantage to teenagers becoming more conservative - teenage pregnancy and abortion rates go down. In the US, the conservative states have lower teenage pregnancy and abortion rates than the liberal ones do (see Teen Pregnancy Is Higher in Red States Than in Blue States).
Which reminds me of a weird conversation I had with some ladies a few years back, all of whom were older than me. They were lamenting how conservative their teenage children were. One lady was trying to convince her 17 year old daughter to lighten up her studies, get a boyfriend and have some FUN. Her daughter was having none of it and her mother was very concerned it would make her girl really boring. My children were still very young at the time (the oldest was about 8 or 9), so my opinion in that group was dismissed out of hand, but I was standing there, shocked, wondering what planet these women had come from. This was years before I became Catholic again.
Now I know that the ladies that I had this conversation with were Baby Boomers (on the younger end), a strange generation that rebelled from their parents apparently restrictive ways and inflicted their liberalism upon the West. Trying to talk to many of them about sexual morality is like banging your head against a brick wall. Result being, we'll be cleaning up their mess for years to come.
Related link: Survey busts myth of teen sex, drugs ~ Stuff
Good post Lucia. I see the hand of the Lord in these kinds of findings, and have always believed that it will be the children of unbelievers who lead them back to the living Christ. Its not surprising really, it makes me think of articles by people who grew up as children of so-called same-sex couples who are the most fiercest critics of homosexuality. Its the law of reaping what you sow.
ReplyDeleteJJ,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree!
Interesting also how the S59 debate worked too.
ReplyDeleteThe anti-smacking crowd tended to be the older folks who'd had their children, regretted their mistakes and didn't have to live with the reality any more.
Whereas I had one quite young colleague who's position was that he didn't want some punk kid punching him in the face on the street because he couldn't be punished.