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AreYou
StJre
EVERYBODY'S
DOINGIT?
by
Dexter H. Faulkner
Here's a subject of vital interest to all young people.
~7T'S
going against every–
•• thing I believe in, but
there's still this t hought
in my mind that it's go–
ing to happen , soone r or
later...."
The letter was from an attrac–
tive teenage girl, a subscriber of
the
Plain T ruth
's sister
magazi ne for young people,
Youth 86.
l n spite of the pres–
sures of her friends at school,
t he permissive society we live in
and t he constant bombardment
of immoral te levisio n a nd
movies, she set certain sexual
values and standards for herself.
But now, approaching her mid–
teens, C indy (not her real name)
finds herself weakening. She is
confused and worried about her
fluctuating desires and feelings. Is
she really o ld- fashioned in her
thinking like sorne of the young
men she dates say?
"They expect me to do thi ngs 1
go against. They expect me to go to
bed with them, and when 1 tell
them no, they tell meto grow up."
How would you answer C indy?
I've read and reread her letter and
1 believe there are more Cindys
(and Susies and Tonys and Bi lis)
Aprll 1986
out there, with moral standards
they're having a difficult time up–
holding, than we might think.
Who's Old-fashioned?
Feeling good abou t yourself,
whether maJe or female , and desir–
ing to maintain a certain sense of
self-respect, is not old-fashioned.
That 's a natural and right emotion
for every human being who has
ever been born.
On the other hand, a lack of
concern for others' future sexual
lives is as "old as the hills" too. We
didn't create sex and lovemaking in
the 20th century.
Cindy continues: " As far as get–
ting to do the same things as the
other kids in high school, 1 believe
1 should wait and share my body
with the guy 1 really !ove and
wouldn' t have someone else every
other week. " Very perceptive,
Cindy.
Is what 's going on out there re–
ally !ove, or is it the not-too-clev–
erly disguised counterfeit
lust?
Too
often it's Just- a total lack of real
!ove and concern for another. We
need to get our definitions straight!
Everyone needs to !ove and to be
loved, and not j ust by one's family.
As Cindy matures physically she
realizes that more and more.
"Maybe J'm just lonely. 1 need
someone to hold me.
l
want to feel
like someone really !oves me. And
sometimes parents, family and
fr iends don 't fill that longi'ng.
What should
1
do?"
Cindy is ata turning point in ber
life. She's being pressured into
making decisions that she shouldn't
have to face until
devote my life to." How
many of you teenage
fe llows, whe n you ' re
ready to begin a family
and borne, wouldn ' t
like to meet this gi rl?
.........
:
r. \,
.
:·
¿.
she is out of her
teenage years.
Or have you given
up on there being
any Cindys left?
"Everyone talks
about making
,¡)~"
..
~
!ove, but
it
makes me sick. If they
r eally loved each other, they
But this is the real
world . Yo u you ng
people are being
forced to grow u p
quickly. You're being
expected to make adult
decisions daily, not only
by your friends, but by
adults. Why is Cindy at her tender
age alone with young men so im-
7