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instruction- have no way to
judge the rightness or wrongness
of their own desires or feelings.
In the flow of many interacting
experiences in life, children or
young adults may not even under–
stand how certain feelings or
fears about sex originally began
or how they were communicated
to them.
Spotting Ha rmful lnflue nces
Humans are sexual beings with
developing sexual interests. Si–
lence about sex as well as wrong
social relationships can lead chil–
dren to seek out wrong avenues of
gaining sexual knowledge. Chil–
dren can be forced into learning
about sex from the streets and
peers. They may seek, it through
sexual experimentation or porno–
graphic material.
Few ofuscan totally escape the
influence of permissive, and dam–
aging, sex models and values. They
bombard society from all direc–
tions. The permissive onslaught
continues with heavy emphasis on
erotic themes in movies, music,
magazines, paperbacks and possi–
bly in the loose lifestyles of neigh–
bors or their children. Man:y
bornes are torn by divorce and
family strife. Teaching right val–
ues is then even more difficult.
It is time you took steps to
teach your children right knowl–
edge about sex before wrong
ideas lead them· into harm or
tragedy. This is necessary even if
your borne or life has experienced
unfortunate marital or sexual
experiences in the past.
Sexua l Emancipat ion?
Many assume that we live in an
era of more sexual openness, that
parents are more open and willing
to talk to their children about sex.
That is not true.
A
recent study spent three
years probing the attitudes of
1,400 parents in one Midwest
American city. It found that par–
ents were as ret'icent in talking
about sex as their parents were.
This research study found:
• 85 percent to 95 percent of
parents never mentioned any as–
pect of erotic behavior or its con–
sequences to their offspring.
32
• Parents who did talk
abou~
sex with their children tbought
that one chat was enough.
•
Blac~s
had almost exactly the
same views on sex education as
whites, except that they were
more likely to bring the subject
up with their youngsters,
• Parents seemed confused and
uncertain about sexuality. Many
parents claimed to be waiting for
their offspring to bring questions
to them, But when their cbildren
did, parents often said their own
responses discouraged further
discussion.
• Both mothers and fathers
were about twice as likely to
approve premarital sex for sons as
for daughters.
• Parents supported sex educa–
tion for their children. Eighty
percent believed it should be
taught in the
schools.
Coricluded the researchers:
"In word and action,
the ... parents generally seem to
be repeating a pattern set befare
them by their parents that in–
eludes little, if any, verbal com–
munication about sexuality."
No wonder so many communi–
ties and schools are plagued with
soaring teenage pregnancies and
sexually transmitted d isease. No
wonder so many marriages and
bornes continue to be built on
wrong foundations . Marriages
and frie ndships are being de–
stroyed and undermined with
wrong ideas of proper human and
sexual relatioilships long befare
they are being formed!
Study after study reveals that
many teenagers, college students
and adults are nowhere near as
sophisticated in their sexual
knowledge as they portray to
others. Many possess abysmal
ignorance about their own body.
They are ignorant about the
human relationships that make
for lasting happiness and satisfac–
tion in life. So many are unaware
of the great variety of emotional,
health or disease problems that
could occur from the careless use
of sex.
Here are a few common ideas
reported by counselors who fre–
quently deal with youth sexual
problems:
"You can't get pregnant stand–
ing up." "You don't become
pregnant if you don't !ove the
boy." "You can't get pregnant
'the first time.' " "One of my
mother's pills protects me from
pregnancy and disease.'' "I'm too
young to get pregnant."
Where did young people get
these erroneous ideas? From
other equally uninformed peers?
Many youths (and plenty of
adults too) know that certain sex–
related problems exist, but they
don't believe these problems will
happen to them. Tragedies can
happen to others, but not to
them.
C an S c hool s Su'cceed Whe re
Homes Fa ile d?
It is such ignorance, coupled with
lack of proper sex education in so
many bornes , that has caused
public educators and health offi–
cials to demand that sex educa–
tion courses start in early grades
of public schools.
But what kind of sex education
courses exist in your school? Do
you know? Do you care?
Many parents assume any sex
education by so-called "profes–
sionals" is better than none.
Others are glad the schools are
trying to take the responsibility.
They believe that relieves them of
the responsibility, and sorne par–
ents feel they can blame someone
else if' something goes wrong.
The quality of sex education in
schools- public or other-may
be helpful, informative and well
presented. Or it may be erroneous
and harmful. Maybe it is a mix–
ture of both. Sucb classes often
provoke much controversy.
You may or may not be able to
do something about what is
taught in your child's classes. But
the biggest need is for bornes and
parents to giv.e right examples
and teacbing first.
Sorne states in the United
States require sex education
classes in public schools but most
states do no
u
Yet, because of
soaring sex-related problems
among youtb, many school sys–
tems offer sorne kind of sex
instruction . Canada also is in this
(Continued on page 36)
The
PLAIN TRUTH