Teens ARE having Sex & Babies…What’s the Deal?
March 13, 2011 by Admin
Filed under Church, Gospel Today Features, Leaders, The Walk, Youth & Young Adult
Notice these startling statistics:
1. 25 percent of 15-year-old females and about 30 percent of 15-year- old males are sexually active.**
2. By 18 years of age, 66 percent of females and 68 percent of males have engaged in sexual intercourse.**
3. In 2000, among White mothers about 27% of all births were out-of-wedlock, among Hispanic mothers about 43% and Black mothers about 70%.*
4. About 80% of African Americans can expect to spend “a significant†portion of their childhood living without their biological father.*
*from “Father Facts,†Fourth Edition (2002), from the National Fatherhood Initiative. **from Black Women’s Health.com
With statistics like these one may ask the question, “What has been contributing to such a great number of teen pregnancies over the past decade?†Well, there are many influences on our youth that obstruct their ability to make good decisions, namely the lack of quality mentors and role models to help shape their values.
In today’s Internet driven teen culture, decisions are often made based on popularity rather than principle. A study regarding “Teen Role Models†by the Barna Group, a Christian research company, asked a nationwide sampling of teenagers ages 13 to 17, to identify the person whom they admired most as a role model, other than their parents.
One interesting conclusion of the study pointed out “spirituality is only of modest concern to the aspirations of most teens. Teens rarely identified spiritual mentors. Moreover, few teens consider issues of faith, religion or morality when deciding whom they will try to emulate. Even among young Christians, their role models are virtually no different than other teenagers.†This in turn leads to the decay of good Christian values among today’s youth, therefore making sex outside of the marriage covenant acceptable. God, help us to become better examples for our children!
I have deal with youth all of the time from ages 12 and up. As a fourth grade teacher, I have also dealt with very young children starting at age 9. I have seen so much and heard so much with kids, tweens and teens today. I’ve noticed that having babies is like a fad! Everybody is doing it! It’s like what they said in the popular movie, “The Wiz”, “The color is Red ya’ll”! I don’t understand because so many young people take this step and do not realize what a household should have with children. Often we grow up in a household where it is a single parent, (even when two parents are available) children fall into this category. This is the day and age where a couple might be married and they act as though they are single parents because one parent is always absent! I have heard girls say, “I want a baby so I can start a family with my boyfriend, or I want a baby so he will stay with me and won’t leave, or even I want a baby because I want someone to love me”. All things that are lacking in the home. When the father is not around, that girl is looking for someone to love them and give me the respet that they fell they deserve! but, when we are not raised around the ideal family, where the mother has accomplished goals, and the father has accomplished goals, and set goals for their children, how will children know what makes a good parent? Kids do exactly what they see and it is a shame that some young girls dressed and they are mothers is ridiculous! I thank God that I have chosen Planned Parenting. I don’t have an age of when I will marry or have children, it all depends on my financial status, my living arrangements, and what I have to offer my children, so they can go down the path of success. I will not rely on society to raise my children.. often you might here girls say, I am going to have a baby and get on welfare! Huh? We really need to start getting back to the old school of setting a foundation! Young girl/boy, sit down until you are an established woman/man before you bring a child into this world. I guarantee, It will work out for the both of you (child and mother).. when you pass on from this life, you want people to say, “Wow, those are Latisha’s kids! From the life that their mother lived and taught them, I knew that they would come out on top!
My heart ached when I read the statistics of the single African American teen mother. I know it’s not about race, but as an African American myself, I feel compelled to start with my own people. There are so many lessons I think we miss! We are the strong survivors of slavery. It’s on the backs of our people that this country was built (I don’t care what they do or don’t teach you in school)! We have a responsibility to learn who we are and WHOSE we are. By the grace of God, we are a strong, intelligent people, let’s get back to teaching that. YES, we as Christians need to speak up and stop being so fearful! God has not given us the spirit of fear. Living for Christ may not be “popular.” Having moral-christian standards may not be fun and cool all the time, but it’s not about us. If we stand on the Word, live by the Word and stop giving in to the popular norms of our corrupt society, maybe our children will have a fighting chance. Tell our boys to pull up their pants, tell our children to stop marking and piercing their bodies (which belong to the Lord). Tell our daughters not to settle for a man who calls them out of their name or who can’t speak or write a complete sentence. Menoring starts at home, with the parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, etc. Let’s practice what we preach, let’s get back to the WORD of the Lord. Let’s make Him our focus and teach our daughters to be virtuous Godly women! We can start today, we can start now, one fragile heart at a time.
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What’s new! Teens having sex and birthing babies. It’s being reported and tracked now, but back in the day it was not an uncommon thing. Your daddy put a shotgun to that fools head and made you marry the gal, she have 10 more kids and they live miserable thereafter. Being forced to marry. Teens are going to have sex! Educate them or move them to an island by themselves or introduce them to girl sex if you are so worried about pregnancy. We were teens and sex is natural. So don’t beat kids verbally or physically just because they like sex. Teach them! Yes, I know eaiser said then done. Well, that’s life!