Good question Abaddon.
This question came up in our household recently and I had to give some thought as to what I now “believe” and what principles I thought was worth upholding.
First of all, I think that a lot of jw kids are living a double life and this sex thing among them has been going on for a long time (since Adam??) Now, since we are no longer dubs and we want to instill some moral values, I had to question at what time do I let my kids make up their own mind on personal issues. My daughter is in her early twenties and I feel she in an adult and can decide what she wants to do with her life. But it still “bothers” me when she brings her bf home to spend the night. So our house rule is: supportive of her, unconditional love, but not in our house. She is old enough that if she wants to live like an adult then she also has to accept the burden of responsibilities that having her own place to live entails.
I have worked in the medical field for the past 15 years and I can say that talking to your kids in their pre-teen years is when you start addressing the issue of sex, if not before. The statistics show that about half of young teens/middle teens are sexually active. Thus there are half that are not! Remind you kids of that fact, too.
It has been shown that kids who engage in sex early in life are not as responsible to practice safe sex. We are seeing more abnormal pap smears among young girls for the mere fact of the HPV (human papilla virus) is rampant among teens. There are many different strains to this virus but several are known cancer-causing viruses. The most recent conference I went to for OB/Gyn’s stated that if we can get kids to delay becoming sexual active until they are past their teens the rate of HPV falls dramatically, much less the other STDs that are out there and especially the HIV risk factor.
If as a parent you are not comfortable with talking to your young children, or feel you want to be more informed on the subject of safe sex, please go to the local health department. There are plenty of good brochures that explain sex, STDS, pregnancy, etc there to help you. If you don’t think your preteens are not already talking or experimenting with sex, let me help you get your head out of the sand. I have delivered 12-year-old girls of their first baby, and many of 15 year olds with their 3rd. It is not the normal situation, but it is still happening.
The message now a day among the medical community is that it is ok to say no to sex. Because if a condom can fail and get a girl pregnant, you know the viruses that cause STDs cannot be blocked 100% either.
Thanks for letting me add my 2 cents worth!
(This has been a public service announcement!) Hehe
j2bf
