So in light of my most recent post on the Ashley Madison reveal and the churches inability to provide a positive alternative to the schools sex education (or lack of sex ed). I have been pondering what could we do … when I read this article voicing some of the same concerns and citing a study made of young persons sex debuts and habits:
A recent study about teenage girls and sex revealed that girls are having sex more than ever before—and often rough sex. The article states that oral sex is today what sneaking to have a cigarette was forty years ago. It also reports that boys are trying things they learned or saw in porn and are surprised when girls aren’t into it.
It’s honestly all a bit shocking. What is the world coming to when instead of shaving their legs, middle school girls are getting Brazilian waxes? What is going on when girls don’t value their bodies and their sexuality, and at 11 they are sending nude photos via text message?
Read more of that study here.
Now here are my thoughts:
What if we could own our inability to talk about these issues in our communities and simply starting to talk about it? Not just complaining about how horrible it all is but actually start talking in constructive and positive ways about our own sexuality as adults.
What if we could talk about sexuality without shame around our kids? Not in veiled language or nervous jokes, but as something beautiful and sacred, like we talk about our faith or the importnace of healthy nutrition and exercise.
What if we could start loving ourselves better? So that young people copuld see that we value our lives and our bodies in healthy ways.
What if we could teach our children to love themselves? To love their own bodies, not just with the mind but also physically. What if we could at an early age teach them that their bodies are magical and that pleasure is a beautiful gift that they have been given and that they can give to themselves?
What if the younger generation could learn to love and respect their own and each others bodies as sacred? And learn about trust, communication, consent and boundaries at an early age, before they start exploring the internet and each other.
Maybe we turn the trend around. Maybe we could allow young people to have beautiful and sacred first experiences rather than rushed encounters in a broom closet, car or some other hidden corner of their school. Maybe we could as responsible adults reclaim the role of sexual role models from the porn industry or self educated peers.
