Sarah Palin and the Teen Sex Question

Sarah Palin's pregnant teen daughter Bristol, has the whole country talking about an issue that has challenged parents and teens for decades. The reaction of the country and of the Republican Party has been mixed with the religious right applauding her intention to marry and some questioning Sarah's choice to run when her family is clearly in need. Others feel that it makes the Palin's seem like any other American family dealing with the issues we all face. The question now is not should teenagers have babies or get pregnant. Bristol is a rare example of a teen who has the love and support of a partner (Levi) and a family. She is blessed and all teens in her situation would be blessed to have the resources and love that she has in her life. The bigger question here is how do we educate our teens about sex, preventing pregnancy, and STD s?

The answer is that we must actually talk about a subject that most of our country shy's away from. We have to start giving our children honest answers to their questions about sex from a young age. I do not believe that telling teens not to have sex or to be abstinent is enough. They need to understand the situations that they will be faced with and have an understanding of the options available to them.

The anti drug movement has made a point of telling kids about situations they may encounter and how to "say no" to drugs. We need to inform teens of the types of situations they may face and how to make an informed decision. For example: You (a teenage girl) are at a gathering of teenagers, a boy you like comes over and starts to kiss you, before you know it he is trying to do more, what do you do? This is not straight forward like drugs, due to the fact that sex unlike drugs is something that we as human beings need to do to insure the survival of our species, at the very least. Sex is a natural, biological imperative. Teens have had sex throughout history and despite the fact that it is risky and dangerous in many ways, teens will continue to engage in sexual behavior.

Parents must find a way to let their teens know how they feel without feeling that they are encouraging them to have sex. Telling teens about birth control, STD s, and situations they may be faced with etc. does not mean that they will chose to have sex. The more information teens and children get from their parents the more they will turn to them for help. When teens feel that parents have their minds made up in one direction or disprove of questions they are more likely to turn to their peers. In this situation if parents try to talk about sex they are likely to get a responses like, "I would never do that!" When in reality "that" (sex) might be exactly what they are doing.

Keeping up the lines of communication and being open and honest when answering your children and teens questions is the best way to reach them, as well as being the best way to combat teen pregnancy and STD s. Most of all we want our children to be emotionally safe and to make decisions they will not regret. Helping them to keep parents and adults as a resource at a time when they typically pull away towards friends can make all the difference.