What more can I
say?
As a giver of wisdom, sage of advice, teller of fortunes, I have come
across quite the enigma. What to write about that will appeal and speak to my
peers. Can I keep spouting the same standardized testing nonsense? Of course
not. Should I revert back to the safe yet boring stress editorial? For the sake
of all of our sanity, I will refrain from doing so. What will grab the attention and demand critical thinking from
teenagers? Why, of course! Sex and drugs. How often have we had the
talks about waiting until marriage for sex?
Survey says: every religion
class period. How often do those sink
in? Probably rarely to never. We are teenagers. Our hormones are raging, our bodies are telling us, “Hey! It’s okay to have sex!” but our conscience seems to recall every sex
talk our parents have given us. It’s
quite the dichotomy we have got ourselves trapped in. I’m not here to give you a
talk about abstaining from sex, the Church tells us that enough. I won’t preach to you about waiting until
you are 40 to have it. After all, it is
not our fault that the media has bombarded us with the images of casual sex
being completely normal. In fact, it
seems, that if you are not having casual sex then there is something wrong with
you. This, I believe, is where
the first problem lies. Through the
media we have learned that sex is not only okay, but also necessary, which
makes it awkward to talk about with parents or teachers. Sex has been degraded over the years and has
turned something beautiful into something dirty. Sex is one of the most wonderful expressions of love between two
people and should be reserved as such.
In many cases, sex is either taboo to speak of in the home or at school,
or portrayed as a perverse act of fun and drunken liaisons. Ideally, the world would be
open to talking about such things as sex and drugs so that people could learn
fact from Hollywood fiction. But as a
wise friend once told me, we don’t live in an ideal world. The truth of such a statement rings clearly
in the way the world is portraying itself today. Remember D.A.R.E.
class? Once every week we so eagerly
awaited our appointed officer who then proceeded to tell us not to do drugs
because they were illegal. Never was
there an explanation given as to why they were illegal or what they could
potentially do to your body. A few
years later the D.A.R.E. program was put to an end because there was no show of
decline in drug use among teens. Although it is not only a
police officer’s job to warn kids against drugs; the parents must also provide
advice. An adequate job of helping kids
understand the problems of drug use was never properly produced. To tell a fifth grader that something is bad
and that you are never supposed to do it only makes things more enticing. As they grow older and more
opportunities to partake in drugs reveal themselves, the reason of illegality
no longer seems as threatening as it did in fifth grade and curiosity takes
over. Teenagers are always looking
for a way to push the envelope. Drug
use, naturally, strikes a person as a dangerous and exciting activity. Instead of sheltering one from the dangers
of drugs by turning the station when a show about drug use is on or speaking of
drugs only while in passing, a responsible adult should make the pros and cons
list and discuss it with their child.
This will help eliminate the curiosity and fascination with dangerous
behaviors. Sex and drugs are natural
things to be curious about. Drugs are
around for anyone to get their hands on, especially teens. It’s important to know the dangers of drugs
before making the decision to use them.
This knowledge can only be obtained through education and truthful
discussion by parents and teachers. Sex has become a dirty word
in society, yet accepted as a casual end for the first date. Understanding the powerful emotional
connection with another person before deciding to engage in sexual activity is
the first step to realizing that it is more than something to do and then throw
away. Creating a comfortable environment
to talk freely about the sacredness of expressing one’s love for another though
sexuality is the key element to finding truth in such a polluted world.