Some frightening facts have been released about the increasing sexual activity among preteen girls.
"Agency counselors throughout the country are overwhelmed by these kids," states Dr. Gerry Oliva, a medical director in San Francisco. Consequently, the agency is developing a special program just for girls nine to twelve who are "sexually active and need advice." The simple fact is this: Telling a girl the facts of life when she's ten or eleven may be too late!
You who are parents need to think it over . . . to come to terms with this business of communicating openly, tactfully, and intelligently with your children in the areas of intimacy. lt's a parental task that must be handled with great care and wisdom—but it must be handled. Obviously, it is not to be directed only toward the girls, but to boys as well. Nor should it be communicated only by mothers, but by both parents. God's beautiful plan regarding conception and birth needs to be shared from a balanced perspective.
Allow me to put the reluctant parent at ease. Questions from your children regarding sex are as normal as questions regarding science or sports or God, for that matter. Questions are invitations to step carefully into your child's private thought world.
God has provided you, parents, with the very best teaching model your child needs: affectionate love between you and your mate. No greater influence can mark your child than an honest, warm relationship between you and your spouse that often expresses itself in kisses, embraces, and tenderness.
But that merely prepares the way. Words must accompany actions. Practical, meaningful, accurate information at appropriate times during your child's growing years is absolutely essential if you want him or her to be intimately healthy, confident, and godly.
Believe me, your youngster will learn about sex. Society offers raw, profane, distorted classes every day. If you ignore it long enough, you won't have to bother with it at all. In bits and pieces, it will take its own shape . . . the wrong shape, possibly resulting in marital misunderstanding or personal tragedy (dare I say perversion) that could have been prevented.
So before you cop out, it might be wise to blow the dust off that old adage. Something about "an ounce of prevention . . . "
Sometimes silence can be deadly.
No greater influence can mark your child than an honest, warm relationship between you and your spouse.
— Charles R. SwindollTweet This
Taken from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.thomasnelson.com
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