I picture myself when I was 14 years old. I was at home watching TGIF (Thank God It's Friday!) on the tube and sipping on a nice cold beverage - 7 Up that is!! Now when I look around at the youngsters today, all I see is a bunch of kids standing around the gas bar waiting to get their beer picked up and go up on the hill and see "which guy they can score with tonight. " As frightening as it may sound, this scenario is true in many cases!

It's really sad to think that the youth of today's society is stooping so low that they're out having sex when they should be doing things that 14 year old kids should be doing! It puzzles me though, why this is all of a sudden becoming a present issue in my hometown. Hardly any of the kids in my class, including me, never even went out "over the road" at that age. So why now? Is the media influencing children to have sex? Perhaps their friends? Whatever the reason, it's still solely dependant on how much respect the child has for his/her self, and of course, how much knowledge the child has about sex and related issues. So does this mean sexual education should be more integrated into schools these days - at an earlier age?

Some people fear that teaching their child about sex will invoke them to go out and get a taste of the action anyway. However, some believe that teaching the children about some of the devastating consequences involving sex will steer them clear of it. Either way, they find out about it sooner or later! And nobody can stop them from doing it - not even their parents. BUT, they can help. And if the parents and children have a healthy relationship, the children, in most cases, will listen if they are brought up to know that having sex is something for couples who are ready for it. And I'm pretty sure there's no 14 year old couples out there that is ready for sex!!

I think that children should be well informed of some of the things that can occur from sexual interaction. Everyone of us goes through that stage in our lives - You know the phrase: "Come on, everybody's doing it!". The truth is that these days most people are doing it! But this is why parents should at least try to talk to their children, try to reason with them. I know that it doesn't work in all cases, but it's definitely worth a try!

-J-