Not exactly the words you would want to hear from your teenage daughter, no?
It is every parent’s nightmare to learn that your kid is, well, having a kid herself. So as a paranoid parent, what can you do to prevent it? Make your teen wear a chastity belt?
Hold on, before you attempt the extreme (and frustrate your hormonal raged teen), the Christian charity organisation, Focus On The Family has a better solution. The organisation was recently selling purity wristbands in hoping that teenagers see abstinence as ‘cool’. It might not guarantee your teenager his or her virginity but, hey it’s a start. Plus, let’s all applaud the organisation for making the effort despite strong oppositions from their competitors such as…almost everything portrayed on television and the internet.
Basically, the organisation’s stand is to restrain from all forms of sexual acts before marriage and if that is really your personal choice, well, to each his own. However, let’s think about the reality of the situation. The truth is, according to the Durex Global Sex Survey, the average age for a Singaporean to pop his or her cherry is 18. In a survey carried out by the National Youth Council in 2000, 48% of our youth states that sex before marriage is unacceptable. So basically, the majority of teenagers here have a preconceived notion that pre-marital sex is alright. The question here is – are we being realistic by asking them to practice abstinence? With half of teens doing the deed, surely there is a better way teach them about the consequences of pre-marital sex?
Perhaps schools should reevaluate how sex education is being thought. Inform the teens that pre-marital sex is never encouraged, but if they choose to do it, do it safely. As cliché as it may seem, yes it is better to be safe than sorry. Schools may also choose to let the students view abortion videos and photos of people infected by sexual diseases. As graphic as these may seem, it is the hard truth.
More can be done by the government to create awareness about pre-marital sex such as distributing free condoms in areas where there is a high rate of unplanned pregnancies and sexual diseases. This is not to encourage sexual promiscuity but to give those that choose to have sex an option to do it safely.
Let’s face it; there will always be pre-marital sex. It’s a choice made by two people. When teenagers do choose to have sex though, they have to be responsible. The line ‘practise safe sex’ is overused simply because many teens do not put in into practise. Sure, sex is fun, but the unplanned pregnancies, STDs and the loss of self respect are not.
By Nurul Syafiqah
