Imagine that! More than 9 out of 10 people have...

Cat Herder · Understander of unimportant things

Imagine that! More than 9 out of 10 people have...

arbilad · Head Chef

Cat Herder wrote:

The group that created the data and research don't have an agenda to push now, do they?

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20061219/D8M46H483.html

You mean that you suspect the results of a survey that appear to overwhelmingly support the political position of the organization that paid for the survey? Boy, you are a cynic

bokbadok · Senior Bucketkeeper

Someone born in the 40's & 50's was a teenager/young adult in the 60's and 70's, respectively. Since the 60's and 70's = the Sexual Revolution... Duh! A lot of young people were having premarital sex in the 60's and 70's.

I wonder what kind of results they'd get from people born in the 30's?

rayb · Hot Air Balloon

Babies having babies!? Oh dear!

Cat Herder · Understander of unimportant things

bokbadok wrote:

I wonder what kind of results they'd get from people born in the 30's?

Uh, that data is not available because, ahem, the people from the 30's and before are all dead now, particularly those who didn't get any before they were married...

bokbadok · Senior Bucketkeeper

Cat Herder wrote:

bokbadok wrote:

I wonder what kind of results they'd get from people born in the 30's?

Uh, that data is not available because, ahem, the people from the 30's and before are all dead now, particularly those who didn't get any before they were married...

That's a joke right? There are plenty of people born in the thirties who are alive -- someone born in 1930 would be 76 today.

Cat Herder · Understander of unimportant things

{Foghorn Leghorn} "That Rhode Island Red turned white! Then blue! Rhode Island! Red White and Blue! That's a joke son! A flag waver! You're built too low! The fast ones go right over your head! I keep pitchin'em and you keep missin'em! You gotta keep your eye on the ball! Eye! Ball! Eyeball! I almost had a gag son! Joke that is!"{/Foghorn Leghorn}

rayb · Hot Air Balloon

So if everyone is having premarital sexual relations does this really change anything for you? ANd if so, how?

--Ray

arbilad · Head Chef

rayb wrote:

So if everyone is having premarital sexual relations does this really change anything for you? ANd if so, how?

--Ray

No, it doesn't really change anything for me, and hopefully nothing for my kids.
Somehow, though, I don't believe that 95% of people are having pre-marital sex, even now. Hopefully I'm not naive. I know that even in the church it's a huge problem. There are many unwed mothers, for instance. I know of a few in my ward. One of them is the daughter of a family that we're friendly with.
But the church also raises many chaste young people. I know that our church is not a major portion of the population. But there are other churches that teach that pre-marital sex is wrong too.
I personally think it is another of those made up statistics to prove a political point. For instance, the assertion that 10% of the population is gay. At best estimates, the number is around 1% or 2%. But the 10% is a politically convenient number. Never mind that the study which came up with the number interviewed mostly convicted child molesters and people of that sort.
We're being fed statistics like this to convince us that there's nothing really wrong with pre-marital sex. That is the goal.
But even if it were entirely true, I would hope that my sons would still abstain until they were married, and remain faithful after they were married. Even if 100% of the other kids were doing it. Even if there were a cable TV special mocking my kids by name for being the last remaining kids on Earth who didn't do it, I would still hope that they'd abstain.

Euphrasie · Senior Bucketkeeper

Even if 100% of the other kids were doing it. Even if there were a cable TV special mocking my kids by name for being the last remaining kids on Earth who didn't do it, I would still hope that they'd abstain.

I'm jotting that down in my notebook of Things to Say to the Kids Someday

salesortonscom · Wise and Revered Master

Wickedness never was happiness, even if wickedness is more popular. Disease, unwanted pregnancy, and heartache are the results of not living the law of chastity. I guess 90% of people like being miserable.

rayb · Hot Air Balloon

So is there some way you can fortify your children, knowing that all their peers, at least outside the church intend to entirely abandon chastity?

--Ray

(90% prefer being miserable... hehehe... nice one Jase.)

bokbadok · Senior Bucketkeeper

I think you have to talk about it with them. And more than just the "If you get pregnant I'll kill you" talk (that's the basics I got from my mother).

Age appropriate of course, but you gotta have "the talk" with them at a younger age than you got it. We've talked to our kids about the differences between boys and girls and how babies are made and born starting around 8. If they ask questions earlier, we answer the immediate question without delving beyond what they asked.

With our older girls (14 & 12), I take opportunities to talk about the world's morality compared to our moral code, such as when we see something on TV or a movie that contradicts the way we live, whether it's immodest clothing, premarital sex, etc. I use my own experience as an example of the joy that comes from following the Lord's way rather than the world's way. We talk about liking boys (they are only admiring from afar as of yet), and we've talked about what holding hands or kissing someone means -- that it is a way of showing affection and commitment, and that it isn't honest or wise to do those things "just for fun".

When she approaches dating age -- only a little more than a year away

-- I plan to discuss this kind of thing in greater detail, as needed. We'll talk about how holding hands, hugging, and kissing are designed to lead a man and woman toward sex, the consummate act of commitment. And while it's normal to want to do those things, and that it is good within the marriage covenant, that it is dangerous and destructive to play with emotions (their own and the boys they date) by experimenting. We'll discuss with them, and encourage them to give input, on appropriate limits to physical affection... yada yada yada... I guess we'll just try to be proactive and make sure they don't have vague ideas about what is right and wrong.

In addition, we always require the kids tell us who they're with, where they'll be, and when they'll be back. Other than that and open communication, and all that the prophets have advised (FHE, family scriptures & prayer, etc), I don't know what else to do but pray that they'll make good choices, and that they'll repent before they make big mistakes, 'cause well, everybody makes mistakes.