Teenage pregnancies and the battle to end them...

[popcornbird]

First, I agree with K9soul. There is no need to laugh at anyone else's opinions. We all see things in different ways, in the light of different beliefs. I grew up with a completely different moral upbringing than probably most of you, and thus, see male/female 'friendship'/'excessive socialization' in a completely different way. I have never had a 'boy' friend. I have never excessively socialized with members of the opposite sex after maturity. I have never talked to or socialized with men beyond necessity. I am always covered in modest, loose, long clothing when around men who are not related to me. I am 20 years old, married now, and love my husband tremendously. Honestly, I think the BEST thing that ever happened to me was keeping myself chaste before marriage, and then experiencing love and emotions when it is SERIOUS, and in a committed relationship. I haven't missed out on anything in life by limiting my social activities with members of the opposite sex, covering my body in front of them, etc. As all of you, I am a human being who feels love, emotions, attachment, desires, etc. We all have these feelings. WHY waste these wonderful feelings over men that are not meant for us? Over men that we won't be with for the rest of our lives? Over relationships that come and go? A sexual relationship is *supposed to be* a relationship that is sincere, committed, loving, and one that starts a new family unit. In starting a family, t doesn't HAVE TO mean having kids, but when you get married and have a sincere, committed relationship with the one special person in your life, it is starting a new family of your own, even if it is just the couple. This is such a beautiful, close relationship like no other, and something that should really, be a bond between two people with no fooling around, no cheating, and no 'part time relationships'. A sexual relationship is not supposed to be part-time. Its not supposed to be insincere. Its not supposed to be something that comes and goes with any random person. It is a relationship based on TRUST, LOVE, COMPASSION, UNDERSTANDING, MERCY, SINCERITY, and COMMITMENT between a man and a woman. Its not a game. Its not something to throw away. Gosh, if one fools around with 10 people, and after that, finds the person they will marry, losing your virginity to all those people takes away all the fun and joy that a newly married couple is supposed to experience together. Nothing is more beautiful than a virgin woman and a virgin man coming together in marriage, and experiencing the new relationship together for the very first time. There is no comparing with previous partners. No 'she was more beautiful than you'. No 'he was more fun than you'. Starting together in a committed relationship for the first time is BEAUTIFUL. Throwing away such a wonderful part of human life to someone who doesn't even CARE for you, is well...just ridiculous in my opinion.

Now, I was talking about my feelings based on my beliefs, AND on my experience. I have strong feelings about this mostly because of my religious beliefs, and also from what I have seen in the world. Teenage pregnancies in the old days, in a 'marriage', is something I cannot compare to 'teenage pregnancies' that come from fooling around in insincere relationships. I am not 'for' teenage marriages in today's world...kids are not mature enough AT ALL for that nowadays, but I still think being in a COMMITTED relationship, versus a 'teenage hormonal desire temporary relationship' is much better, despite the age.

Why is it that America is the country where teenage pregnancies are MOST common?? Why isn't it as common in other countries? It is something to think about. Teens in other countries are human beings, just like teens here. They have emotions. They have feelings. They have hormones. They have lust. They have desire. The difference is what is encouraged in other societies, versus what is encouraged here.

For example, around here, kids are ENCOURAGED to go to proms, dance, kiss, hug, and enjoy being with members of the opposite sex. Kids who DON'T go, or don't have a partner to go with are ridiculed, looked upon as losers, and if you're a virgin, of course you're the biggest loser in the world. Several decades ago, it would've been the youngster who was fooling around and lost his/her virginity too early that would be looked down upon, but today, it is the opposite. Why? Why is it encouraged? If you look at the whole picture, there is NOTHING good that comes out of it! For a night of fun, teens today are risking getting pregnant and having a child to care for when they are not ready, won't have the father to help with the upbringing of the child, and certainly, not even stable-minded enough to be a parent. In the end, the person they had 'fun' with isn't a part of their life anymore either. The innocent babies that result from this are so often neglected, or denied the childhood and proper upbringing they deserve. There are exceptions where the grandparents will open their hearts and homes to the child and raise him/her with love, but it is SO common for these children to be neglected. We all know what becomes of neglected children when they grow up.

On top of that, what is better? A night of fun, or a little patience, and then having an entire life of 'fun' with a loving, committed partner? Some of you, or perhaps most of you may think my views on this are a little extreme, but in my opinion, it is just the honest answer to the question of this thread. "Teenage pregnancies and the battle to end them..." What is the 'battle' to end them? The 'battle' that would actually HELP?

In a scenario where a guy and girl are together, doing everything they can together, what else can be expected? Being together causes emotions to rage. Get a guy and a girl together. Have them expose their bodies to each other. Let them kiss and hug each other, dance together, bond together, while other teens are doing the exact same thing around them. The guys find a girl they like and have fun with them, then, later see a girl they think is more 'beautiful' or more 'attractive'. They know they're not in a 'commitment'. They don't really CARE for the girl like she thinks. What happens? They dump her and go for the other girl. When teens are exposed to such situations day and night, WHAT ELSE is to be expected? They are HUMAN BEINGS, and God has made human beings, males and females, to have desires for each other. Sexual education helps with NOTHING. It may help them in 'protecting' themselves and trying to avoid pregnancy, but it does NOT completely PREVENT pregnancy, nor does it discourage kids from having sex. In fact, in my opinion, excessive talking about it ENCOURAGES kids to have sex, and thus, increases the possibility of them having their hearts broken, time after time, without ending in a committed relationship. Girls and guys are naturally attracted to each other. Kind of like a magnet. Opposite poles attract. Likewise, opposite genders attract. To prevent hearts from being crushed, emotions from going out of hand, corruption in society, broken families, parent-less kids, there has to be a limit set to prevent these problems. Other societies don't have much of this problem because they have limits. They have more of a moral upbringing. Sadly, moral values have gone down the drain in our society. Until this problem is cut from the roots, nothing is going to change. This is my honest opinion, and really, I don't care at all if anyone here disagrees with it, or hates it, or laughs at it. The fact is, sometimes the truth hurts, but when you look at our society and compare it to others, it becomes evident what is the problem, and what is the solution. And no, teenage pregnancies are NOT the same ratio today as what they were before. It is far more common. People had moral values in the past. Sadly, moral values are not encouraged anymore. It is situations that cause hormones to rage and desires to peak and problems to result that are encouraged. Very sad state, but sadly, it is true.

You know what? I have NEVER attended a sex ed class. NEVER. I have never (okay, almost never), had a talk with my parents about sex. I have hardly had ANYONE talk to me about it. Yet, I knew about this stuff VERY well I knew exactly what I needed to know. I knew my limits. I knew about protection. I knew who I can be close to and who I can't be close to. I knew how to prevent pregnancy, and also know no forms of BC are a 100% guarantee. I also knew the details of sex, and didn't need anyone to tell me. I have remained a virgin and saved myself for marriage, all of this, without any 'sex ed'. Just because I never talked about this topic, doesn't mean I didn't know. Most teens know even if their families think they don't. Its almost impossible NOT to 'know' these days. Sex education IS important...every kid should know about themselves and how their body works, however, too much of anything is good for nothing. I didn't need excessive 'teaching' in this issue to tell me how to behave. It is the moral values my parents taught me from the beginning that protected me, not explicit sexual education. Very honestly, this is one topic that is rather embarrassing to speak to your parents about. I can talk to them about anything, but this topic? I would've hated if they talked to me about it too openly. I knew what I needed to know. Teens know a lot more than their parents think they do. Even if you keep educating them, trust me, MOST teens already know. They have 'found out' from other sources way before their parents even thought of telling them...even if they don't admit it.

That being said, you are all free to agree to disagree, but as all of you, I too have my right to state my opinion on this matter. Its an open thread, and we all come from different beliefs, so we do have different ways of seeing things. We all have the right to have different beliefs too.