Momma don’t let your babies grow up to be gullible

That may sound like a title to a Willie Nelson tune but it is clearly a message that is aimed at nullifying a horny, naive adolescent girl’s misconception of what it takes to get pregnant.

A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant.

In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third said they didn’t use birth control because they didn’t believe they could get pregnant.

What were they thinking, exactly, isn’t clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn’t ask teens to explain their reasoning.

But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn’t get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn’t think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile.  SOURCE

This nation is in trouble if such notions about what it takes or doesn’t take to get pregnant comes from parents, especially mothers.  But what is most likely occurring is that there is either no information about sexual relationships coming from parents or they are only giving scant information found in “abstinence only” instructions which studies show fail to inform teenage girls and boys “about the most basic topics in human sexuality such as puberty, reproductive anatomy, and sexual health.”

In my home state of Texas, the Christian fundamentalist capital of the world, where teen sexual activity is higher than the national average – 52.9% versus 47.8% – it shouldn’t come as a shocker that what sex education is available for teens, 94% of it comes from abstinence-only programs.  The school curricular in Texas omits basic information about sexuality altogether.  That too shouldn’t come as a shocker with a governor who omits factual information about climate change and feels we can pray our way out of years and years of drought.

There is little to no information provided about anatomy and physiology, puberty, menstrual/ovulation cycles, planning of pregnancies, stages of pregnancy, signs and symptoms of STDs, how and where to be tested for STDs, effective methods of preventing pregnancies and STDs, and other related topics.

Many rural school districts where kids are raised on farms rely upon nature’s instruction between the cows and sheep to inform kids about the results of having sex.  In their research on sexuality education in Texas, Dr. David Wiley & Dr. Kelly Wilson from Texas State University-San Marcos, found that at least two central Texas school superintendents reported that “farm animals provide reliable sexuality education for students in [their] district.”

But let’s get back to those explanations some girls gave explaining their deflowering that led to their giving birth to those “baby lambs and calves”.  Without proper knowledge from concerned adults, our daughters are left to the wits of young boys whose hormones are blazing to fend off sexual advances that exist equally strong in young girls.

It doesn’t take much imagination to realize who put some of these absurd notions in their head.  Male teens are just as accountable as girls to prevent teen pregnancies.

A likely scenario that could possibly lead up to such consequences might be where the young girl and her boyfriend are making out in the back seat of his car on Sweetheart’s Ridge.

“Come on Sue.  Let’s me show you how much I REALLY love you”  

“No Peter.  I know when the cows do such stuff on our farm that it usually results in a baby calf.” 

“Awwhh horsefeathers Sue.  That’s because they’re full grown animals.  Girls your age can’t get pregnant the first time they have sex.  Besides it’s the first week of the month and everyone knows girls are sterile during that period of time.” 

“Really?  But momma told me to say no if you made such advances Peter.”

“I’ll buy you an ice cream sandwich afterwards sweetheart”

“Oh Peter.  Take me, I’m yours”

I make light of this subject here but do so to illustrate that there is a mentality out there with some parents that feel if they actually talk to their kids with facts about their sexuality that it will just encourage them to become sexually active.  This might be funny if it weren’t for the fact that teen pregnancies are on the rise in the U.S. for the first time in more than a decade.

We need the parents to quit relying on their children to discover the consequences of sexual intercourse on their own by watching farm animals or through the vague information they receive through abstinence-only programs.  People become sexually active whether we openly discuss it or not.  That’s how we’re wired.  What they don’t always discover until it’s too late are the consequences for responding to that urge unless the adults who brought them into this world start properly and thoroughly educating them.

 

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