Teen Pregnancy and Sexual Sanity

image source 

Let me start off by saying that there is nothing wrong with bringing a life into the world in a home full of love and dedication to the thriving support of that life…at any age.But, will Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter’s pregnancy affect your vote? 

And now for the meat:

Remember when the big thing was virginity? And the media fussed and fumbled about Britney and fumed about Christina…now it was up in arms about Miley Cyrus baring her shoulder and a few other choice naughty photos of the Disney Dream Brand. Now Jamie Lynn Spears and Sarah Palin’s daughter are the teens whose sex life is in total focus. What’s the deal with that? And by deal, I mean, it’s fairly obvious that sex and sexuality are a big part of ANY adolescent’s life. After all, the adolescent’s body is raging with hormones that are turning the darlings into fertile men and women. Of course sexuality and to have or not to have questions about sex are a big deal. It’s easy (and fun for a tabloid lover like me) to follow the trends in media coverage of the the Britneys and Jamie Lynns of the world, but dichotomies aside, when adolescence “strikes” your child… think very carefully about what position you want to take.

We know that extreme conservatism breeds a very naughty underbelly (the Victorian Era, hello) and that abstinence-only education still results in over a million teen pregnancies a year and 40 percent of girls will become pregnant before they turn 20. As mothers and future mothers (and especially if you are a person who enjoys this blog), it would do you a world of good to figure out your position…and figure one out that is sexually sane.

1. Be realistic about your teen.

2. Give them balanced information, both about abstinence and sexual activity.

3. Talk to them about the different kinds of intimacies between two loving people.

4. Talk to your teen about what sex means to them and discuss how your teen might handle certain scenarios where the question of sex may arise.