Talking to Teens About God's Plan for Sex and Their Lives

Zenit.org ^ | 12-12-03 | Jason and Crystalina Evert

[Salvation]

For your information and comments!!

[Salvation]

** Recently, we were invited to an inner-city public high school, where 72 girls were pregnant on campus. This number did not include the middle school, which brought the total closer to 100.**

These numbers seem huge to me. Or am I just naive?

[Salvation]

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[ex-snook]

Hey folks:
This was sent to me and may be urban legend but there are a lot of 'creative' nuts out there. Teens should be alert.

"Dear Friends: I know not all of you are women that I am sending this to, but I am hoping you will share this with your wives, daughters, mothers, sisters, etc. Our world seems to be getting crazier by the day. Pipe bombs in mailboxes and sickos in parking lots with perfume.

Be careful! I was approached yesterday afternoon around 3:30 pm in the Wal-Mart parking lot at University Drive (Des Moines), by two males, asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. Then they asked if I'd like to sample some fabulous scent they were willing to sell me at a very reasonable rate. I probably would have agreed had I not received an email some weeks ago, warning of a "Wanna smell this perfume?" scam. The men continued to stand between parked cars, I guess to wait for someone else to hit on. I stopped a lady going towards them, pointed at them, and told her about how I was sent a e-mail at work about someone walking up to you at the malls or in parking lots, and asking you to SNIFF PERFUME that they are selling at a cheap price.

THIS IS NOT PERFUME! IT IS ETHER! When you sniff it, you'll pass out. And they'll take your wallet, your valuables, and heaven knows what else. If it were not for this e-mail, I probably would have sniffed the "perfume." But thanks to the generosity of an emailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me. I wanted to do the same for you. "

[Salvation]

**Any sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage is a grave sin.**

Wholehearedly agree!

Abstinance and chastity!

[Salvation]

**When the talk ended, she later told me that she had never felt like she was in a stampede before. She said the teens thundered down the gym bleachers towards her and she threw the cards on the table and literally ran out of the way. The teens cleared out the cards and were nagging the administration because there was none left.**

I have also heard that teens are swinging to the right on all matters of the church: more reverence at Mass, genuflecting, Communion on the tongue, sacred music, etc.

The pendulum of the Catholic Church has swung way over to the left and is coming back to the right. It is a little bit past the center and going further to the right!

[pseudo-justin]

These numbers seem huge to me. Or am I just naive?

I personally know an inner-city high-school teacher who has some horrific stories and heart-wrenching stats.

One-third, yes 1/3, of all of her students have had a father or brother murdered. Many of them have witnessed the shooting before their very eyes.

More than once she has had a student not do homework or zone out in class because the night before he was in the emergency room with a brother or father who had been shot.

More than once has a student been shot and killed (off-campus) in the middle of the school year.

The women's restrooms in the school are guarded by security officers throughout the day because it was becoming very common for males to hide in wait and rape the women who came in.

The hallways of the school are usually filled with the smell of marijuana.

So I do not find these pregnancy stats surprising at all. It is hard for suburbanites even to imagine the depths of the social, intellectual, moral, and spiritual poverty of the urban ghettos.

[Salvation]

These stories are heart breaking!

[Salvation]

Check out the largest growing segment of Catholics right now -- young adults!

I don't have the website right now, but will try to find it.

[polemikos]

I hope you are right, but I just don't see the pendulum swinging to the right. The euphoria after these sex ed talks reminds me of the WWJD craze - short on substance.

Jason is an extraordinarily devout young man. He speaks to 100,000 kids a year, reaching them at their level. The kids come away motivated and spirit-filled. Does it last a life-time? For some I suppose. That a kid might gain enough to hold out for another year is miracle enough. But in a culture of death and sexual permissiveness, these kids are bombarded with evil. The unique combination of the Catholic message plus Jason's delivery is like a one-two punch. For many it is a life-changing experience.

Listen to the talks (available in full length at the "talk" link above.)

[Tax-chick]

Regarding the numbers of pregnant girls, I didn't see any mention of how many students total they had, so there's no way to know what the percentage is. Many urban and suburban high schools have 5000+ students.

I'm always bothered by the "How far can you go?" question, too, and I think many Christian (Catholic or Protestant) speakers on chastity are afraid to give a Godly answer: NO sexual expressions with a person who is not your spouse are appropriate. Indulgence in romance with a person who is not your spouse is not appropriate. Even close emotional intimacy between men and women should be reserved for marriage.

St. Paul says that young men and women should treat each other as brothers and sisters. Now it's true that some families are a little more demonstrative than others, but I would imagine that if every boy or girl asked, "Would I act this way toward my sister/brother?" they'd find that their behavior with the opposite sex is NOT in the way of holiness.

(/grumpy mom rant!)

[polemikos]

Read the testimonials on Jason's page too.
Some of them are about life changes.

[polemikos]

I'm always bothered by the "How far can you go?" question, too, and I think many Christian (Catholic or Protestant) speakers on chastity are afraid to give a Godly answer: NO sexual expressions with a person who is not your spouse are appropriate.

Jason flips the "How far..." question from a negative to a positive by stressing love. If you truly love someone, you want the best for that person, and are willing to sacrifice yourself for that person. Abstinence is about what you can't have. Chastity is about what you can have. With the right frame of reference, the question of "How far..." should never even arise. I know I'm not doing justice to his talk, but I hope I'm getting the basic idea across.

[Tax-chick]

I'll have to look more closely at the details. I'm always interested in suggestions for teaching chastity - both ideas for my own kids, and for something to get other children's attention.

[Conservative til I die]

Not sure what you're talking about, but every neighboring girls' Catholic HS near my school had skirts in the dress code. And we're talking 10-15 schools on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

[Salvation]

**That a kid might gain enough to hold out for another year is miracle enough.**

And this would be an outstanding and noble goal. Any speaker can only hope to influence one person at a time. That's what education is all about!

Have you heard him speak?

[Salvation]

**I'm always interested in suggestions for teaching chastity**

This couple sounds like they would be dynamite speakers!