Texted Sex Advice for Teens, by Nesta Aharoni
As I was listening to the news and preparing for my workday, I heard a story that aroused my interest. It concerned a sex-advice text line for children between the ages of 14-19. I am all in favor of kids learning about sex–and at a much earlier stage than teenage-hood. But is a sex-advice text line the best place for our youngsters to probe this stimulating topic?
Before I get to my biggest concern about texted sex advice, let me express some preliminary misgivings. 1) Can the counselor who is answering a child’s question be certain of the age of the youngster they are responding to? 2) If a counselor provides more information than a child is ready to take in, could he or she be exposing our kids to potentially dangerous situations? 3) Is it possible that the advice givers have a sexual agenda they are seeking to pass on to our children? 4) Does texted sex advice undercut a parent’s role and rights?
Number 4 is the biggie for me. Although a sex-advice text line may offer some cold, hard, technical facts, it is missing the most important elements of sex education—the morals and responsibilities that must infuse the topic. These missing elements can only be conveyed by committed parents/care givers who are dedicated to raising honorable and responsible children.
Should we teach our soccer-playing children the rules of the game without educating them about such values as effort, fair play, and teamwork? Of course not! Nor should a remote text message be instructing our kids where to put their tongues when they are kissing (an actual text question) without including that family’s standards of respect, honesty, and commitment.
Parents, do your job. Teach your children about sex long before they turn 14. And while you are at it, make sure your child understands your family’s principles of sexual ethics and decency. If you don’t teach sex education to your children, somebody else will. You do all of our sons and daughters a great disservice if a moral code is missing from the mix.