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Danville Enlightener VOL. VIII, No. 48
Zoey is Having a BabyZoey is going to have a baby. No, not the perfect, well-liked and understood virginal teenage girl on “Zoey 101” TV show on Nickelodeon, but the sixteen-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears who portrays Zoey. Jamie is the younger sister of Britney Spears who is no stranger to cultural slime. Now the debate rages as to how best to “spin” this news. Some are saying this provides parents with the opportunity to talk to their children (especially daughters) about teenage sexuality. Scanning the press coverage, however, I find that many parents of preens and teens are not discussing the immorality associated with teenage sex, rather they are discussing the use of contraception. One mother of a sixteen-year-old girl said: “There is no excuse for not using contraception.” In one high school a guidance counselor discussed this with several students around the cafeteria table. A reporter observed: “The consensus around the table was that it was unrealistic to think that 16-year-olds would not have sex, and that someone should have talked to Ms. Spears about contraception.” Nickelodeon, instead of canceling “Zoey 101” and firing Spears, is about to cash in on the whole sordid mess. Linda Ellerbee, formerly of NBC but now along with her husband owns “Lucky Duck Productions” that produces shows for Nickelodeon said this. “I think it’s important that something be done, but I think it’s important that it be done in a measured way, and not just to feed the beast of news stories.” Ellerbee said she’s considering producing a broad discussion about how people know they’re in love, when the right time to have sex is and what are the value systems of their parents and friends. Brace
yourself
because
in
the
coming
weeks
you
are
going
to
hear
about
how
courageous Jamie Lynn Spears is for keeping the baby. There will be absolutely nothing said in condemnation of premarital sex. This is because American culture is permeated with sex. One teenage girl interviewed said: “Now . . . it is my guess that she, along with most teenagers, myself included, did not plan on having children pre-high school graduation. I am not judging her for her choices; I think that it is perfectly acceptable to have premarital sex. The only thing I have to say to Jamie Lynn is that . . . the next time you plan on having sex you should invest in some birth control . . .” Statistics are available on the regularity of teenage sex. Planned Parenthood reports: “Nearly half (46%) of all 15-19-year-olds in the United States have had sex at least once. By age 15, only 13% of teens have ever had sex. However, by the time they reach age 19, seven in 10 teens have engaged in sexual intercourse. Some 13% of females and 15% of males aged 15-19 in 2002 had had sex before age 15, compared with 19% and 21%, respectively, in 1995. The majority (59%) of sexually experienced teen females had a first sexual partner who was 1-3 years their senior.” Does our culture promote such promiscuity or merely reveal it? Without doubt our sex-saturated society promotes such godless behavior seen in the Spears’s sisters and reflected in the Planned Parenthood statistics. How many preens and teens have viewed the PG-13 rated “Juno”? This is a movie about a sixteen-year-old girl becoming pregnant and having the baby, and it is a comedy no less. Roger Ebert, film critic, gives this brief synopsis of Juno. “Ellen Page plays Juno MacGuff, a 16-year-old girl who decides it is time for her to experience sex and enlists her best friend Paulie (Michael Cera) in an experiment he is not too eager to join. Of course she gets pregnant, and after a trip to an abortion clinic that leaves her cold, she decides to have the child. But what to do with it? She believes she’s too young to raise it herself. Her best girlfriend Leah (Olivia Thirby) suggests looking at the ads for adoptive parents in the Penny Saver . . .” Ah, now it’s funny to get pregnant so long as the baby is not killed! Parents who let Nickelodeon or Juno inform young people about sex, moral and values will continue to see a rise in teenage sexual activity. There is a better way. Parents set your preens and teens down and give them the facts of life as revealed in the Word of God. Tell them to “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart,” (2 Tim 2:22). Explain
to
them
that
all
sex
before
marriage
is
sinful.
“Flee
sexual
immorality,”
(1
Cor
6:18).
Let
them
know
they
can
and
must
avoid
all
sex
before
marriage
because
they
belong
to
the
Lord.
“Or
do
you
not
know
that
your
body
is
the
temple
of
the
Holy
Spirit
who
is
in
you,
whom
you
have
from
God,
and
you
are
not
your
own?
For
you
were
bought
at
a
price;
therefore
glorify
God
in
your
body
and
in
your
spirit,
which
are
God’s,”
(1
Cor
6:19-20).
Instill in their minds that virginity is good and it is what God expects and demands of them. Tell them God expects them (male and female) to be virgins when they marry (1 Cor 7:28). Teach them that God has created only one lawful release for the biological impulses that come with maturing—marriage. “Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband,” (1 Cor 7:1). Parents, public school teachers, no matter how well intentioned, cannot do your job. And if you neglect instilling godly values in your children, then they will be taught “values” by the likes of Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears. Yep, Zoey is having a baby – your kids know it, so what do they think about it? Talk to them!
--
jrb
AS I SEE IT |