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| Jamie Lynn Spears |
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| Jamie and her cute daughter Maddie |
Can we please address the elephant in the room? Should we as a society freely distribute birth control to teenagers? We know that a large majority of teenagers are having sex, but is the answer abstinence or handing out preventive measures? Depends on who you ask. There are some people that feel that teenagers are way too young to be having sex. And then there are others that think that sex is a natural part of life and with their raging hormones who could blame them for wanting to engage in intercourse.
Let me be clear here. I don't under any conditions condone teenage sex. I know that it happens but something about it just doesn't sit right with me. 16 is my opinion is too young. 18 maybe, but anything under 16 is a dangerous and precarious situation. At that young of an age, I don't think teenagers are able to cope with the physical, mental and emotional ramifications of sex. I do however believe that parents should have an open dialogue with their children about sex. The last thing you need as a parent, is one of your child's friend giving bad advice that could end up in heartbreak, pregnancy or an STD. Jamie says she was too embarrassed to ask her doctor for birth control, but my question is: was her mother aware of her daughter's sexual activities? If so, why didn't she address that with her? Or worse yet if Mom had no idea it was going down, why didn't she know? This is why parents should discuss sex with their children.
So you tell me, should teenagers be given birth control? What would you do as a parent?
I am a huge proponent of giving teenagers contraceptives. I think we're kidding ourselves as a society thinking that teens don't have sex. I'd rather open the dialogue instead of let them spread hearsay amongst each other. I'd hope that when I have kids they will wait, but more importantly that they'll know that I will not judge them if they tell me they want to have sex. Condemning teens is why they're not comfortable talking about sex. And getting pregnant or getting a girl pregnant isn't the worse thing that could happen. In comparison, it's a huge blessing. If we open the dialogue, stop the abstinence only nonsense being taught in schools I think we'll make progress. Now I agree, i don't condone teen sex, but it's better to be protected doing it than not.
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