http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=1143988There appears to be a growing acceptance of children being conceived out of wedlock among the nation's youth.
In 2002, 25 percent of teenage males admitted to never having sex, the main reason for abstaining being the possibility of pregnancy. However, the latest figures show that number has dropped to 12 percent. Moreover, more male teenagers agree that it is okay for an unmarried female to have a child. That number rose from 50 percent to 64 percent in 2006-2008.
Jimmy Hester (TLW)Jimmy Hester, co-founder of the True Love Waits program, speculates one of the reasons for this growing acceptance.
"A lot of celebrities...are modeling that kind of behavior, and our teenagers and young adults pay a lot of attention to those people; they are role models," he notes. "And so they're seeing that kind of behavior going on, and I think it's just becoming more acceptable for out-of-wedlock pregnancies to take place."
But Hester points out that Deuteronomy 23:2 instructs otherwise, so he thinks now is more important than ever for role models to be in the home and church.
"Parents...church leaders and other student leaders [need] to really hold up the correct behavior and the ideal response to that -- that it's not okay for out-of-wedlock pregnancy," the True Love Waits co-founder contends. "That's just not an appropriate behavior."
He adds that it is imperative for parents to teach their children the right kind of behavior and to be models within the home. That is why True Love Waits is about to launch a program to encourage parental involvement in their children's chastity.
Topic: Wedlock irrelevant to teens (Read 394 times)