Who Is Teaching Your Children the Facts of Life?

by Arlene Allen, National Director

For at least three decades, parents and churches have said they didn't want their children being taught about sex by the public schools; they felt this teaching should be left to the parents and the Church. However, statistics tell us that neither parents nor the Church has done even an average job with this important issue. 

The influence of the culture, combined with less focused and effective parenting by Christians, has produced a generation of young people whose beliefs and values have changed dramatically over the last 20-30 years. 

Today, most children learn about sex from their peers, television, pornographers, and public schools, but not necessarily in that order. Not one of these sources is going to address the spiritual and moral issues of sexuality. 

The following statistics from researcher George Barna indicate the dramatic impact the culture has had on teens: 

• Only 6 percent of teens believe moral truth is absolute.
• 83 percent of teens believe moral truth depends on the circumstances.
• Only 9 percent of born-again teenagers believe in moral absolutes. 

Our teens have grown up in a postmodern culture, producing a generation which is the most sexually active in the industrialized world. 

• American teenagers lead the entire world in unwanted pregnancies (United Nations Children's Fund).
• American teenagers lead the industrialized world in sexually transmitted diseases with 3-4 million new cases reported each year (Kaiser Family Foundation).
• American teenagers are more likely to become pregnant and have multiple partners than any other teenager on the planet (United Nations Children's Fund). 

The Parents First kit is an answer to helping churches prepare parents to comfortably talk to their children about sexuality. The author, Dr. Richard D. Dobbins, PhD, is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God and founder of Emerge Ministries in Akron, Ohio. He has served over 40 years as Christian psychologist. 

Churches can use the kit to help train parents. Every household should purchase the book Teaching Your Children the Truth about Sex to have on hand as an excellent reference book to use from birth through marriage. 

Check out these two amazing resources at http://www.teachthetruthaboutsex.com/ or call 330-715-5127 to place your order.