There are many other concerns about sex at young ages that were - pointedly - not discussed in this "news" report.
If we're going to talk about it, let's talk about it.
I was never aware of "purity" rituals when I was a teenager. Nor was I ready for a sexual relationship at that age. I lucked out. I got to grow up first.
There is no mention here of what happens on the other side of this issue.
The children of more liberal cultures may not have unrealistic notions about purity or the burden of not being pure. They may not have the same sort of "Daddy" issues.
But there's more than one question here. Our society does not formally recognize or support the children of teenagers presented with offspring.
After youngsters engage (with at least tacit approval) in sex and get pregnant, what then?
There is medical proof that the human brain does not fully develop until the mid-to-late twenties.
Is there parental responsibility to help young people have a chance to finish designing a life for themselves before they accidentally become parents before they are no longer children?
I think there is. Are there preventative measures? Of course there are! Pregnancy can be mostly prevented, if precautions are taken.
That's a big if, even with couples over the age of consent. Young people often do not think things through. They do not understand the full ramifications of their choices.
I do not approve of the notion that a woman's body belongs first to her father and then to her husband. Nor do I agree that sex is a fun new toy for entertainment in the teenage years, because teenagers (and adults) do end up unintentionally pregnant.
And so, while one extreme is the Purity Ball, the other is "who takes care of the resultant children?"
Even if a very young father stays engaged in the life of a child, and even if the grandparents step in, it is entirely likely that the child will be the primary responsibility of the very young mother, who has to juggle motherhood with trying to grow up, which is difficult enough without carrying a new baby along with her.
It's not working, folks. Young mothers want to be young. Young fathers are usually not prepared to provide financial support. Babies get shuffled around. The fluidity of their childhood can result in confusion and destructiveness of THEIR growing-up years.
Why are we experiencing really dreadful waves of addiction to really dreadful drugs? How do the children born to addicts fare in their lives?
It's a far bigger issue than "Who gets to have orgasms?" And our care of the self-determination of women has to consider "What happens next?"
We have lost sight of the responsibility for the creation of new life, and the importance of babies being born into a circumstance that allows them, and their young parents, to flourish and succeed.
