Donald V. Huard, Ph.D.
Is it safe for a fourteen year-old to drive, so long as he wears a seat belt? Of course not... He should be more mature before his driving is considered safe, whether he is 'protected' or he is not. The same is true with regard to premarital sex for the teen-ager. He shouldn't be told 'if you are going to have sex, do it safely by using 'protection.' For the fourteen year-old, 'safe' sex isn't necessarily so. Only abstinence is.
If parents want more teen-agers to have 'protected' sex, the handing out of condoms and the assurance of increased safety is the way to go. If, on the other hand, a better parental objective is to get fewer (not more) fourteen year-olds to engage in sexual intercourse ('protected' or otherwise), the worst thing that those parents can do is convince the teen-agers that premarital sex is 'safe.' Parents shouldn't be giving teens the means to engage in sex while assuring them that the dangers are eliminated or even significantly reduced!
Protected or otherwise, unmarried teen sex is unwise and risky. It cannot be made 'smart' by using a condom. Premarital sex, just like adulterous sex, is wrong. For unmarried teen-agers, 'protected' sex is not safe...
Only abstinence is.
Donald V. Huard, Ph.D.received an A.A. degree from Phoenix College and a B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. from Arizona State University. He is a U.S. Army Veteran, serving from 1952-54. He was a professor of psychology at Phoenix College for 35 years and retired in 1998. He is married with seven children and 12 grandchildren.
Other books this author has written include: 'Behavioral Statistics' (ISBN 0-8403-7408-9), 'Teen-agers: What Will Cigarettes, Booze, Safe Sex and Drugs Do to You?' (ISBN 0-9661606-0-6) and 'Teen-agers: What Will Cigarettes, Booze and Drugs Do for You?' (ISBN 09661606-1-4).
(From Chapter Three)
Sexual Abstinence or Condom-nation???
To Jake, it seems as though Melissa is dedicating herself to driving him out of his cotton pickin' mind. If only she didn't pour herself into those incredibly bad looking jeans! Man, how he gets turned on when he sees her in those hot lookin’ jeans! She's really something, don't you know, like, what's a guy to think? What's a guy to do?
Melissa is perplexed because Jake always wants to get too close, wanting to do a little more than just huggin' and kissin'. But oh, when Jake gets to doing more than just huggin' and kissin', it's really like, 'Wow!' that's really somethin' else! What's a girl to think? What's a girl to do?
Everybody says, 'Just go for it,' but if you go for it, sometimes you get it. Then you're in a heap of trouble. There's that dilemma, again...
On TV, they just sleep around with everyone, just about any time and anywhere. It's all so romantic and so delicious. No problem, just don't get caught! In real life, it's also romantic and delicious, but by the millions teenagers are getting caught. They are finding themselves in a family way, are getting genital herpes or they contract a serious sexually transmitted disease that can kill them.
Why does Melissa have to be so pretty and why is she so tempting all of the time? Why does Jake have to be so turned on by her all of the time? 'God, she's a doll, ' he says. 'Just can't leave that girl alone.' 'He's a real hunk,' she gushes. 'Nobody should have a body like hers,' he says. 'His boyish grin just takes me apart, ''she sighs. Is it any wonder there’s trouble in River City? What's a couple to do?
Cold showers (alone), picnics (chaperoned) and goofy golf won't cut it. It's going to take more than those things to keep the hormones under control. But then, who wants to keep the hormones under control? Not teen-agers Jake or Melissa. They're too much in love. What they want is to enjoy their relationship to the max...
(59 pages)
