Hope for Change
A note from the director of Amplify Youth Development:
Dear Parents,
The statistics do not paint a pretty picture. Neither do the song lyrics of popular songs or the advertisements in department stores. Is it hopeless to believe in change?
Almost a third of teen girls face a pregnancy before they are 20. How is that possible when I had my first kiss when I was 19?! When I was in college, I was deciding if I should pursue graduate school or a career – not thinking about whether to start motherhood.
Now the CDC reports that almost all men and women should expect to get an STD at some point in their life – and for teenagers, most will get their first STD within a year of becoming sexually active. If you are like me, you look at the precious, insecure, developing young men and women in our schools and feel…bewilderment. Are they even enjoying their sexuality (now explored with such a high cost to their well-being) or are they merely living out what they think we expect of them?
They would not be fools to think that they are expected to have sex as teens. On the talk shows adults cry, “They’ll do it anyway! It’s what they do!” In coming-of-age dramas the teenaged characters ask, “Should I lose my virginity to this person?” Where is the question, “Should I lose my virginity now, when I am not married, vulnerable to heartbreak, young and naïve, and unable to care for a child if my birth control fails?”
I look at the messages being communicated to our children and it is little wonder that sexual promiscuity starts so young – and that abortions, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, STD rates, and rates of depression are on the rise in those under 25. And yet here I am, working for an organization committed to teaching teens the value of doing what everyone else says is impossible. We teach the ultimate “You can do it” message for the coming generation: “You can wait to have sex until marriage.” Is change possible? Yes. But someone has to believe it first, and teach it to the next generation.
Who would have thought 30 years ago that smoking would be banned from almost every public building in Illinois? It was unthinkable. Impossible! But it was healthier for everyone, and now smoking is banned – in Illinois and 22 other states. There is no question scientifically that waiting until marriage to have sex leads to a wealth of healthy outcomes. The question is, can you believe it is possible?
I waited. Other Amplify staff over the years have waited or are waiting. It is possible. Change is possible. And I have hope that when our community – our leaders, parents, teachers, and government say together, “You can do it,” the coming generations will listen, will learn to ask the right questions, and will reverse the trends of pregnancy, STDs and depression that now worry us.
Andrea Nelson
A note from the director of Amplify Youth Development:
Dear Parents,
The statistics do not paint a pretty picture. Neither do the song lyrics of popular songs or the advertisements in department stores. Is it hopeless to believe in change?
Almost a third of teen girls face a pregnancy before they are 20. How is that possible when I had my first kiss when I was 19?! When I was in college, I was deciding if I should pursue graduate school or a career – not thinking about whether to start motherhood.
Now the CDC reports that almost all men and women should expect to get an STD at some point in their life – and for teenagers, most will get their first STD within a year of becoming sexually active. If you are like me, you look at the precious, insecure, developing young men and women in our schools and feel…bewilderment. Are they even enjoying their sexuality (now explored with such a high cost to their well-being) or are they merely living out what they think we expect of them?
They would not be fools to think that they are expected to have sex as teens. On the talk shows adults cry, “They’ll do it anyway! It’s what they do!” In coming-of-age dramas the teenaged characters ask, “Should I lose my virginity to this person?” Where is the question, “Should I lose my virginity now, when I am not married, vulnerable to heartbreak, young and naïve, and unable to care for a child if my birth control fails?”
I look at the messages being communicated to our children and it is little wonder that sexual promiscuity starts so young – and that abortions, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, STD rates, and rates of depression are on the rise in those under 25. And yet here I am, working for an organization committed to teaching teens the value of doing what everyone else says is impossible. We teach the ultimate “You can do it” message for the coming generation: “You can wait to have sex until marriage.” Is change possible? Yes. But someone has to believe it first, and teach it to the next generation.
Who would have thought 30 years ago that smoking would be banned from almost every public building in Illinois? It was unthinkable. Impossible! But it was healthier for everyone, and now smoking is banned – in Illinois and 22 other states. There is no question scientifically that waiting until marriage to have sex leads to a wealth of healthy outcomes. The question is, can you believe it is possible?
I waited. Other Amplify staff over the years have waited or are waiting. It is possible. Change is possible. And I have hope that when our community – our leaders, parents, teachers, and government say together, “You can do it,” the coming generations will listen, will learn to ask the right questions, and will reverse the trends of pregnancy, STDs and depression that now worry us. Andrea Nelson
