Nice that this was the take-away from that really lovely interview Greta did with her last night. Not that she wished she’d waited TEN years, not that it was so terribly difficult being a mom and a high school student — no, only that ‘abstinence is not very realistic’ given todays high schoolers.
So, I don’t expect a lot of wisdom or clear-thinking from a 17 year old, especially one who is most likely half-crazed from lack of sleep and from being blasted into the next phase of her life so quickly.
I thot that Bristol was well-spoken and thoughtful, very honest and forthright. Amazingly stupid that they focused on this one thing.
My 17 YO Wasilla residing daughter has no trouble with abstinence, and her friends do just fine with that practice also.
We expect that from her, and she’s respected that view. If she didn’t, or something came up (we are talking teenagers here) alternate methods are available in abundance. Gnomeling and I did have a talk after Bristol turned up pregnant, and I just verifed that a trip to the school nurse will yield condoms. Failing that, there is a “hospitality bowl” in the restroom at the Public Health facility.
Gnomeling and Rush both come to the same conclusion-abstinence does work 100% of the time. It’s when you don’t practice it correctly that the problems start.
Time was, when 17-year-old “girls” were women, with husbands, homes, children - and more maturity and responsibility than to be whiling away their young lives at the mall. And “boys” were young men, with skills and trades with which to provide for their wives and families, not stuck in some “school” and herded from class to useless class.
Our modern world concocted this “adolescence” thing out of thin air, thereby artificially prolonging childhood and postponing adulthood well into the 20s (and beyond, for some folks!)
Abstinence ought not to be such a burden on young adults. God (or Nature, if you wish) provided for us a healthy, wholesome, legitimate and honorable outlet for our sexual desires. It’s called marriage, and it doesn’t need to be postponed like we do.