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Vital to Start Early

YOUNG children have the right to a reasonably thorough explanation of how their bodies work and how to protect themselves from immoral people. But when should the instruction start? Earlier than many realize.

Adolescence begins at puberty, the age at which signs of sexual maturing begin to appear. A girl might first menstruate at the age of 10 or even earlier or as late as 16 or later. A boy might have his first nocturnal emission as early as 11 or 12. Will your children be prepared before that time, say by the age of nine?a Will they also know by that young age the importance of preserving their virginity?

Acquaint Them With Bodily Changes

Your daughter has the right to know the God-​given changes that will occur in her body. A mother might mention her period and let her daughter see what kind of protection she uses. She should explain that these changes are normal body processes. In a very positive way, a mother can explain that her daughter’s body will be preparing itself for the time, years from now, when she may marry and become a mother herself. A mother can explain to her daughter that the body prepares for the baby in the womb a special soft, spongy lining that is rich in blood vessels. When a baby is not conceived, the lining will be cast off and pass through the vagina, and this process is called menstruation.

Similarly, your son should know in advance about nocturnal emissions, or wet dreams. (Deuteronomy 23:10, 11) He should understand that the emission of a slippery liquid, at times when he is dreaming, is merely the body’s way of disposing of accumulated semen. Both your sons and your daughters should know that there is nothing wrong with these changes in their bodies. Their bodies are merely being prepared for possible future marriage and parenthood.b

As parents, you should take these matters seriously, for they are divine matters. And you are the teachers that God has appointed.

What Is Safe Sex?

As the years rush by and your youngsters enter their teens, you must make sure that they know that sex between unmarried people is dangerous, regardless of what they may hear to the contrary. Sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, have become a worldwide plague. Such diseases may cause infertility, birth defects, cancer, and even death. Moreover, they may be transmitted by people who are not even aware that they are infected.

Your children should realize that no method of contraception has proved altogether effective either in preventing pregnancy or in stopping the transmission of disease. In fact, a surprisingly great number of youngsters who employ various forms of contraception become pregnant. And even though condoms are touted as a defense against contracting AIDS from an infected sex partner, The New England Journal of Medicine reported that condoms fail to prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus as often as 17 percent of the time.

Thus, New York Post columnist Ray Kerrison refuted the claim that condoms ‘reduce to a minimum the risk of contracting AIDS’ by writing: “Some minimum. If you put a bullet in a gun, spin the chamber and play Russian roulette, you have a one-​in-​six chance of killing yourself. With a condom, you have almost a one-​in-​five chance of getting AIDS. We are now able to give the condom-​AIDS hoax its real name. It is sexual roulette.”

Your children should know that the solution to the problem of sexually transmitted diseases is simple. It is to accept God’s arrangement for the use of the divine gift of procreation. Indeed, the safe use of your sexuality is within marriage, ideally in a lifelong union with one beloved person who also has had no other sexual partner.

God’s Instructions a Protection

The Bible says: “A man . . . must stick to his wife.” “You must not commit adultery.” “Let fornication . . . not even be mentioned among you.” “No fornicator . . . has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God.”​—Genesis 2:24; Matthew 5:27; Ephesians 5:3, 5.

These instructions are not oppressive. Rather, following them will lead to a happy, close-​knit family. The unborn child will be provided something to which it has a right​—two parents, a mother and a father. Each has different qualities, and each can contribute to the child’s life things that the other does not have.

As parents, both by your teaching and by your example, you must implant Bible-​based principles firmly in your child’s heart and mind. You must build with solid materials​—fire-​resistant ones. As the Bible says: “Each one’s work will become manifest, for the day will show it up, because it will be revealed by means of fire; and the fire itself will prove what sort of work each one’s is.” If you build solidly and your work stands, you will be richly rewarded.​—1 Corinthians 3:13.

But the important question remains: How can you reinforce this training as your children move through their teenage years and toward adulthood?

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Preparing your child for bodily changes is important