The Talk
The Talk
You, Lord, will guard us; You will protect us from this generation forever. (Ps. 12:7)
My daughter and her friend were carrying on a lively discussion in the back of our car when something they said piqued my interest. Tuning in more carefully, I realized they were talking about a visit from a sex educator in their health class that day. The woman is a local educator who goes to schools throughout the area and teaches a pro-abstinence sex-education curriculum. She had been to my daughter’s Christian school the year before to address her eighth-grade class and had taught an appropriate program. But the things I was hearing from the back of the car seemed questionable.
“Did she actually say that?” I asked my daughter.
“Yes,” she responded. “She wasn’t at all like last year. She still told us we shouldn’t have sex until marriage, but she used some pretty crazy illustrations and words to make her point. We must have gotten the Christian version last year but not this year!”
As much as we try to prevent harmful information or interaction from coming into our children’s lives, parents often find out about destructive influences after the fact. If you discover too late that your child has been exposed to inappropriate teachings about sex, gender orientation, evolution, religion, or any other topic, don’t count it all lost. Ask God for the wisdom to know how to address the topic with your child. Seek Him to know if you need to address those in authority over your child about avoiding similar situations in the future.
Most important, be proactive in teaching your child the facts of life yourself. The Bible makes clear in Deuteronomy 6:6–9 that parents should teach their children to know God and live according to His statutes so they will not fall victim to the worldly teachings around them.