OK – so now we know. The sexual revolution of the sixties wasn’t the glorious solution to the mythical angst and repression of the fifties that it was purported to be. “Free sex” never really is. Just look back over the decades at the damage that no-strings-attached sex has done to our culture: divorce, abortion, STDs, addictions, depression. Real, physical, emotional, psychological damage.

Many other blogs have discussed Jennifer Moses’ March 19th piece in the Wall Street Journal, “Why Do We Let Them Dress Like That?”. Lamenting the “hooker look” that even pre-preteens are displaying, Moses shared this quote from the mother of two adult daughters:

“If I could do it again, I wouldn’t even have slept with my own husband before marriage. Sex is the most powerful thing there is, and our generation, what did we know?”

Indeed. Speaking of her friends, Moses says:

“I don’t know one of them who doesn’t have feelings of lingering discomfort regarding her own sexual past. And not one woman I’ve ever asked about the subject has said that she wishes she’d ‘experimented’ more.”

Regrets, yeah, we’ve all had a few. So why aren’t we passing on the wisdom we’ve accumulated through our own experience, as well as the sobering statistics about “free sex”, to our children? We barrage kids with messages about the evils of smoking. But sex? Well (shrug), they’re going to do it anyway.

Which is why we get 12-year-olds dressed like hookers. And padded bikini tops for 8-year-olds. And now free condoms for 11-year-olds.

School districts country-wide have banned tag and dodgeball – “in the name of safety”. And now New York state is eliminating freeze tag and whiffle ball from summer camp programs – because they’re too “risky” and “dangerous”. But we’re passing out free condoms to 11-year-olds?

Scapes and bruises and even broken bones heal easily, but a child’s psyche?

Confronted with what’s been billed as a childhood obesity epidemic, we prevent kids from participating in any real physical activity except… sex?! And, at the risk of becoming repetitive, we pass out free condoms to 11-year-olds?! Gee, maybe we can set up little orgy areas on the playground. The 11 year-olds can give the kindergarteners lessons.

Dear Lord, as tough as it is to beat back our sexually-saturated culture, for the sake of our kid’s futures don’t we have to keep fighting? Because once their innocence is gone – they can’t get it back.
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I always want to know the “whys” of a particular social phenomenon. It drives my husband nuts – he says you just have to deal. But if you don’t understand the causes, how can you begin to solve the problem? Innocence Lost by Timothy Birdnow gives some insightful answers about why this sexualization of kids is occurring. And explains why it hurts boys at least as much as girls.

Can anyone tell me, who do we prosecute for the crime of stolen childhood? The angels are weeping.