De la Salle Lipa College of Education, Arts and Sciences Religious Education and Philosophy Area

Moral Position Paper Kidulthood Movie: Kidulthood

Roy Mikhail V. Galvez L2A Dante Virrey Ilagan

I. Moral Issue: Specific and Particular Issue The issue of good morals among teenagers is nothing to write home about. A lot of them have no moral value due to their exposure to sex and rough life from an early stage. They will do anything to make money before thinking of their health or other things. Some teen age girls in between twelve and eighteen years of age were interviewed in Ijebu Ode, Nigeria. Forty percent of them were already sexually active before age ten, sixty percent of them have had sex for money in the past, ninety percent of them cannot do without sex, only two percent claimed to be virgins. The most alarming issue is that most of them feel that the use of condom would lower their satisfaction and therefore not neccessary. Though these teenagers do not know their HIV status, it is obvious that they are playing with fire and they need a more focused reproductive health education and empowerment. These activities are being hindered by factors like finance, lack of IEC's and human resources. It is recommended that bigger NGO 's should focus on the suburbs to educate the people there, finance health programs, build mission centers and take the battle against HIV/AIDS to the elementary schools. These will enable theses teenagers to develop purpose and abstain from unprotected sex. II. Statement of Specific Moral Problems Increasing numbers of people across the ideological spectrum believe that our society is in deep moral trouble. The disheartening signs are everywhere: the breakdown of the family; the deterioration of civility in everyday life; rampant greed at a time when one in five children is poor; an omnipresent sexual culture that fills our television and movie screens with sleaze, beckoning the young toward sexual activity at ever earlier ages; the enormous betrayal of children through sexual abuse; and the 1992 report of the National Research Council that says the United States is now the most violent of all industrialized nations. According to the United States Bureau of the Census, the percentage of unmarried teenagers who had children climbed from 5.6 percent in 1992 to 6.5 percent in 1994, when 544,000 unmarried teens had given birth (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1995). Consequently, social costs brought from their families are mounting. For example, at least 40 percent of nevermarried mothers receiving the Aid To Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which provides cash assistance to low-income families where one parent is absent or incapacitated or where the primary earner is unemployed, are expected to remain on the rolls for ten years or more. The estimated cost to taxpayers of families begun by teenagers was $29.3 billion in 1991 alone (Society, 1995). Though the cost has a great impact on the nation, it is only a part of the problems brought from teenage sexuality. This research is intended to show risk factors which teenagers are facing concerning premature sexual activities and the consequences biological and psychological. Pregnancy What is cruel for girls is that often pregnancy is a key factor in terminating relationships, as more than 85 percent of all boys who impregnate teenage girls will eventually abandon them (Gordon, 1983-84). Usually, the relationships are terminated, and broken relationships have consequences. These teenage girls can have problems with interpersonal commitment because of their negative experience. Those with one or more broken relationships may build up defenses against being hurt again and protect themselves by becoming involved with multiple sexual partners, by being uncommitted, or by living with a man, unmarried (Vandegaer, 1983). Moreover, those who decide not to engage in sexual activity have the satisfaction of being in control and are free to be more helpful to others, while those who engaged tend to turn inward and think about their own needs and wants. They do not enjoy the same freedom as nonvirginal peers do. They lost control, and this can result in diminished self-esteem (Kennedy, 1991). Parenthood Although pregnancy and child birth for teenagers involve both tangible and potential risks, in some cases, the teenage girl does not receive adequate prenatal care because she is

trying to hide the pregnancy, does not know that special care is needed. Teenagers often do not eat in such away that they and the fetus get proper nutrition. In addition, some teenagers endanger their health and that of their babies by drinking, smoking, or taking other drugs. Lack of prenatal care may lead to toxemia or anemia in the mother and to a higher than normal rate of miscarriage and stillbirth. Younger teenagers are also at risk because their bodies are still developing, and the pregnancy puts a special strain on them. As a consequence, children born to teenagers tend to have low birth weight or be born prematurely, which can result in cerebral palsy, respiratory illness, mental retardation, and other disorders. Also, more babies of teenage mothers die during their first year than do babies of older women. Most teenage girls who become pregnant unexpectedly postpone finishing their education and therefore initially do not have sufficient skills and training to adequately support themselves and their children. If the father of the child is in school, and takes financial responsibility for the child and the mother, he may have to leave school without an adequate education, resulting in low-paying jobs. A teenage pregnancy may result in couples entering an unhappy marriage or in the mothers living alone without help from the babys father. President Clinton in 1995 an address stated; The single biggest social problem in our society may be the growing absence of fathers from their childrens homes because it contributes to so many other social problems. One child in 4 grows up in a fatherless home. Without a father to help guide, without a father to care, without a father to teach boys to be men and to teach girls to expect respect from men, its harder. There are a lot of mothers out there doing a magnificent job alone a magnificent job alone, but it is harder. It is harder. Child abuse is a problem among teenage parents because they tend to lack adequate parenting skills and are under the additional stress caused by poverty and lack of a job or a lowpaying job (The Macmillan Health Encyclopedia, 1993). The Causes of Increase of Teenage Sexual Activity Among high school students, 54 percent (including 61 percent of boys and 48 percent of girls) say they have had sexual intercourse, according to a 1992 Centers for Disease Control study. The number of 9th graders who say they have already had sex is 40 percent (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1992). In a study of 14- to 16- year old teenagers, it was noted that 47 percent of the boys and 65 percent of the girls responded that they engaged in sexual activities even though they did not desire to do so (Hass, 1981). A study of 1,006 teenage girls revealed that 24 percent often felt pressured into participating in sexual behavior because of not knowing how to say no (Nonkin, 1982). In addition, they may engage in sexual activity to gain acceptance in their social groups. As these researches show, in addition to the strong adolescence sex drive, the fear of loneliness makes it difficult for teens to resist the temptation to use another person sexually. Loneliness is one of the biggest problems of adolescents, and the effort to break away from it is a major cause for girls becoming sexually involved. She gives him sex and he gives her companionship, but they both find that the exploitation leads to unhappiness (The Foundation for the Family, 1987). However, there is another reason, which is more essential and led vulnerable adolescents to such a situation, that is, the lost of family values. Kennedy (1991) stated that the breakdown of the American family is thought to be a primary contributing factor in causing premature sexual activity, and the love famine experienced by many teens provokes them into searching for affection and attention outside the family. The leading role of the fundamental change was played by a great conversion of value system in society, which is the emergence of the idea of value-neutral in 1960s. The sex education, as a part of moral education, is one of those which was greatly influenced by the change. In 1940s-50s, in spite of vast cultural change brought from World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War, moral education did not change substantially (Ryan, 1986).

However, it did not take too much time afterward that comprehensive sexuality education, which organized in Sweden in the 1950s, quickly became the mainstream in the Western world (Richard, 1990). Its one of the fundamental premises, which might cause many kinds of problems, is that educators should be value-neutral regarding sex. The idea of valueneutral itself is supposed to be touched off by the two historical events Sputnik shock and Vietnam conflict (Hodge, 1989). Curriculum revision from traditional one to inquiry-oriented, promoted by Russias victorious space launch, and Vietnam conflict caused the fundamental value changes in society. As a result, educators abandoned teaching specific values, and promoted students to decide personal value their own set of values. Value-neural, in this way, spread quickly in society, as well as school. As a result, it did not only establish the new social norm, which allowed free sex, but also led to the collapse of the American family in the name of personal value. III. Moral Context or Given Situation of the Issue The change from child to adult is an especially dangerous time for adolescents in our society. From their earliest years, children watch television shows and movies that insist that sex appeal is a personal quality that people need to develop to the fullest. Teenagers are at risk not only from AIDS and STDs but from this sort of mass-market encouragement. Sexual content is regularly marketed to younger children, pre-teens, and teens and this affects young peoples sexual activity and beliefs about sex. According to the fact sheet, Marketing Sex to Children, from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, children are bombarded with sexual content and messages:

In 2003, 83% of the episodes of the top 20 shows among teen viewers contained some sexual content, including 20% with sexual intercourse 42% of the songs on the top CDs in 1999 contained sexual content 19% included direct descriptions of sexual intercourse On average, music videos contain 93 sexual situations per hour, including eleven hard core scenes depicting behaviors such as intercourse and oral sex Girls who watched more than 14 hours of rap music videos per week were more likely to have multiple sex partners and to be diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease Before parents raised an outcry, Abercrombie and Fitch marketed a line of thong underpants decorated with sexually provocative phrases such as Wink Wink and Eye Candy to 10-year-olds Neilson estimates that 6.6 million children ages 2-11 and 7.3 million teens ages 12-17 watched Justin Timberlake rip open Janet Jacksons bodice during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.

TV, movies, and music are not the only influences the Internet provides teens with seemingly unlimited access to information on sex as well as a steady supply of people willing to talk about sex with them. Teens may feel safe because they can remain anonymous while looking for information on sex. Sexual predators know this and manipulate young people into online relationships and, later, set up a time and place to meet. Teens dont need a sexual predator to introduce them to online pornography. It comes to them through porn spam on their e-mail or by inadvertently clicking on a link to a porn site. Through pornography, young people get a twisted view of what constitutes normal relationships. In fact, pornography is directly related to sexual abuse, rape, and sexual violence. Just as sexual preferences are learned behavior, most or all sexual deviations are also learned behaviors, with pornography having the power of conditioning into sexual deviancy. Pornography can be addictive, with the individual becoming desensitized to soft porn and moving on to dangerous images of bondage, rape, sadomasochism, torture, group sex and violence. At the very least, addiction to pornography destroys relationships by dehumanizing the individual and reducing the capacity to love. At worst, some addicts begin to act out their fantasies by victimizing others, including children and animals.

Teens also have their own cultural beliefs about what is normal sexual behavior. Although most teenage girls believe that sex equals love, other teens especially boys believe that sex is not the ultimate expression of the ultimate commitment, but a casual activity and minimize risks or serious consequences. That is, of course, what they see on TV. The infrequent portrayals of sexual risks on TV, such as disease and pregnancy, trivialize the importance of sexual responsibility. Other misconceptions include: all teens are having sex having sex makes you an adult something is wrong with an older teen (17-19) who is not having sex a girl cant get pregnant if shes menstruating a girl cant get pregnant if its her first time you are a virgin as long as you dont have sexual intercourse oral sex doesnt count Clearly, parents are in a tough spot. But there are some key ideas that help make sense of things. Teenagers should learn the facts about human reproduction, contraception, and sexually transmitted diseases. Of the over 60 million people who have been infected with HIV in the past 20 years, about half became infected between the ages of 15 and 24. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 25% of sexually active teenagers get a sexually transmitted disease (STD) every year, and 80% of infected teens dont even know they have an STD, passing the diseases along to unsuspecting partners. When it comes to AIDS, the data is even more chilling of the new HIV infections each year, about 50% occur in people under the age of 25. Young people need to know that teens who are sexually active and do not consistently use contraceptives will usually become pregnant and have to face potentially life-altering decisions about resolving their pregnancy through abortion, adoption, or parenthood. Health classes and sex education programs in the schools typically present information about the risks of sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy risk, and contraception. However, evidence shows that traditional sex education, as it has been offered in the United States, increases sexual knowledge, but has little or no effect on whether or not teens engage in sex or use contraception. Parents, too, need to know important information, such as the younger the age of first sexual intercourse, the more likely that the experience was coercive, and that forced sexual intercourse is related to long-lasting negative effects. The following is all related to later onset of sexual intercourse: Having better educated parents Supportive family relationships Parental supervision Sexually abstinent friends Good school grades Attending church frequently The challenge for any person is to make sense of facts in ways that are meaningful in life in ways that help them think and make wise choices. Schoolroom lessons leave much to be desired in this regard. Commitments and values differ so widely in society that schools cannot be very thorough or consistent in their treatment of moral issues. According to a growing body of research, parents and religious beliefs are a potent one-two combination when it comes to influencing a teens decisions about whether or not to have sex. Parents can best help their teens from becoming sexually active by:

maintaining a warm and loving relationship with their children letting teens know that they are expected to abstain from sex until marriage

Parents who are involved in their childrens lives, and who confidently transmit their religious and moral values to their children, have the greatest success in preventing risky and immoral behavior. For this reason, it is more important for teenagers to see real-life examples of people who understand and deal responsibly with their sexual natures. Morals are not abstractions. Morals have to do with real-life commitments to people and things that have value. Parents and other influential adults (at school, at church, and in the community) need to show teenagers the difference between devotion and infatuation and help them make the distinction in their own hearts. Teenagers need to understand that satisfying sexual relationships like other relationships require careful thought and wise action. IV. Arguments: Moral Implications Kidulthood, primarily premarital sex is a huge problem in society today. People everywhere are not waiting until they get married to have sex. People having sex today are not aware of the consequences that come with having sex. They just think it is fun and there are nothing other than fun comes with having sex. Some people tend to have a lot of sex. They say they do it for the satisfaction. They believe sex is fun. It is perceived to be a great thing from the time one is young. Going to elementary school kids always talked about the day they were going to have sex. They looked forward to it. Where they got the idea that sex was such a great thing is a question that one must ask? The movies, maybe. The magazines that one sees when digging through the drawers of an older brother, uncle or ones father. Sex is all over society. You can not watch cable television without seeing people kissing intimately, or even having sex. Just because cable does not show full nudity does not make it any better to let an eight year old child watch a television show full of sex. In todays society women are not held to that same standard as men are when it comes to having sex. Now that the reasons people are having sex has been somewhat discussed and is out of the way, let us discuss the consequences that come with having sex, such as A.I.D.S. This is a deadly virus that kills ones immune system. A person never dies from the actual virus. They die from the diseases that they would not have otherwise contracted if they still had a strong immune system. The immune system doesnt die slowly either it take at least five years for the immune system to eventually give out. A person can die from a simple cold if they have contracted the A.I.D.S virus. They cold starts of as a normal one does but it just keeps getting worse and worse. People suffer before they die from this disease. This disease has been responsible for killing millions of people. The way this virus is contracted is through exchange of bodily fluids. Sex is the number one way this virus is spread. What people are not realizing is this disease is deadly and by having premarital sex and not being monogamous they too can contract this disease. People are very aware that this disease is out there but they do not understand that it can affect them. There are lots of other diseases out there other than A.I.D.S that are caused by having sex. Most other sexually transmitted diseases are deadly but they are curable if found before they cause your body damage. Lets not forget how painful these diseases are. All I can say when I think of contracting something as painful as a disease as painful as these have been described is ouch, and keep on pumping! Why would someone even want to take the chance of contracting one of these horrible diseases? Because sex is fun. There is a very simple solution if one would want to avoid contracting one of these horrible diseases. Its just as easy as having sex and not worrying about it.

Lets not forget how bad a reputation could be damaged if people found out that a person had a sexually transmitted disease. They would be laughed at and ridiculed. People would think that a person was dirty if they knew they had diseases. What kind of feeling would a person have knowing that they have a disease that they have contracted through sexual intercourse. Maybe a better question is, what kind of feeling could a person walk into a church with knowing that people know they have a disease that they have contracted while having sex before they were married? The major religious belief in the United States is Christianity. Christianity teaches that having sex before getting married is wrong. Having sex is a sin and when people sin they go to hell. Lots of people have sex with other people just to do it. They dont think of that others feelings. Christianity teaches people to treat others as they would like to be treated. Im sure no person likes getting his or her feelings hurt. People should think about others before they do such things such as use others for sex. Christianity also teaches that lust is a sin. It is one of the seven deadly sins and it should not be taken lightly according to religious teachings. Lust leads to sex, and if sex is taken lightly people more and more people will begin to have children out of wedlock. Pregnancy is also a result of sex. Those who are not married and have children dont only make their own lives harder by burdening themselves financially but they also make it harder for their children to live without both of their parents there for them at all times. In some cases children are left with just one parent and have to grow up the rest of their lives feeling unwanted because their biological father did not stick around. A child cannot comprehend the fact that his or her father just had was with his or her mother to have sex. How could you explain this to a child? You couldnt and if you did there would definitely be something wrong with you. An even worse case is a child who is put up for adoption and wanting to have sex with adults. He or she knows nothing about his or her real parents and is never given the opportunity to be given the love that every child deserves from his or her parents. I believe it would be hard not to know who your parents were. It would kill me to think that I could have had a mother and father like most normal people but parents didnt want me. Sex is not entirely bad. In my opinion, sex should be treated like everything else and be done in moderation. People should learn to understand one another and understand that sex is a big step in relationships. If it were not a big step there would be no point to get married. Why would a person want to buy a used car when they could buy a new car? Sorry that it has to be put that way but that is the harsh reality of it. People who have slept around are not going to have an easy time finding a life mate. Nobody wants somebody who had slept with all of their friends. Why would you? How could you? It would be really awkward having all of my friends standing in my wedding knowing that had all had sex with a person that was going to be my wife in a couple of hours. Hopefully people will begin to look at everything they can lose from having sex before marriage. The same goes for those who can not be monogamous. People should hold themselves to a higher standard. If people had more confidence I believe that they would feel they needed to have sex to impress people or to make people happy. Sex should be a result of love and should have more meaning than it does to some people. The entire point is sex has before marriage has consequences. There are many and Ive only touched based on a few. If I were to go over every reason that sex was wrong the list would never end. V. Norms and Support Basis of My Arguments A. Ethical, Legal and Moral Norms/Principles The Catholic Church teaches that kidulthood, primarily premarital sex is wrong, yet it is still widely practiced around the world. The reason marriage was created was to join two people of the opposite sex together in a holy sacrament that would make the couple one. Gods reason

for marriage is quoted in the bible when he said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh . The Sacrament of marriage is one of the most sacred Sacraments in the Catholic Religion. By performing premarital sex, the couple is breaking a covenant with God and is performing a sin. Marriage is the joining of a couple in the eyes of God and in the eyes of the State. When two people are joined into marriage they become on in flesh and one spirit. Sexual intercourse within marriage is for this reason good and of great blessing both to the couple, to the family and to the church. However, outside of marriage it creates a conflict of body and soul. This conflict may not at first be evident but later it can result it real soul damage occurring between the two people involved. God tells us that we should control out bodies and our lusting, It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in a passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God B. Socio-Cultural and Anthropological Norms I posted a certain question in a forum in the internet about the subject of morality regarding kidulthood, primarily premarital sex, and I just got these answers. "Pre-marital sex is a big NO-NO in our culture for various reasons. While prohibiting sex until one is married has its own merits, one must also consider the fact that in recent times the age in which the men and women are tying the nuptial knots has been slowly on the rise. Early 30s is a common age until which men and women remain un-married due to prevalent socio-economic situation. In light of this, I wonder if Indian values have undergone any changes or do Indians still consider pre-marital sex a sin. Please share your thoughts and views." Pre-marital sex has many forms...from reading novels, stories, watching films (including porno) and also expressing through poems, writings and expressions through sculpture and paintings etc. Even jokes and humor can be counted in this category where dual meaning dialogs seem to fulfill the insatiable desire. True social norms prohibit pre-marital sex and for valid reasons, yet the baser instinct always prevails and people are able to find outlets in various forms. Some may even find refuge in singing devotionals in temples. Not only is the act of sex, but also discussions and conversations about sex, specifically premarital sex are taboo in our society. As difficult as it is, I think its a parents responsibility to inform their children about sexual matters, including diseases, birth control, responsibility and the limits that they see necessary. After those frank and open discussions between parents and children, it then becomes the child's responsibility to act wisely in a situation. As for an age, I personally think that sexual activity should be curtailed until the child becomes an adult at 18. At this time they need to be held responsible for their own actions. C. Medical Norms Obviously, the most common biological risk factor is Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). STDs are infectious diseases spread primarily through sexual contact. They are the most common infections in the United States, affecting an estimated 30 million people (The Macmillan Health Encyclopedia, 1993). STDs include more than 20 diseases, some of which may lead to chronic pain, infertility, heart diseases, arthritis, cancer, birth defects, and even death if left untreated. Though there seems to be some room to be considered in statistics concerning sexuality, shocking reports have been made, such as Newsweek reports that every day 8,219 teenagers are infected with an STD (Newsweek, 1991). Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the most feared of all STDs, which is incurable and fatal at present. In 1993, AIDS killed 28,090 people age 25-44, exceeding accidents as the leading cause of death among young adults (USA TODAY, 1995). Regarding teenagers, Time Magazine reports that the number of cases of AIDS among teenagers doubles every 14 months (Time, 1991). The most effective way to prevent STDs is not to engage in sexual activities, that is, abstinence. Another preventive measure is mutual monogamy (The Macmillan Health Encyclopedia, 1993).

Though much attention has been given to the physical consequences of early sexual activity, such as STDs, little has been said about the emotional and psychological impact. "The high probability of emotional soars, guilt, confusion about self and others make sexual activity a high-risk proposition for both boys and girls" (Search Institute Source, 1988). Some researches show the association of premature sexual activity with other, nonsexual, psychosocial risk factors. Orr, Beiter and Ingersoll examined the strength of association of coital status with other risk behaviors and feelings of 1,504 junior high school students. According to their research, nonvirginal boys and girls were significantly more likely than their virginal cohorts to engage in other activities considered risky. Nonvirginal boys were at 3.8 times the risk of virginal boys (odds ratios) for smoking cigarettes, 6.3 times greater risk for ever having used alcohol, and 9.7 times greater risk for having ridden with a drug-using driver. The corresponding ratios were larger for girls, with relative risks of 7.2 for smoking and 10.4 for use of marijuana. Sexually experienced boys and girls had significantly greater risk for running away (2.7 for boys, 17.9 for girls), legal difficulties (3.6 for boys, 9.2 for girls), thoughts of dropping out of school (6.7 for boys, 4.2 for girls), and school suspensions (7.0 for boys, 5.1 for girls). Nonvirginal boys were not at greater emotional risk, but the ratios for nonvirginal girls were higher for feeling tense (3.1), upset (1.8) and lonely (2.1) and for reports of difficulty sleeping (2.2) and suicidal behaviors (6.3) (Orr, Beiter and Ingersoll, 1991). Another study also shows that childhood sexual intercourse is associated with several potentially serious indicators of distress and health-compromising behaviors among the young, such as lower academic performance, gang involvement, unprotected and more frequent sexual intercourse, pregnancy, emotional distress, and suicidal involvement (Resnick & Blum, 1994). Though these researches are not suggesting that premature sexual experience is a cause or leads to the other negative behaviors, they should be paid more attention to by educators. D. Ecclesial Norms By performing premarital sex we are abusing our bodies and our souls. The pain that premarital sex puts on us is very evident. Physically premarital sex can lead to many things, such as pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other things that accompany premarital sex. Mentally premarital sex also hurts. Our bond with God is ruined, we lose contact with God and we are no longer part of the Church. Premarital sex goes against Gods law so our relationship with God is destroyed. Penance can heal our relationship with God, but the emotional ties that go along with premarital sex can hurt a person for life. Many couples that have premarital sex often do not stay together in marriage. Many people have strong emotional hardships that they go through after having premarital sex. Premarital sex doesnt just lead to sin; it leads to a separation of God and your family and friends. Sex is the sacred sigh of the covenant with God, when a couple has sex they are sealing the covenant with God. Breaking this sign of the covenant is one of the most harmful sins that we as a people can expose ourselves to. In order for us to enter into heaven God says But among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity...because these are improper for God's holy people.1 Breaking the sign of the covenant with God is breaking Gods law and going against everything God wants for us. God doesnt ask much from us considering all that he has given us, he asks us only to follow his laws, in Jesus said, If you love me, you will obey what I command.1 Premarital sex goes against Gods command and ruins our relationship with him. Since the time of Christ, Christians have thought premarital sex to be a sin. E. Revelational and/or Scriptural Norms The Bible refers to premarital sex as fornication. That's a word we don't hear much these days, so what does it mean? Fornication is sexual intercourse between people who are not married to each other. The only distinction the Bible makes between premarital sex and adultery is that adultery involves married persons while fornication involves those who are unmarried. Premarital sex is just as much of a sin as adultery and all other forms of sexual immorality. They all involve having sexual relations with someone you are not married to. The Bible explains, "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (1 Corinthians 6:13). Verse 18 of this chapter goes on to say, "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." Galatians 5:19 speaks the same, "The acts of the sinful nature are

obvious: sexual immorality, impurity" Ephesians 5:3 says it most plainly, "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people." From these verses, we see that the Bible promotes complete and total abstinence from premarital sex.

VI. Accomodated/Accumulated Summary of the Above Outline Premarital sex is becoming more accepted in our society. Many schools hand out condoms to students to keep them protected from the diseases that accompany premarital sex. Many counseling centers have been set up to help unmarried mothers. Although many people still think that premarital sex is a sin, it is more widely accepted as being ok. Teens everywhere are educated on sex, in schools across the country. Religiosity among young American women declined between 1971 and 1976. Showing that due to a decrease in religion, premarital sex statistics have been on the rise. However, children who are raised from good families are often the ones who abstain from premarital sex. The decline of religiosity, while evident at either the low or high end of the family stability scale was least among young women from ideal families.3 Families who are considered ideal often have children who are more involved in their religion. Many families that are not structured correctly have problems with their children having premarital sex. Premarital sex often leads to many family problems that the Catholic Church must get involved in. The Church often helps the families that are created from premarital sex. Early childbearing is disadvantageous to the teenager, parents, and involves high social and economic costs for individuals in society. Many families have to put up unwanted children for adoption because of money issues. Those who do not put their children up for adoption often have a separation between the mother and father of the child. Many Catholics fear premarital sex due to the consequences that it brings. Since premarital sex is looked down upon by the Church as a sin, many Catholics fear going to hell for this sin. It is said, If Christ was soon to return to the earth, and all men should spend their time contemplating God and cleansing their souls rather than enjoying sexual pleasures Christians feel that if Christ was coming that people should repent for their sins and prepare for Christs coming. Since we know that Christ is coming we should abstains from sex and live the life a good Christian. Penance does take away our sins, but if we do not know when Jesus is coming we must stay free from sin in order to get into heaven. People should not abstain from premarital sex due to fear though, they abstain because they love God and they love themselves, they should honor their bodies and the law of God and abstain from premarital sex for good reasons. The reason that premarital sex is a sin is because it disobeys Gods commandment. God wanted to make a covenant between a man and women that would be more powerful then any other covenant. This covenant would be known as marriage, the sacred bonding of two people into one. Each covenant that God made is very sacred and they all have signs in order to show the sacrament. The sign of the sacrament of marriage is sexual intercourse. This means that if a couple that is unmarried has sex, they are taking place in a sacred sacrament called marriage. Even though they are not seen as a married couple in the eyes of the Law they are seen as married by the Church. Having sex completes the covenant; the couple is married and is part of the covenant with God after performing sexual intercourse with the partner. When a couple performs sexual intercourse, they have entered into a covenant with God that they can never break. So if you have premarital sex and then marry another person and have sex with them, you are cheating on your first lover, who you are still in a covenant with. Premarital sex is a serious moral issue confronting college students. We include God in our romance, and ask God to bless our marriage. We ask God to help us through the hard times, when we are tempted by lust, we pray to him and ask him to give us the strength necessary to follow his law. God cant always help us though, sometimes we have to pull through and stop ourselves, but the best way to avoid the lusting of premarital sex is to avoid any chance of premarital sex itself. Knowing when to stop and how far to go is the first step in avoiding premarital sex, sometimes it might be hard to stop but if you love God then you will always find the strength to stop. Chastity is a gift of God's grace and a firm desire to follow the Lord's way of happiness. To remain chaste we must avoid those books, photos, movies, conversations and fantasies that feed lust. Our society promotes sex, it is all around us, and we must learn to block those things out that promote premarital sex or adultery. We must pray that God's strength will carry us in our weakness. If and when we should fall, we continue

to trust in God's love and mercy. We refuse to get discouraged or give up. We ask God for forgiveness, and for help in forgiving ourselves. We let go of the past, so that God can pick us up and set us back on the right path. Even if we fall to the temptation of lust, God will always be there for us. If we ask God for his forgiveness, he will always allow us back with him. God will never turn us down if we ask for forgiveness. Even though premarital sex goes against everything the Catholic Church teaches, and it goes against everything God has ever wanted us to do, God will still take us back and make us his children if we just ask for his forgiveness. Penance was created in order for people to talk to God and ask his forgiveness through a priest. The priest absolves us from our sins and we can once again regain our relationship with God. As a teenager I see other teens all the time going against Gods law and performing premarital sex. I feel that premarital sex is wrong, I believe in God and I follow the Roman Catholic Religion. I feel that people should wait until marriage until they perform the act of sex. Premarital sex is wrong, you are joining into a covenant with God that you are not ready for. Marriage is one of the most sacred sacraments that one can take part in. I believe that couples should wait until after the sacrament of marriage has been performed until they fulfill the sacrament with the sign of sexual intercourse. Through my research I have learned that from the earliest days of Christianity, Christians have believed that premarital sex is wrong. There is no form of premarital sex that is right, no matter how much in love or your plans for your future together with your partner, premarital sex is still wrong. In this paper I have shown that premarital sex goes against the Catholic Religion, however, many people still insist on having premarital sex. There are many reasons that people tend to have premarital sex, peer pressure, not wanting to wait until marriage, not wanting to marry, and many others. As our culture develops many more people are drifting away from the Catholic way of life and are increasingly tending to sin more often with serious lack of guilt from hurting their relationship with God. I feel that the day will come when premarital sex is widely accepted by all people, and God will be put to the side when deciding whether or not to wait till marriage to have sex.

VII References/Referrals/Interviews http://www.focusas.com/SexualBehavior.html http://www.hi-ho.ne.jp/taku77/ http://www.allaboutworldview.org/premarital-sex.htm http://www.boloji.com/women/02724.htm http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/kidulthood