WHAT a week. In the same seven-day period, two compelling pieces of information have danced a clumsy tango in my head.
On Monday, I read of a survey by Auckland University that revealed a correlation between long-term relationships and healthy pregnancies.
Sounds bizarre, but the study found that long-term exposure to the sperm of the baby's father gave the mother time to build immunities.
It also found that women with single, long-term partners were less likely to develop pre-eclampsia, a condition of raised blood pressure that can be deadly.
Interesting.
On Tuesday, there was the news that our state has the second-highest incidence of teenage pregnancy.
Scan a school assembly of 500 kids and you could safely say that 14 will fall pregnant before they hit 20.
The national average is half that.
Bells are ringing - unfortunately they are of the alarm variety, not the wedding kind.
Children are growing up in an increasingly sexualised culture. Magazines, television, advertising, music lyrics - they all present a thin, scantily clad figure swinging suggestive hips.
Kids being kids will copy.
Adding to the assault, children are being exposed more than ever to explicit material.
Earlier this year, the Edith Cowan University revealed in its Review of Existing Australian and International Cyber-Safety Research that an estimated 84 per cent of boys and 60 per cent of girls had been accidentally exposed to pornography online.
Meanwhile, 38 per cent of boys and 2 per cent of girls were deliberately exposed.
Here's just two of many angry microcosms threatening to explode in our collective face.
Society has certainly done a backflip when it comes to S-E-X.
Twenty, maybe 30 years ago there was a nervous giggle when "the birds and the bees" were discussed.
These days kids tend to know it all before their parents get around to that delicate issue, and it would likely be them blushing to beetroot if they knew how much their little darlings knew.
Perhaps we've been too broad- minded. Perhaps we've failed to stress that sex is a responsibility. Perhaps we haven't done them any favours.
Children are treasures, made so by their innocence.
As adults, it's our job to guard that innocence, to protect their vulnerable minds from the world's nasties.
In many cases, we've failed that job.
Something's gone awry when a child at 12 becomes a mum.
Jesus paid special attention to children. In fact, he gave his disciples a hiding when they were caught telling kids to leave Jesus be.
He said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these" (Mark 10:14).
He valued their innocence and used children as a model for faith.
Pick up the game people, and let's guard innocence like Jesus did.
Let's give kids an understanding of what it takes for a healthy, meaningful and long-term relationship - one where they, in turn, can guard the innocence of their own children.
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