Interesting piece here by Mr. Francis Kong!
A remarkable thought to parents and teachers as well as to the children , who are in constant need for proper guidance !
Which brings me to the question of who are the right people to train or teach our children outside the home? Are they adequately trained and well equipped themselves?
Go figure...
"You can not share what you don't have!"
Go figure...
"You can not share what you don't have!"
(The Philippine Star) Updated September 04, 2011
Robert Layton wrote this brilliant article entitled,
“What About Abstinence?” after he attended a parents’ meeting at his
child’s school. Layton wrote:
I was holding a notice from my 13-year-old son’s school announcing
a meeting to preview the new course in sexuality.
Parents could examine
the curriculum and take part in an actual lesson presented exactly as
it would be given to the students.
When I arrived at the school, I was surprised to discover only
about a dozen parents there. As we waited for the presentation, I
thumbed through page after page of instructions in the prevention of
pregnancy or disease. I found abstinence mentioned only in passing.
When the teacher arrived with the school nurse, she asked if there
were any questions. I asked why abstinence did not play a noticeable
part in the material.
What happened next was shocking... There was a great deal of
laughter, and someone suggested that if I thought abstinence had any
merit, I should go back to burying my head in the sand.
Through it all, the teacher and the nurse said nothing as I
drowned in a sea of embarrassment. My mind had gone blank in the
unexpected attack, and I could think of nothing to say.
The teacher explained to me that the job of the school was to
teach “facts” and the home was responsible for moral training.
I sat in
silence for the next 20 minutes as the course was explained. The other
parents seemed to give their unqualified support to the materials.
“Donuts at the back,” announced the teacher during the break.
“I’d
like you to put on the name tags we have prepared.
They’re right by the
donuts and mingle with the other parents.”
Everyone dutifully stood and moved to the back of the room.
As I watched them affixing their name tags and shaking hands, I sat deep
in thought. I was ashamed that I had not been able to convince them to
include a serious discussion of abstinence in the materials. I uttered a
silent prayer for guidance.
My thoughts were interrupted by the teacher’s hand on my shoulder.
“Won’t you join the others, Mr. Layton?” The nurse smiled sweetly at
me. “The donuts are good.”
“Thank you, no,” I replied.
“Well, then, how about a name tag? I’m sure the others would like to meet you.” “Somehow I doubt that,” I replied.
“Won’t you please join them?” she coaxed.
Then I heard a still, small voice whisper, “Don’t go.” The instruction was unmistakable. “Don’t go!”
“I’ll just wait here,” I said.
When the class was called back to order, the teacher looked
around the long table and thanked everyone for putting on name tags. She
ignored me. Then she said, “Now we’re going to give you the same lesson
we’ll be giving your children.
Everyone please peel off your name
tags.”
I watched in silence as the tags came off.
“Now, then, on the back of one of the tags, I drew a tiny flower.
Who has it, please?” The gentleman across from me held it up. “Here it
is!”
“All right,” she said. “The flower represents disease. Do you recall with whom you shook hands?”
He pointed to a couple of people. “Very good,” she replied.
“The
handshake in this case is intimacy. So the two people you had contact
with now have the disease.” There was laughter and joking among the
parents. The teacher continued, “And with whom did the two of you shake
hands with?”
The point was well taken, and she explained how this lesson would show students how quickly disease was spread. “Since we all shook hands, we all have the disease...”
It was then that I heard the still, small voice again. “Speak
now,” it said, “but be humble.” I noted wryly the latter admonition,
then rose from my chair. I apologized for any upset I might have caused
earlier, congratulated the teacher on an excellent lesson that would
impress the youth, and concluded by saying I had only one small point I
wished to make.
“Not all of us were infected,” I said. “One of us abstained.”
We are all so used to the sinful lifestyle already that, instead of
abstaining from it, we just accept it as OK and try to cope with it.
This is called STUPIDITY!
You know why abstinence is hard to teach? Because most of the time, those who are tasked to teach do not do it themselves.
It’s time for us to rethink the way we train our children.
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