Where Are We ‘Dropping the Ball’? (Like Really?)

Recently, I read an article that had me be like, “OK, when are we really going to start looking into why all of these grown teachers are sleeping with their students?!?” Some of you might have seen the story as well. It was about a high school in Texas that had five teachers resign within a year after allegations surfaced of them having a relationship with one of the students. One male teacher actually committed suicide this month within a day of submitting his resignation.

Now we can spend all kinds of time talking about how sick it is for a teacher to prey upon a student. However, I encourage us all to look a bit deeper than that.

I say that because of this…

I was actually talking to an elder of a church not too long ago. She was asking the same question about churches that I just asked about schools: “What is going on now that so many Christian teens appear to be sexually active?” I get her point because honestly, to both questions, there are a few things that both environments should have in common: Schools and churches should be safe places. Schools and churches should provide a thorough and beneficial education—yes, even and on some levels especially about sex. Schools and churches should be institutions that offer young people with the incentive to live out their best lives.

And yet sadly, it seems that for many young people, this is no longer the case.

At schools, many of them are being sexually taken advantage of.

At churches, many of them are not being taught about sex’s true purpose.

And you know what? Both of these things are forms of abuse.

There should be something within each and every one of us who reads about a teacher having a “relationship” with a student and think “That teacher must have some real internal issues. They need help. What can we do?” Because while it was tragic that the male teacher allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with a student, it was just as unfortunate that he took his life thinking that there was no other option. Indeed, the saying is true: Hurt people oftentimes hurt people. (Tweet This)

There should also be something within us that when we hear that a young person at our church is having sex, or is pregnant, or had an abortion, that we don’t look at them like, “What’s wrong with our youth today?” but instead “Where are we dropping the ball? Are we providing them with all of the tools that they need in order to understand the purpose of sex? And do they feel that we are loving enough, nurturing enough, and trustworthy enough to come to us when they are in trouble?

I’m tired of reading about children going to school and being taken advantage of.

I’m tired of children going to church and being kept in the dark about issues, like sex and porn, that affect them as well.

It’s time that we stop just reading about these instances and that we start doing something about them…

Anyone have some suggestions?

 

Where Are We ‘Dropping the Ball’? (Like Really?) by XXXchurch.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.