Dad at 13- how should Christians respond?

The papers this week (particularly 'The Sun') have been scandalised by Alfie Patten, the 13 year-old boy whose girlfriend conceived when he was just 12 years old.

The incident is said to highlight 'Broken Britain' and the deterioration of society- and certainly it is terrifying to see such a youthful face look down upon a baby as his own child. It all seems so wrong.

And it is. There is no doubt that it is completely inappropriate for a 12 year old boy to be sexually active. But this highlights a bigger issue- that the main message of sex education in schools is that using contraception means you can have "safe sex". Sex ed therefore implies that whilst sex without protection is foolish, sex with condoms is fine, and even a natural part of adolescence.

As Christians we need to stand up against this message. No sex outside marriage is "safe", because it involves a deep emotional commitment to someone. If this commitment is broken (ie. you break up) you can be physically, emotionally and psychologically scarred. Or worse, desensitised to the beautiful expression of long-lasting love that God created sex to be.

'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.' (Genesis 2:24)
Note that the physical union of sex only occurs AFTER the couple have made a public declaration in marriage of total commitment to each other for life.

An unexpected ray of sunshine in this sad story came from Norman Wells, the director of the charity Family and Youth Concern, quoted in 'The Times' as saying:
'We need to challenge the common perception of sex as a casual recreational activity and present it rather as an expression of the total self-giving of a husband and wife to each other in marriage.'

This is not even a Christian organisation! We as Christians need to stop being worried about being counter-cultural and how the world will respond to us. Instead we need to passionately believe that God's way is the best way, not just for us but for everyone.