Proverbs 7: 4-5 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.
I willingly admit that I was a little boy crazy in my early teen years. I passed some notes in class and called boys on occasion. But it was all pretty harmless; aside from the fact that a few boys probably found me annoying.
The ease and impersonal nature of texting and social media has made both boys and girls bolder. Without the awkwardness of face-to-face interaction, many feel more comfortable seeking the attention of the opposite sex in ways generations past would have considered appalling.
In addition to this ease of communication, aggressive girls may be seeking a male companion because they are missing a supportive father figure in their life. Aggressive boys may be missing a loving mother. Or maybe it’s the effect of decades of women’s lib or the failure of parents to be involved in guiding their kids through puberty and beyond. Most likely, it’s a combination of many factors.
Regardless the cause, the world our kids live in is not an innocent place, and we need to be guiding and protecting our boys.
It is not uncommon in high schools across our country for girls to send provocative messages and even pornographic photos of themselves to boys via phone apps. It also not uncommon for boys to create data bases of these photos to share with each other. (This is not an exaggeration. One such data base was discovered right here in Central Iowa in 2014.)
Even boys who would never be involved in such a thing are continually bombarded with messages that encourage them to devalue women. And the girls who wouldn’t think of exposing themselves to such an extent are inundated with propaganda that tells them the tighter, sheerer and shorter the clothes they wear, the higher they will be esteemed. And they are Eating. It. Up.
It’s a big fat lie, but it is oh so pervasive.
All of this makes it challenging for kids to navigate their way through puberty and the early teen years . In a perfect world, modesty and respectfulness would be the rule of the day, and we would all love Jesus above all else. But this is earth, not heaven.
Our world is broken, and it will be until the day Jesus returns.
We parents cannot give in to the brokenness. We need to be more diligent about standing against it. In addition to being involved in the lives of our boys-turning-into-men, we need to be on our knees in prayer for them.
My hope and prayer for my sons is that they will respect themselves and the girls in their lives, that they will have the strength to stay pure in a world that mocks purity and that as Proverbs 7:4 says, they will call wisdom their sister and understanding their kinsman.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I fear for the sex-saturated gauntlet otherwise known as high school that my boys will soon be entering. I ask you to help them to be wise when it comes to purity, and to seek you when temptations come their way. Amen.
Suggested Further Reading
Protecting Your Son From Aggressive Girls
To the Middle School Girls at the Pool Who Told My Son He Is Hot
