Straight Talk For Teens By Teens

I have two gay cousins, one male, one female, whom I love dearly. If they want to marry and call it “marriage,” who am I to judge and prevent that? I don’t believe being gay is a choice. My mom recognized my female cousin was gay when she was 4 years old. That could’ve been me.

This topic is reminiscent of racial segregation. I believe being gay is not a choice; it’s like having a different skin color. No matter your skin color — or your sexual orientation — we are all still people. Most people against gay marriage cite the Bible. But I’m a Bible-follower, too, and it does not definitely say marriage must be “between a man and a woman.”

When I think of marriage, I think of a man and a woman, but the fact that this is a legislative issue is ridiculous. This is the so-called “land of the free.” The role of government is to protect our rights, not to bicker over making them exclusive.

If gays want to marry, it’s not the government’s position to interfere. They do no harm. On the other hand, I’m unhappy with how the gay agenda is pushed. In almost every movie, a gay or lesbian couple is kissing. Gays have the legal benefits of marriage, why do they need to call it “marriage?” What will be next?

I have no problem with gays, but marriage is ordained of God and should be between a man and a woman. However, if same-sex couples love each other and wish to be together, they should have many of the same benefits as married couples.

The marriages a church performs will remain the choice of that church. But the right to a civil marriage should be open to anyone.

This country preaches that everyone is created equal, so who among us is good enough to say gays can’t get married?

Gays and lesbians should have equal rights in everything — including marriage. There is not a single reason to refuse them. Some Christians don’t believe in gay marriage. This confuses me. Jesus, himself, said: “Do unto others what you would want done to you.”

I have never considered gay marriage complicated. When two people are in love, regardless of their sex, they should be able to get married. Where I get confused is when gay couples are allowed the same rights as married heterosexual couples but aren’t allowed to actually say they’re “married.” Excuse me, but what the heck is the difference?

People say it’s in the Bible that marriage is between a man and a woman. Have these people ever heard of “separation of church and state”? If you don’t think gays should be allowed to marry, move to the Middle East where the church rules the state. Oh wait! There are terrorists there!

For some countries, drinking at 15 seems to work, but I honestly don’t think it could work in the US. Our lifestyle is completely different and most teens don’t have adequate self-control. The Amethyst Initiative wants to help colleges save money and avoid lawsuits. I worry about 18-year-olds driving around drunk. Heck, I worry about 18-year-olds voting! My sister says half her senior class is voting for McCain just because Palin — and her pregnant daughter — are sexy!

The Amethyst Initiative isn’t about colleges washing their hands of responsibility for underage drinking — or lowering the drinking age. It is about opening discussion on the topic, which I think is important. If the drinking age was18, colleges and high schools would have GOOD alcohol programs. As it is now, colleges can’t help someone who is abusing alcohol because they have to ‘kick out’ students who drink underage. Many college alcohol programs are anonymous, but students worry about getting in trouble and don’t seek help.

As legal adults, 18-year-olds can vote, go to war, drive, smoke, gamble. If Australia and Europe can trust young adults to drink responsibly at 18, shouldn’t we? Not necessarily. These countries have long histories of starting kids very young on watered-down wines and such. American kids go from the occasional bitter sip of wine at Thanksgiving to full-blown binge parties. There are as many 18-year-olds in high school as in college. High school partying will only get easier.

Lowering the drinking age will only lower the age of exploration. Right now, kids try alcohol in high school and use regularly in college. With a lower drinking age, kids will use regularly in high school and experiment in middle school.

If 18-year-olds can go to war, they should be able to drink. Teenagers have always gotten their hands on alcohol. If the drinking age is lowered it won’t be such a forbidden fruit.

You’ve got a point that “the thrill and taboo of alcohol is all too dangerous.” But breaking the law only adds to the thrill. If you can fight and die for your country, you should be able to drink in it.

I have many friends of both sexes who sleep together and do not have sex. Sure it happens sometimes, but that doesn’t mean all teenagers are sex-crazed. Some teenagers really are JUST friends with the opposite sex and have no intention to sleep with them in the sense you mean. Usually nothing ever happens because the guy is gay or he needs a place to crash and ends up with a good friend who happens to be female. Most of my friends are male and I don’t see the big deal of having a non-sexual relationship with them.

It is different in every situation, but friends of the opposite sex CAN sleep in the same bed together without having sex. Even promiscuous people are not always at fault. This is a very flirtatious generation that most adults don’t understand. If you see your teen flirting with someone don’t automatically assume something is going on.

There are situations where the guys and girls are just friends. But it can be hard to completely stay away from having something sexual creep in. In many cases, we’d be lying to say it’s strictly friends.

I find it offensive that just because we’re teens you assume we are having sex all the time. Could you be any more judgmental? I have quite a few guy friends who I feel totally comfortable sleeping over with — and we’re not having sex, we’re talking! Did you have sex every time you spent the night at a guy friend’s house?

I go camping with my boyfriend and his family, and usually there are eight or nine teenagers spending all day and night with each other. Nothing happens between either friends or couples because parents have said if we are caught doing anything, we all go home and there’s no more camping. But they give us the opportunity to prove that we can be trusted. If parents make the limits clear, and provide strong consequences, the situation is under control.

Males and females sleep together a lot and nothing happens. Co-ed sleeping isn’t so much the problem, it’s the drinking and smoking that needs to be monitored. Yes, sex happens sometimes, but at least when it does, we’re educated. We didn’t do what your generation did! There was so much sex in the 60s and 70s, most of it unprotected. All our STDs come from you guys! When it comes down to it, the sex education we’ve been given brings in a huge amount of safety.

It depends on the kids. They could very likely be just friends and really have nothing going on. It really does happen a lot. However, the fact that there aren’t parents home is a red flag. Not that parental supervision insures that there are no sexual activities, but it’s definitely a mood-killer. Your friend needs to be a bit more realistic and make sure there’s parental supervision. And you need to mind your own business.