Too Young to Say "No?"

Children having children may not be at epidemic proportions, but it happening at an ever increasing rate. Recently, a school class in Bosnia took a class trip and seven 13 to 14 year old girls came back pregnant. I don't know much else about this incident but it says a lot about society and morality.

Legally, a 13 year old girl cannot consent to sexual intercourse, creating a rape condition if her partner is a legal adult. However, if her partner is a legal minor as well, there is no rape and the state has another mouth to feed. Is there something wrong with this picture?

It is generally accepted that most girls will more quickly mature emotionally than boys of the same age. Statistically, seven pregnant girls in one class suggests that there were more participants who dodged the bullet. Given the adolescent ages is could also suggest that the girls were the organizers. Whatever happened is unknown, but certainly something went terribly wrong.

When I was a very young boy, my mother had a sex chat with me. She told me that one day my hormones would try to kidnap my brain and common sense and that I should resist hormonal surges. Perhaps the most important thing she told me was to always respect girls and their bodies, especially the one I found myself with when my hormones began to shout. She warned that some girls might pretend to want sexual contact to test my sincerity and level of respect. When I was 16, I finally confronted just such a situation and I navigated through it successfully, sending the girl on into life intact. It was a difficult decision, but I was able to stop and think.

My point is this: children develop hormonal urges that result in "feel good" sexual contact. If no one warns them or arms them with evasive maneuvers, a tragedy could occur. Many parents are derelict in this phase of child rearing and expect the school system to fill in for them. Many other parents just don't care and depend on "street" knowledge to protect their children. In cases of child pregnancy, there often isn't an adult to blame; so who is to blame? Society believes the girl isn't capable of knowing to say "no." I think she is, if she has been properly prepared for the crucial moment.

Some religions believe in a Natural Law, which helps decide right from wrong, and that children reach the age of reason (knowing right from wrong) at around age seven. If this were true, a 13 year old would have a strong premonition that engaging is sexual behavior is not acceptable behavior. Or not?

A pregnancy resulting from the union of two underaged children should indict the parents of both children. These parents should be held criminally liable for dereliction of their parental duties. My heart aches for the children of these missteps because they are probably doomed to the same fate.