Changing Lubbock - On the Level

We have a controversial and complicated problem dealing with a sensitive topic for many of us - sexual behavior. In our efforts to tackle the issues, it's easy to get caught in the Blame Game.

So whose fault is this? You might have one or more of the following thoughts:

"The school system failed."
"Parents don't parent."
"It's such-and-such a race's fault."
"Poor and uneducated people are the problem."
"TV and Hollywood make young people do it."
"Since Lubbock has a high number of churches too, churches must be the problem."
"If we would just teach contraceptives, it'd solve the problem."
"Teaching about contraceptives will make the problem worse."

The trouble with the Blame Game is it shifts responsibility away from every one of us, so no one has to do anything and the problem festers on.

Controversy or not, the problem is upon us all. Each of us must address this issue in any way we can: individually, in your family, at your place of worship, in your organization, in your school district, and through your city government.

Focus groups we have conducted within Lubbock lead us to conclude that this is a complex problem – physical, mental, financial, moral, and spiritual.

PHYSICAL

It's a physical problem because those who engage in risky sexual behavior can contract disease and infect others or bring children into the world under less-than-favorable circumstances. Risky sexual behavior among teens can have lasting consequences not only on a person, but also on a future spouse and children.

MENTAL

Faulty reasoning may have helped the problem to continue at such high rate.

Misconceptions abound [but so do truths].

"It won't happen to my kid so I don't have to worry." [everyone is at-risk]
"It's a problem on the other side of town, not in my neighborhood." [it turns out that all neighborhoods, races, and socio-economic strata are at risk]
"I didn't have anything to do with their choices so I won't have to deal with any consequences." [the projected drain on the local economy from intervention and lost potential is crippling]
"The statistics aren't as high as they say." [actually our health department's records are well-kept]

Adolescents have misunderstandings too.

"If she loves me, she'll give me sex."
"If I give him sex, he'll love me."
"If I have a baby, I'll have someone who loves me unconditionally."
"I'll just drop out of school and the government will take care of my child."

Misinformation makes the problem worse:

"If we have sex standing up we won't get pregnant."
"Only vaginal sex gives STDs -- other kinds of sex don't." [knowledge of one's own body as well as of the opposite sex can help curb physical consequences of poor sexual behavior]
"I didn't have anything to do with their choices so I won't have to deal with any consequences." [NICU babies can cost tax payers $10,000 per day; teen mothers can cost society as much as $7 million over their lifetimes]

FINANCIAL

The entire community has to pay for someone's poor sexual choices. Preventable unhealthy conditions cost us plenty. A teenage parent is likely to have multiple pregnancies, not to complete education, not to become gainfully employed, and not to break the cycle as a model for her children. It costs law enforcement and social agencies, since crime can often accompany unrealized potential. It costs our community approximately $7 million dollars per teenage mother in terms of lost wages, lost opportunity, and burden on welfare systems. Each teenage mother's low birth-weight baby is likely to cost the county $10,000 per day the baby spends in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) at the hospital. Poor sexual choices tax the caliber of our workforce - with more mothers unemployed, on welfare, and unlikely to become educated, higher-tech companies will struggle to fill positions and may choose to relocate to other communities.

Future economic growth depends on the health of the population. If our community can reduce sexually-transmitted disease, teen pregnancy, and low birth-weight rates, the number of citizens entering the workforce will grow, the burden on law enforcement and social welfare will shrink, poverty and crime will decrease, and the population in general will be healthier. The community as a whole has a vested interest in improving the health and well-being of each individual member.

MORAL

Addressing sexual health problems is the right thing to do because we as a community do not leave children to fend for themselves. We have a moral responsibility. As children and teens of unhealthy sexual environments become adults, the perception of right and wrong will change, which will affect the fabric of our society with untold consequences for our future.

SPIRITUAL

A lack of hope for a bright future, a lack of self-esteem, a failure to see how society needs everyone to be actively contributing -- these and other underlying spiritual problems may contribute to poor sexual choices. Rehabilitating the spirit is the ultimate cure for not only poor sexual choices, but also many of the other accompanying problems -- such as alcohol and drug abuse. Ministers, counselors, teachers, and parents can help children realize hope: a sense of value, a sense of purpose, a sense of service, and a sense of honor.

"I am valuable."
"I can become anything I choose."
"I have hope for a bright future."
"I have many opportunities." "I must work hard now to help my country, my community, my family, and myself in the future."
"I can change my behavior."
"I can get help from others or a higher power by asking."
"I am needed."
"I am loved."