Let me begin by congratulating you for your website. The material presented there should be recommended reading for all young people.

As a parent I feel my position as a guide for my son and daughter is extremely difficult with the attitudes that seem to be prevalent in society. My attitude is that at this time I am responsible for these young people, halfway between childhood and adulthood. My son is 17 and my daughter is 15.

Let me list the prevalent attitudes I am talking about to more precisely define my position.

1. The wide acceptance of premarital relations.

Pre marital relations are not considered to be worth mentioning or in any way objectionable by the majority of people. My view is that members of the opposite sex may date after a certain level of maturity is achieved but there should be rules. The person going out on a date with your teen and also their parents should be known to you. There should be a strict curfew. The teens should spend their time in a public place. Any sort of physical contact beyond handholding should not take place. The purpose of the date should be for the teens to get to know each other, enjoy friendship and company, or perhaps even fall in love.

2. The wide acceptance of immodest clothing and behavior.

I am frankly horrified at the way some young people deign to dress these days. They are tempting themselves and others to commit unacceptable acts. A child should be taught from an early age that any immodest dress or nudity should only take place when alone or in the presence of a parent. Later in the presence of a spouse. There should be no exceptions to this. The clothing now available, skimpy bikinis, et cetera means parents need to keep their eyes open and see that their youngsters understand what is and what is not acceptable.

3. Non-acceptance of corporal discipline.

The common attitude these days seems to be that teenagers are for some reason not to be guided through corporal discipline. As long as my children live under my roof I see it as my obligation and responsibility to discipline them. Their failure is my failure.

4. Acceptance of sexual self-gratification.

The majority these days seems to think teen self-abuse is perfectly normal and acceptable. They think unmarried men and women have some need for such gratification. I am thankful for the young man who has written to this site about the sin of Onan and makes it clear there are many who understand that any form of sex that precludes procreation is simply not acceptable. In addition to this a masturbatory sex act can be considered to be a homosexual sex act.

5. The notion that modern day teens need to have total privacy.

My question is, privacy to do what??? In our home the opposite policy is in force. We have house rules such as open door policies that preclude privacy and allow me and their mother to monitor their behavior. How else can we take responsibility if we have no idea what they are doing?

If any readers are in a similar position to me and wish to discuss aspects of this letter, feel free to contact me. I have to admit that my household is not perfect any more than others are. My son does have difficulties but we are working to help him.

If you wish to contact myself, my son, or my daughter for any sort of moral and wholesome discussion, please write to franklint111@yahoo.com. I will pass any moral letter addressed to my son or daughter on to them.

Bless you all!

Martin Franklin