Eva M. Clayton: “I want to say to you young people can handle more than you think, and they are handling more than you realize. We are…”

“I want to say to you young people can handle more than you think, and they are handling more than you realize. We are afraid somehow to converse with our young people, but we are conversing non-verbally with them. We give mixed signals that it is not important. We talk about those things that are important to us. We have somehow a reservation about talking about sex. I am old enough to know my mother had reservations in talking to me about it. I probably conveyed that similar reservation to my adult children, they tell me. But as we get older, we understand that we need to embrace that. I have looked at talking about sexuality very early, through your church, your home setting, as well as your school, so young people can see that this is not a mystery. This is God's way of procreation, but it is also having people to be positive about themselves. Just as a young man is positive about himself running around the track. He abstained from smoking and staying up. Why? Because he wants to achieve something. We want to have that same attitude in our young people, that they want to achieve something in life, so you have to say yes to this set of things, staying in school, making sure you do not put certain things in your body, you do not engage in premature sex, that you find those kind of development skills that challenge your mind. You take difficult classes. That is because you have a goal.”