Physical Intimacy

There are select topics within in the church that I have a VERY strong opinion of am VERY passionate about. One of those is physical and sexual intimacy. While I am not married, I have my opinions on this topic and the way that it is being taught to our youth. In a talk/article by Sean E Brotherson, he says, "It is also important to understand that is OKAY, as Latter-day Saints, to ask such questions and to seek meaningful answers." When parents and/or teachers are asked about this issue from a child or teenager, a lot of the time, they will dodge the question, or talk about guilt and shame when it comes to physical intimacy. 
Sean E Brotherson also says that, "Ignorance is the first enemy of sexual fulfillment in marriage...For some LDS couples, especially those where one or both struggle with negative feelings about sex, doctrinal permission feels needed to even discuss or study such things. It is okay to read about sex. It is okay to talk about sex." Newly married couples struggle with understanding their bodies and accepting that learning your partner's body and needs is a learning process. Being able to learn about your own needs, while discovering what your partner needs, build trust, love, and patience in your marriage. 
"By age 8, a child is able to develop a basic understanding of sex in its spiritual, emotional, and relational contexts." It has dentrimental effects if we wait until they've hit puberty to discuss the topic of sex and pornography. Also, instead of teaching children what is "bad", we need to teach them what is "good". For example: when discussing premarital seaxual encounters, instead of inflicting guilt and shame, we can teach about the Atonement and how it is there for times like this. If we are teaching our children that pornography is bad and horrible, it can lead children and teens to believe that sex itself is bad and horrible. This is not the message that we should be getting across. 
I believe that if we start properly teaching our children about sex and pornography, it will lead them to have a greater relationship with their spouse and a healthy understanding of how we instill love and respect when it comes to sexual intimacy. I BEG of you, PLEASE, if you have children, think and study different ways that you can teach your children about these sacred things in a way that will think of the GOOD that comes from a loving relationship, rather than the negatives that come from poor decisions.

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