By Jannie B. Johnson

Jackson Advocate Guest Writer

Dear Students,

At your age, you might feel no need to read what I am writing. But at my age, I feel a need to write something (while the blood still runs warm in my veins). 

I know you have a lot of voices calling for your mind and attention. You have that awesome responsibility to hear and heed the right calling. The choice you make can be life changing and future altering for you.

I feel for you and I feel with you, too. You are young with limited knowledge and limited experience. So, you have to trust somebody to help steer you in your choice of actions. Your choosing the right somebody could be like gambling, playing a game of chance, not with money but your life and your future.

Listen, precious ones, the journey of life is too long for shallow thinking. Take time and make your moves slowly and prayerfully.

I am going to say something about folks that you might not have thought about before. Folks can be good and bad, dumb and smart, honest and dishonest. Sometimes it’s all mixed up and lopsided, too. Some folks have purpose and direction for their lives and others just DON’T have a clue. They live by trial and error not by principles.

Folks, for the most part, look normal, talk and act very much alike. But, you have to listen to determine whether they respect their own words or not. Listen for their meaning and their point of reference: God, a sense of what’s right, fair, and just. If folks don’t have respect for the truth, they can’t communicate clearly and honestly on any particular subject.

There are distinctions between legal and illegal, normal and abnormal, right and wrong. You’ll learn soon, if not already, that we adults can do and say some non-sen-si-cal things. For example, we’ll claim to be for what’s legally right and morally sound until we experience personal conflict. Then, we will make new policies and re-write old laws to accommodate our bad habits and immoral lifestyles.

Students, our thinking might be politically correct and our behavior understandable, but know this, everything that is legal is NOT right and everything that is right is not legal. 

These are some scary times. The moral fabric of our society is unraveling around us. Don’t be afraid to think for yourself, no matter how sensitive the subject. Sexuality is a very sensitive topic and emotions can kidnap common sense in an instant. Sex is serious, serious business. It’s the ONLY human behavior that can limit your freedom, alter your future, take your health, take your life, and make new life.

You might not want to admit it, but an unwed teen pregnancy can bring guilt, shame, disgrace, regrets, tears, and much sorrow to a family, the young mom/dad, and the innocent child. 

Sex is NOT necessary to sustain human life but sex is necessary to maintain the human race. Think about that!

Be selective in the activities you allow yourself to enjoy. Be particular about the folks you date and the folks with whom you choose to associate. Be protective of your mind and your physical body. You cannot undo an experience be it good or bad. Again, be protective, selective, and particular about your mind and your body.

Self-discipline is the best discipline in the long run. So, be a personal friend to yourself and your family. That’s good business. It’s the cool thing to do in these hot times of personal choice, no sin, no shame, and no disgrace.

Love you for now and forever, precious ones. I’m counting on you to do right and go straight, re-e-e-gardless!!!