tales of an ordinary girl

When I visited my parents a few years ago I spent some time with my father. He was excited to show me a new video he'd purchased titled Pamela's Prayer.

What followed was 57 minutes of of uncomfortable silence. I didn't know what to say. I was married and had lived away from home for close to 15 years. I took it as my father trying to show me that he loved me. He wished he had raised me like that. I tried to look at it as him wishing he'd done a better job (as all parents must) rather than be offended. I'm still puzzled though.

I won't go into my criticisms of the movie right now. Maybe another time.



Which is why when I read about Purity Balls it felt a little familiar. I still don't understand it. I guess from a parental point of view, I wouldn't want to know about my child's sex life, nor would I want my child to have sex as a child. But a "Purity Ball?" I think a child pledging to her father that she won't have sex until married in a mock marriage-type of ceremony is a little creepy.

Teach your kids values, teach them to think for themselves, teach them responsibility, and teach them respect, but don't turn them into little princesses and hope to keep them a virgin forever.