There is a song currently being heard on the country stations called Cleaning This Gun and sung by Rodney Atkins. He begins by telling us that he doesn’t recall much of what he heard as a teenager in the classroom but says, “there is one speech from high school/I’ll never forget.â€Â
That one stuck in his mind for good reason. He went to a teen girl’s home, ready to take her out on a date. The girl’s father appeared to have been a friendly sort, saying, “Come on in boy sit on down/And tell me about yourself.†That father then goes to a subject of mutual interest: “So you like my daughter do you now?/Yeah we think she’s something else/She’s her daddy’s girl/Her momma’s world.â€Â
The next lines are: “She deserves respect/That’s what she’ll get/Ain’t it son?†The “respect†referred to has a meaning that deserves exploration. A young teen boy is usually horny. A young teen girl usually experiences it as a disaster if she gets pregnant. Respect for the girl means that the boy puts her safety from a traumatic pregnancy ahead of his strong sexual desires and his gratification of them.
It is hard for the boy to do that. Teens have a notoriously limited time frame and often live moment-to-moment.
But it is not at all impossible.
The song continues: “Hey y’all run along and have some fun/I’ll see you when you get back/Bet I’ll be up all night/Still cleanin’ this gun.â€Â
Yes, there is an implied threat. Do not take a chance on getting my daughter pregnant or . . .
Fear can lead the virile young man to the virtue of self-control. (So can other attributes such as compassion but they are not part of the song under discussion.)
In today’s world, many young women do not have a father in the home. This is a contributing factor in pregnancies among unmarried teenagers. Fatherless homes tend to lead to more fatherless homes.
Perhaps the surest way to decrease problem pregnancies among minors is to see to it that more daughters have a Dad around for their beaus to meet.

