Everyone’s NOT Doing It!

"We don't cover that kind of cr__!" was the response given to J.J. Kiddman of WAYJ when he called the Tampa Tribune to inquire as to whether or not the ABSTINENCE RALLY held at the Manatee Civic Center on September 30th would be covered.

The Bradenton Herald's response didn't fare much better. In their "Weekend" magazine, they managed to place a tiny 1" x 2" blip on page 26, while giving the Gay & Lesbian Pride Film Festival held in TAMPA (had to make sure their readers in Bradenton didn't miss it) a 1/4 page on the inside cover and a full page on page 8.

Now if Planned Parenthood had been there distributing condoms, the press would have been so plentiful, the parking lot would have looked like "satellite dish row" across the street from the O.J. Simpson Trial.

It's really quite puzzling as to why the only REAL Safe Sex (abstinence) isn't portrayed in a positive manner by the press. With such an incredibly high failure rate for condoms, you'd think they would fill their pages with the positive aspects of waiting until marriage. Among which are the 100% effective rate against STDs, pregnancy, and AIDS. Not to mention avoiding the negative psychological problems teens acquire from mate hopping.

They just don't get it. Either that or they just don't want our teens to catch on to the newest trend in the sexual revolution. Hundreds of thousands of teens, nationwide had taken vows of purity, and instead of congratulating, promoting, and encouraging them, the press' attitude is, "well if it works for you that's fine."

Teens traditionally have been led by influence, and all it would take is for the press to begin printing the "coolness" of abstinence and the "uncoolness" of sex before marriage, and before they could flip on the television, MTV would be promoting it. Just like drugs. The press said drugs were no longer cool, then MTV joined the chorus, and before you knew it, teens from coast to coast were jumping on the bandwagon.

But sex is different, they say. Yeah, they're just animals doing as animals do. So let em'. Just make sure they're safe. Safe, right!

A few years ago, researcher William Vesey took 3 years to follow 60,000 transport trucks into 12,000 terminals, to see if the condom storage instructions were being followed. The instructions were:

Store at room temperature,
Avoid heating and freezing, and
Store between 59 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

Not once were they followed. His investigation revealed that condoms were stored in warehouses and in trucks during the summer months at temperatures as high as 185 degrees. He photographed an egg frying on the floor beside the cartons to expose how hot it was. During the winter months the temperatures dropped to near 0 degrees, and the tamper resistant foil wrappers don't prevent damages due to extreme temperatures. When exposed to high temperatures, oxidation takes place. When exposed to low temperatures crystallization takes place. Thus the condoms begin to crack and dry out. It's interesting to note that leather shoes, handbags and coats, as well as candy and other foods are all transported in temperature controlled trailers, and warehouses. Yet where (teenage) human life is concerned....it's not worth the added cost.

The bottom line is, everyone is NOT doing it, as evidenced by the thousands of chaste teens that came to the rally for encouragement. Also, according to "Has Sex Education Failed Our Teens" by Dr Dinah Richard, PH.D., page 42: 1/2 of teens 18 and under have not had sex, and 15% of those that did, only did so once. Only 25% of today's teens are currently sexually active. Of those 25%, 90% said that did so out of peer pressure, and wish they had waited until marriage. That leaves 5% of the teenage population that actually WANTS to have sex. The problem seems to be that the press caters to the 5%, instead of encouraging the 95%. The result of which leaves the teens that would welcome positive peer pressure out in the cold to fend (and fail) for themselves.

I personally place the blame of the increased rate of AIDS in the teenage population, squarely on the backs of the press. How many casualties must be racked up before they admit their responsibility, and change their attitudes about what's newsworthy, and what's "cr__"!



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