Why are you supporting the federal government’s ads that encourage safe sex? A sensible look at the problem indicates that the ads will not achieve their objective, which is to reduce the incidence of AIDS.
Your first mistake is to think the ads are even necessary. The media and the schools have made us quite aware of AIDS. Those young people who don’t know how to avoid AIDS are like those who can’t identify Texas on a map. In other words, if they don’t fear a death from AIDS, it is because they have decided to ignore the message.
Even more troubling, the ads do not even hint at the very high failure rate of condoms. In addition, they blissfully overlook the reality that relatively inexperienced teenagers either can’t or won’t use them properly.
The government’s deception is compounded by its implicit approval (or at least failure to disapprove) of sex by teenagers. The ads do pay lip service to abstinence. The problem is that they immediately add a prescription of the best way to have sex. The obvious conclusion for a 14-year-old to draw is that there is nothing morally wrong with having sex. The only reason to avoid it would be to prevent disease or pregnancy.
If we repeatedly teach our young people how to have sex, the only surprise will be if they decide not to have sex.
