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From: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: Planned Parenthood posting
Message-ID: <598@mit-vax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 12-Aug-85 00:50:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-vax.598
Posted: Mon Aug 12 00:50:56 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Aug-85 02:18:38 EDT
Reply-To: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe)
Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 119

As probably the only teen-ager on this newsgroup, I feel obligated to
speak on behalf of the millions of young people that Ray Frank has
decided to call children.

In article <10977@rochester.UUCP> ray@rochester.UUCP (Ray Frank) writes:
>I don't believe that all kids who go to PP have entirely made the
>decision one way or the other.  I've known kids who've gone there out of
>curiosity or at the advice of their friends.  What they received was a
>ten minute discourse on perhaps one of the most important decisions of
>their young lives.

The decision has been made for them. It's been made for them on
television, in the movies, on the radio, by their friends and by their
own hormones.

>Groin control works if you try it.

This is a silly idea that was out of date a long time ago.

>Again, you insist on a non-gray area concerning the preconceived motives of
>a child entering PP.  Too often they are frightened and confused about the
>whole issue of early sexuality and have no real idea about the consequences.

Which is a good reason to get some no-nonsense advice. My girlfriend
learned everything she knows about sex and birth control from her
friends. Luckily, she's very smart (she got into MIT) and her friends
were all pretty smart as well. Thus, she didn't learn some of the gems
of wisdom that I've heard from the peers I had in high-school not to
long ago.

Some girls believed:douches are reliable birth control, abortion makes
you sterile, only married people can get pregnant (I didn't believe she
said that either), guys who smoke marajauna become sterile (sperm count
drops *slightly*).

The "confused children" who go to PP are PLANNING TO HAVE SEX. That's
right. I'm sure I'll never convince Ray of that because he would sit
them down and say:"Do it once and *Bango* you're pregnant!" This would,
of course scare the young lady into abstinence and create yet another
misinformed teenage girl. What happens when her friend says,"I did it
once, and I didn't get pregnant." She says,"OK, I'll do it once." Maybe
she'll beat the odds like her friend.

If you tell teen-agers the no-nonsense truth about birth control, they
will use it. If they are not planning to have sex they won't. If they do
have sex, they were either raped, or had planned on it.

>Sure the counselors are strangers to these kids, but so are their teachers in
>schools, whom they were taught in advance to respect, obey, and look on as
>a source of knowledge and wisdom.  This is called respecting your elders.

This is not a silly idea, but is way out of date. Kids in high-school
know the weaknesses of their elders. They often become disillusioned
with the LACK of knowledge and wisdom they have. Telling somebody to
respect elders is one things, but respect must be earned. (I know, you'd
suggest it could be "beaten" it).

Although most of the problem can be found in the ignorance of
teen-agers, a lot can be found in the lack of wisdom of "the elders".
What makes you think the teachers get any respect?

>The parents are the established authority figures but the ideals taught at
>home are in a constant state of errosion outside the home.

I beg to differ. Adolescence is a time of self-discovery. More often
than not, this leads to a rebellion. All the the teen-agers I knew
considered their parents as enemies. The parents didn't seem to
understand what was going on. A teen-agers could go out in the early
evening and get stoned with his friends, but if he came in after midnite
because of a late movie, he'd be grounded. Such non-sequitorial
authority is NEVER respected.

I happened to have liked, and respected, my parents during high-school.
If, however, I told anyone this, I was immediately put on the defensive
wherein I'd have to illustrate some "cool" behavior they'd exhibited in
order to win the respect.

The "constant state of errosion" is as a result of parents describing
the world as one thing, and the kids finding out it's totally different.

>I suggest that PP insist that children come back for several counseling
>sessionsto give impulse reactions a chance to be filtered out.  Second
>thoughts are only good if you have a chance to use them.

This is not a bad idea, but impractical. Teenagers are impatient by
nature. You do not account for the "I'm spending the weekend with my
boyfriend in two days" scenario. Sure pills take a month to start, but a
diaphragm can be gotten in a day.

>Yes my analogy was rather silly here, PP doesn't give out cars, just a sort of
>drivers license.  PPs' safety belts don't always prevent accidents either,
>especially if they forget to "buckle up."

Would you drive on a road with unlicensed drivers? The police will stop
unlicensed drivers, who will stop "unlicensed" teen-agers.

If I may be so bold, Ray: when were you a teenager? 50's? 60's? (I'd be
hard pressed to believe 70's).

Maybe the kids of today have problems (I've sure seen enough), but as
engineers (for the most part), we all know that you can't solve todays
problems with yesterdays solutions.

You say, "the kids just shouldn't have sex, don't encourage them." They
ARE having sex (a lot, too). The DON'T need any encouragement. What they
DO need is guidance. If you can guide them into celebacy, fine -- more
power to you -- but I bet you can't. If they really didn't need
guidance, there wouldn't be a Planned Parenthood.

The difference between a child and an adolescent is that a child can be
told what to do and an adolescent must be helped to make the right
decisions -- for him/herself!

-- 
Charles Forsythe
CSDF@MIT-VAX
"I was going to say something really profound, but I forgot what it was."
-Rev. Wang Zeep