I heard some amusing news lately. A certain group of people is pushing for the banning of condom ads. They argue that it gives teenagers a license to be promiscuous or ill-informed about sex.
Funny…very funny!
In a country that is dominated by Catholics, it is not surprising that some people think of themselves as moral guardians. But this is really pushing the envelope too far. Can someone ask those people what their issues really are? Is it the promiscuity of teens? I’m sorry but that is a fact of life, you cannot argue with genetics. As if they never experienced how it was to have raging teen hormones. Is their issue the growing number of teen pregnancies? I’m sorry again but I don’t think banning condom ads is the solution to this.
Way back in college, I had a term paper which recommends abolishing the MTRCB. Back then, the MTRCB was receiving so much flack due to their ban of now-classic movies like Schindler’s List and The Piano. I discovered a lot of articles that supported our main argument: the Garden of Eden complex (remember Eve and the apple?). The more you ban something, the more it becomes tempting. We are after all, sons of Adam and Eve.
In Denmark, the government removed the ban on smut and porn. After some time people, it became a non-event, a fact of life. Did sexual crimes or unwanted pregnancies escalate because of this liberal act? Absolutely not. It actually worked as some sort of reverse-psychology…it became so un-tempting. Not that I am promoting smut or pornography here, my point is that we place undue attention on something that should have been "ordinary" in the first place.
Like I always said, look at the basic issue and address it. I am not prudish nor am I liberated but sex is not as “evil” as some people are depicting it. After everything is said and done, it all boils down to being RESPONSIBLE. We have to teach our kids to be responsible. If these parents continue rolling their eyes on this sex issue, then they should expect the kids to look for the answers elsewhere. So who now gave these kids the license to be ill-informed about sex? Tsk, tsk…some people have a weird concept of the term “guidance.”
Times like this, I miss Eminem. He is, hands down, the best adviser for teenagers. He teaches a lesson by painting the horror story and its consequences (do this and you get this). He confronts issues and explains without insulting the intelligence of these kids. But I digress…my views on Emimem merits another blog.
Too bad I lost my copy of that term paper. I would have mailed it to these misguided moral guardians. The 1.0 grade would have been enough to shut them up.