Radio Station Hands Out Free Condoms

[Aqua]

(SF)

MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Opening the airwaves to discussion, a local radio station refuses to shy away from controversy.

This week's entertainment news about the pregnancy of 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears sparked a safe sex giveaway and plenty of discussion, WESH 2 News reported.

Radio Station KISS 95.1 invited everyone to its Melbourne studio to pick up condoms by the handful and by the box, advertised as a way to prevent teen pregnancy.
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"We're still being scared and not being proactive and telling our kids, 'Hey, you know what, I don't want you to have sex, but if you're going to have sex, use a condom," Mike Klein with WBVD radio said.

To many, a condom giveaway doesn’t solve the problem -- it is the problem.

"You're telling teenagers that a condom is your savior," Charles Ford Walker of Apostolic Ministries of America said.

Walker teaches abstinence to teens and said condoms give teenagers an excuse to have premarital sex.

"It takes care of everything, it takes care of you getting pregnant, it takes care of you getting an STD, so go right ahead," Walker said.

At the radio station, Project Response and AIDS prevention and service agency joined in the giveaway.

"Unfortunate fact is that a lot of teenagers are not choosing abstinence so for those kids we need to be talking about other methods of prevention like condom use," April Perkins with Project Response said.

One statistic agreed upon by many is that after several years of remaining steady, the rate of reported teen pregnancy is on the rise.

There was a lot more discussion than there were takers, but radio station executives said discussion is what it was all about.

[jseal]

... discussion is what it was all about.
True, but depending upon the subject, that can be a mite tricky to pull off.

[gekkogecko]

Well, someone's got to do it.

[scotzoidman]

Walker teaches abstinence to teens and said condoms give teenagers an excuse to have premarital sex.As if teens in a hormone-rage needed an excuse... :ahole:

[jseal]

... quite tricky.

[osuche]

I've never, never understood this issue. Most teens I know are aware of condoms and sex. Hiding them or limiting access to condoms isn;t the issue. The issues - I think - are that parents need to communicate openly with their kids about sex and its repercussions.

My mom was very open with me...and when I decided to start having sex (at 13) I had absolutely no issues walking into the drug store and buying my own condoms, thank you.

[Lilith]

The headquarters for one of the most vocal/active pro-life groups is in Melbourne.

[jseal]

Now HERE is a conversation. :)

[osuche]

I think it just died. :D :p :D

[jseal]

That can happen when there are too few participants.

[scotzoidman]

Lack of participants isn't the problem. Reasonable people will discuss things in a rational manner. I've noticed that at the extreme ends there can be no discussion, only a belief that there's only room for one point of view.

[jseal]

... Reasonable people will discuss things in a rational manner. I've noticed that at the extreme ends there can be no discussion, only a belief that there's only room for one point of view.
Yessir!

[osuche]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9504871/

"Recent surveys show that 70 percent of U.S. teens have engaged in oral sex by the time they reach 18, and more than 45 percent have had intercourse at least once. More than 70 percent of young women and 80 percent of young men approve of premarital sex, according to a study published recently in the Review of General Psychology."

[jseal]

Is access to prophylactics limited?

[osuche]

Not in the US, although I think that in some countries it is. I've had the impression - based on my travels - that they're more limited in countries like India and China. There are also social pressures in many of these countries that prevent people from accessing condoms even if there is availability.

I had a friend that started an "online condom business" which sold many different varieties and makes, and much of the business he did was outside of the US. I think it was cultural norms rather than availability constraints in most countries - but I would guess that if you're in Iran you might have some issues obtaining condoms if you are a woman (note that I have never been to Iran so this is a guess).

[Oldfart]

I suspect that in most small towns, if Johnny bought a packet of condoms, his father would know about it about 10 seconds before Johnny's girlfriend's father heard. Fear is a powerful thing.

"and said condoms give teenagers an excuse to have premarital sex" is just code for "these things take away the fear".

[Booger]

Not in the US, although I think that in some countries it is. I've had the impression - based on my travels - that they're more limited in countries like India and China. There are also social pressures in many of these countries that prevent people from accessing condoms even if there is availability.

I had a friend that started an "online condom business" which sold many different varieties and makes, and much of the business he did was outside of the US. I think it was cultural norms rather than availability constraints in most countries - but I would guess that if you're in Iran you might have some issues obtaining condoms if you are a woman (note that I have never been to Iran so this is a guess).


If I'm not wrong China has a zero population program going. So I would assume that condoms and other forms of birth control would be readily available.

[Booger]

I suspect that in most small towns, if Johnny bought a packet of condoms, his father would know about it about 10 seconds before Johnny's girlfriend's father heard. Fear is a powerful thing.

"and said condoms give teenagers an excuse to have premarital sex" is just code for "these things take away the fear".



I'm not sure about condoms but I do know drug stores here in the us are limited on what kind of information they can reveal.

[jseal]

So would it be correct to say that access to condoms in Melbourne, as in general in the U.S., is not restricted?

[scotzoidman]

... depending upon the subject, that can be a mite tricky to pull off.
That could be said of condoms as well... :rofl:

[jseal]

Now, if we can generally accept that access to prophylactics in Melbourne, as in general in the U.S., is not restricted, what is the “discussion” that the radio station executives said “it was all about”?

[Booger]

The “discussion” they were trying to talk about wasn't about the availability of condoms. It was about teenagers and the fact the should be using them.

[jseal]

... if you're going to have sex, use a condom," Mike Klein with WBVD radio said ...
It is interesting to note that even when provided free,

... There was a lot more discussion than there were takers, but radio station executives said discussion is what it was all about.

[Booger]

It is interesting to note that even when provided free,


That's the irony of the whole “discussion” even when offered free people don't take them. Even though almost every one will agree condoms should be used by teens having sex. There is still such a taboo on teen sex that even when offered free the condoms weren't being taken.

[jseal]

There may be issues that have yet to be addressed. One is, at least in my experience, that intercourse is more pleasant when not wearing a condom than it is when wearing one. I believe that this is true for most men.

Another is vaguer, but it is that the process of arousal and heightened intimacy which may begin with a wide range of interactions over an extended period, commonly climaxes with relatively brief sexual intercourse. By the time that the pair are about to “start” the “event” of sex, the sexual encounter has been underway for quite some time. I would suggest that within this context, the frame of reference the couple has at the moment can often see the requirement of condom use as an artificial imposition.

These are also reasons for the low uptake of prophylactic use.

[scotzoidman]

There may be issues that have yet to be addressed. One is, at least in my experience, that intercourse is more pleasant when not wearing a condom than it is when wearing one.
Would any amount of discussion get thru to some people how unpleasant unwanted pregnancies & STDs are?

[jseal]

scotzoidman,

As you appear to believe that discussion of the subject will fail to achieve the desired goals, what do you propose as an alternative?

In a society as sensitive to civil liberties as this is, all the alternatives are, in my opinion, less attractive.

[scotzoidman]

I thought post #11 made my stance on the subject pretty clear.

And when did this society become sensitive to civil liberties again? Did I sleep thru something?

[jseal]

scotzoidman,

The post you refer to (http://www.pixies-place.com:81/forums/showpost.php?p=1513121&postcount=11) claims that “… at the extreme ends there can be no discussion, only a belief that there's only room for one point of view.” I agree with you on this, as would most people. That is, however, beside the point. Those who engage in conversation or discussion are behaving reasonably, even when they disagree. It is by critically reviewing the opinions of others, and having others critically review one’s own opinions that we as individuals and we as a civil society move forward.

One of the parts of a discussion which warrants constant attention is to ensure that the focus remains on the subject. In the opening post, it seems to me that the subject was identified as prophylactic use.

… for those kids we need to be talking about other methods of prevention like condom use," …
I think that osuche and Oldfart have identified a major (THE major?) component to the use, in osuche’s example, or avoidance in Oldfart’s, of condoms: the perceived degree of taboo or social condemnation of a youth’s sexual activities. Another is, as I suggested above, the unsatisfactory physical features inherent in a barrier form of prophylaxis. If this event was not a mere publicity stunt on the part of the radio station executives, then the whys, and the why nots of condom use would seem to me to be more relevant than focusing on the characters of those who do not share one’s opinion.

Your question in re civil liberties implies that there are today fewer rather than more civil liberties than in the past. At the start of this century there are more civil liberties than there were at the beginning of the last. I refer you to the freedom or liberation acquired by women, by Negro and other minorities, and by homosexuals. Are you suggesting that their lot is worse now than in the past?

If someone feels compelled to point out that this liberation is incomplete, it is only because the liberation has already begun that one can claim that it is incomplete.

Further, if that is not enough to make it obvious that we enjoy more civil liberties today than in the past, take a moment to recall that your constitutional right to privacy did not even exist until 1965. This “right to privacy” extends to all Americans, not just this group or that one.

Clearly, the U.S is a much more liberal (for better and for worse) society now than in the past; with many more civil liberties accepted norms.

[Oldfart]

So would it be correct to say that access to condoms in Melbourne, as in general in the U.S., is not restricted?

jseal,

Melbourne is a 4 million person polis, where going a couple of suburbs over brings general anonymity.

Vending machines allow for closer purchases.

Booger is right when a vendor places professional virtue over personal/religious ties.

Get two kids hot enough and a steel franger won't stop them.

[jseal]

That's nice.