European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 08, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse And executive Hal Donofrio stands by an abstinence billboard and the approach of his Campaign and Campaign giving virginity a boost by Laura Rehrmann the associated press us Tsay no to sex. That seems a hopelessly outdated response to the increasingly sex filled movies and music videos teen agers .-.see. \. But in Maryland where the teen age pregnancy rate ranked among the highest in the country five years ago a multimillion Dollar advertising Campaign is focusing on abstinence and responsibility. Officials Point to. A Small decline in the birth rate for 15 to 17-year-Olds in 1990, the most recent data available As a measure of the program s Success. However it s impossible to attribute the decline to any one program and the Lack of More recent statistics makes it hard to gauge the Campaign s effectiveness. The ads Don t specifically mention contraception. That was t an oversight but the result of a Compromise Between conservatives and liberals concerned about the increasing number of pregnant teen agers. Lih Ink Maryland is a very Liberal state. But i think if we came out with a condom commercial on television this program would have died in a year without question said Hal Donofrio the advertising executive who has spearheaded the Campaign for our children. The Campaign has involved billboards school posters and television and radio commercials. Over the past six years it has received about $.1.9 million in state funding in addition the private sector contributed $3 million in Cash and another $3 million in Media time and billboard space Donofrio said. One of the Campaign s billboards features the word Virgin scrawled in what looks like red Spray paint. Underneath it says teach your kids it s not a dirty word among the posters Are two of smiling Young couples one Black one White that read abstinence makes the heart grow the Campaign is spreading to other states which have expressed the most interest in its messages to the other half e Campaign has spread to other states which have expressed most interest in its message to the other half of the teen age pregnancy problem the fathers. Of the teen age pregnancy problem the fathers. New Jersey transit buses feature Maryland s poster of a Bright eyed toddler that reads it s amazing How Many Guys disappear when one of these shows Judy Jordan director of Arkansas child support enforcement office especially liked the poster of a Chicken wearing Tennis shoes that reads what do you Call a Guy who makes a baby and flies the Coop we had a huge Chicken billboard right on the freeway she said. That s an from 1987, when the Campaign started to 1990, Maryland saw a 14 percent increase in the birth rate for girls age 15 to 17, from 29.5 to 33.6 births per 1,000. Nationally the rate increased 18 percent to 37.5 births per 1,000 during the same period. However state officials emphasize a 4.8 percent decline in the teen birth rate from 1989 to 1990, at a time when the National rate went up 3 percent As. A sign the tide is turning Maryland s birth rate for girls younger than 15 dropped 5 percent to 1.7 births per 1,000 from 1987 to 1990, while it increased 7 percent nationally to 1.4 births per 1,000. The Only research on the Campaign s effectiveness was a 1990 Survey of Baltimore Middle school students. Ninety four percent of students said they were familiar with the ads 75- percent said the ads encouraged them to talk to their parents about sex. However Rosetta Stith the principal of the Laurence Paquin school for girls who Are pregnant or have recently Given birth believes teaching abstinence Only works when children have a reason to say kids in the inner City Don t see a future. There s drugs. There s violence. There s alcohol she said. The abstinence message is a Start she said but it s not a penetrable Force. A penetrable Force for these kids is something that they can no posters not even Frank discussions with her Mother influenced Paquin student zen via Alexander. She started having sex at age 11. Now 14, Zenovia has a daughter just like her Mother did. You cannot Tell a child to wait. That s the honest to cod truth she. Said. They will look at you like you re crazy and say wait for what my time is now " on the family q is Tow self esteem among women still greatly influenced by the same physical factors that they worried about when they were younger the importance of Beauty does not end in adolescence. It continues to determine human Worth to some degree until late in life. Let me give you an example of what i mean. I counselled a Young woman who had been a Beautiful flight attendant a few years earlier. She was happily married to a Man who was proud of he Beauty. Then she was in a tragic automobile Accident which scarred her face and twisted her body. Her Back was broken and she was destined to walk with a Cane for the rest of her life. She was no longer attractive and her husband quickly lost interest in her sexually. Their divorce followed shortly. She could no longer work for the airlines and she found it difficult to obtain a Job of any kind. In this instance a Young woman with High personal Worth plunged to a position of Little social status in one Brief moment. Her True value As a human being should not have been affected by her Accident but it certainly was in the eyes of her immature husband. While there Are Many causes for Low self esteem among women today that old Nemesis called the ugliest which everyone experiences at least occasionally keeps doing its dirty work throughout society. Of How can i help my child withstand the adolescent pressure to conform on important matters such As drug use and sexual immorality it is important for your pre teen to know about group pressure before it reaches its Peak. Someday he May be sitting in a car with four friends who decide to take some Little red pills and he needs to know in Advance How he will handle that moment. Role play that moment with him teaching him what to say and do. Your preparation is no guarantee that he will have the courage to stand alone at that crucial time but his knowledge of peer influence could provide the Independence to do what is right. I would therefore recommend that this matter of conformity be thoroughly discussed and rehearsed with your 1 0 or 1 1 year old. I am very disappointed with the Way my 4-year-old is developing. Is it possible to forecast a child s future character from this Early age a probably not. It is unfair and damaging to judge him too soon. Be patient and give your Little fellow time to mature. Work gently on the traits that concern you the most but by All Means allow him the privilege of being a child. He will be one for such a Brief moment anyway. Or. James c. Dobson a president of focus on the family an organization Dodi clod to preserving the Homo. Corres Ordence should to sent to him at focus on the family . Box 444. Colorado a pings. Colo 609q3. Saturday january 8, 1994 the stars and stripes 15
