The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Chandler K. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Take Action - Letter to the Editor #1
Submitted to Holland Sentinel
In response to article "Teen births: don’t blame skimpy attire" (February 8th, Pg. A11)
First I would like to say that I agree wholeheartedly with Laura when she maintains that men are not controlled by primal sexual urges. However, I disagree with her assumption that the way women dress does not really matter. While we cannot draw a direct correlation between dress styles and teen pregnancies, no one disputes that scanty clothes suggest and even instigate certain sexual activity. As Laura stated, when we say men are "coerced" into sexual behavior by promiscuously dressed women it does imply that the women are to blame. But we must ask, why do women dress in revealing clothes? If not for purposes of attraction, then why? Society categorizes people by the way they dress, and a woman who dresses in a way that suggests promiscuity will be perceived as such. Basically, you dress what you aspire to be. When it comes to teenagers, parents should definitely make sure their children dress appropriately and not in a way that may lead to false assumptions.
I also believe it is ludicrous to imply that we can control teen births simply by educating teens about sex. How much more do they need to know? How much more money will have to be spent, and time wasted on education that already takes place? It is obvious that sex education does nothing to help promote abstinence. Teens understand what sex is, and the consequences it entails. To solve the problem of high teen pregnancy rates, teen pregnancies must not be accepted as openly as they currently are. We hear of a young woman sixteen or seventeen years of age, pregnant with a child, and we merely shrug our shoulders. Certainly teen mothers should be cared for, but it must be made clear that this sort of irresponsible sexual behavior will not be tolerated. We must make it "wrong" again. Until teen pregnancy once again becomes a scarlet letter, this problem will only become worse.
