
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 4, 1991                   TAG: 9102040282
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TEEN PARENTS STORY EXAMPLE OF MEDIA SLANTING

ON JAN. 5 a news article appeared on the increase in sexual activity among teen-age girls. This came as no surprise to anyone who has teen-agers. Neither did the revelation that authorities are surprised there has been a big increase despite expanded health and sexual education for such age groups.

On Jan. 6 there was report about a Shawsville couple, headlined "For teen parents, days are filled." This article did nothing to discourage young couples from being a part of the statistics of the first article.

The slanting of such stories in the media can be very damaging to teen-agers. For every story of a young couple who manage to survive such a situation as well as the Deares have, how many are there of complete failure and even tragic consequences that are not exposed to the public? Very few young couples with a child today have parents who can provide even minimum support.

I sincerely doubt, when the young couples do receive such help, they realize what a strain it is on the parents, or how lucky they are to have any help. The comment of Eric Deare - "This is the hard part right now. It can't help but get easier" - reveals just how naive they can be.

Little consideration was given in the article to the feelings of Brenda Deare's parents [Homer and Brenda Edwards]. This hard-working couple must have sacrificed to be able to offer their only child a chance to make a decent living by securing a college education. The father's reaction when told about the girl's pregnancy bears out that they were hurt deeply.

More and more often, misplaced concern is blown out of proportion by media slanting. The tragedy of little Isaiah's death is one example. If all the people who pour out sympathy and flowers to murdered children would spend a fraction of that energy and expense on abused children before they die, it might actually be of some help.

We need more responsibility in media reporting. It's time the citizens of this country insisted on it. PATRICIA HUTSON NEWPORT

by CNB