ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 10, 1992                   TAG: 9203100406
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FEAR FACTOR

INSTEAD of telling teens what to do and what not to do, why not use the fear and dread of being a teen-age parent as part of sex education? Aim it toward girls, more than toward boys - because in most cases the boyfriend will leave the girl and she must fend for herself and the child.

A good plan wouldn't tell how socially and morally wrong premarital sex is, or what methods of birth control to use. Instead, it would tell what it's like to drop out of school to support a child, and how leaving school will limit hopes of a prosperous future. Tell a girl how she will feel when her social life begins to fall apart, because she has to stay at home with a baby.

In my opinion, fear and dread would discourage irresponsible sex. A ruined life is a high price to pay.

BROCK ROBERTS PARRY McCLUER HIGH SCHOOL BUENA VISTA 


 by CNB