The Battalion
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Page 3
Thursday • March 20, 1997
iii
xual experimentation in college?
! ot these days — kids are starting
ounger, with more consequences
By Michael Schaub
The Battalion
Tbung people are not just wor-
f rying about their math home-
L work anymore.
Jason Elms, a senior civil engi-
ering major, has heard stories
out the changing face of grade
tiool life from his friend, a junior
h school substitute teacher.
He told me he had to pick up a
Ite from a kid in one of his classes
at said she had to buy a home
egnancy test,” Elms said.
The growing social permissiveness
[sexuality has made young people
clore curious about sex, he said.
il'When you’re 12 or 13, your
ilirmones are running like crazy,”
ims said. “Hell, you turn on every
ik show, there’s an 11-year-old
■king about having a kid. Noth
ing’s shocking.”
I Psychologist Betty Milburn, as-
ciate director of Student Coun
ting Services, said young people
e forced to handle sexual issues
“lads are active at way too early
age, at 13and 14,” Milburn said.
'ou can't handle the emotional as-
Cfs at that early an age."
Milburn said she partly attrib-
te the growing trends in youth
iffliality to media treatment of
SetuaJ issues.
There’s so much of it out
ere, we kind of become desen-
itized, and it doesn’t seem like
a big deal,” she said. “There’s
ots of sexual stuff in all forms of
te media.
“We have all these beauty
Bgeants for young preteen girls,
ome people would say that’s sexu-
lexploitation.”
Kendall Madden, a junior agri-
ultural development major, said
ealso believes people are becom-
ig sexually active too early.
"One of the causes is TV,” Mad-
N said. “Another is family up
bringing. There’s a loss of morals
— people are straying away from
the church.”
If the threats of sexually transmit
ted diseases and pregnancy have not
deterred children from becoming
sexually active, Milburn said it may
have at least influenced some young
people to remain monogamous.
“There probably is a little less
promiscuity nowadays,” Milburn
said, “but again, there seems to be
plenty of one-night stands.”
The increasing divorce rate in
the country has led some students
to try to sustain problematic rela
tionships, Milburn said.
“I’m surprised by the number of
students who are willing to stick
with a relationship that’s having
problems,” she said. “There are
lots of factors there. Certainly
STDs is one of them, and an
other is the divorce rate.”
Debra Grant, pastor of
Peace Lutheran Church
and a chaplain with the
Campus Ministers Associ
ation, said definitions of
sex and marriage change
with time.
“A higher percentage of
students are products
of broken rela
tionships in
their par
ents,” Grant
said. “No
matter what
the denomi
nation is, the
church has
had to deal
with open dis
cussions as to what
‘marriage’ means.”
Despite increasing me
dia coverage of AIDS and oth
er STDs, not all young people
take disease into considera
tion, Elms said.
See Sex, Page 4
Hearitligiit Ministries
of Longview, Texas is currently
looking tor college graduates who are Christians and desire to be
challenged by working with kids trom around the country. These kids
are struggling with life issues and are currently
living with us in our residential counseling
center located in the piney woods of East Texas.
iHl ear flight is a ministry dedicated to
work with families and kids
who have been victimized
or caught in crisis situations.
These young people come and
live with us for a year. During
that time, we work intensely
with each child, grow to love them dearly,
struggle with them, and commit to helping
them through their individual and family issues.
We have twenty-four kids here at a time, counsel horn a Biblical
model, are athletic and “outdoorsy'' by nature, use horses and
water sports to enhance our relationships with the
kids, require the families to be a part of the healing process
and are dedicated to a spirit of excellence
in all that we do.
Full-time salaried beginning positions
arc available. If you would be
interested in finding out
»iuic about Heartlight and
the possibility of you joining
our staff, please give us a call
at /d ana we’ll send *
you mtormauon including a video explaining
the ministry and a job description defining the position.
Artwork by James Vineyard
I t’s hard to think of
something to say af
ter telling someone
you are a virgin. People
react with raised eye
brows and the ever-pre
sent “Wow,” or a shak
ing head and a look of
bewilderment.
I do not tell
people I am a
virgin. I just
tell them I’ve
never had
In today's sex-dominated world,
virginity is a blessing— and yields
more benefits than preventing STDs
Columnist
V
Aaron Meier
Junior political
science major
sex before. The word
“virgin” implies
that I am next in
line to be thrown
in a volcano or
something.
It is not like I
started my life
trying to be a
virgin, but here
I am, sexless
and 21. “Sexless
and 21” — it
sounds like a bad
spin-off of Beverly
Hills 90210.
The media has de
cided recendy that sex
is “out” and chastity is
“in.” Gone are the days
when watching televi
sion meant seeing more
bare flesh than is at a
nudist colony. These
I days, Oprah shouts
about “second
virginities.”
wmmmi
Ross from the sitcom
Friends confessed he
was a virgin when he
got married.
As I sit alone in my
bed and watch these •
events unfold on tele
vision, I have to laugh.
I do not tune in to Bay-
watch to see Pamela
Anderson Lee develop
morals (a new addition
next season, along
with a brain).
I am not going to find a good
role model on television. The same
media that hypes Dennis Rodman
and his cross-dressing escapades
on ice cannot dictate morality.
Friends ask why I have stayed a
virgin for 21 years. The answer is, “I
really don’t know.”
I never made a conscious deci
sion to not have sex. It just
evolved from my life. Some peo
ple say religion is the reason they
remain virgins. This does not ap
ply to me. Too many people in the;
world beat their Bibles during the-
day, then hop in bed at night
faster than porno stars.
Some people say they do it be
cause they are afraid of catching
sexually transmitted diseases.
Surprisingly, not enough peo
ple say yes to this. With diseases
such as herpes and gonorrhea
and AIDS rampant in society, sex.
has become one of the most dan
gerous things to do.
People say, “This is Texas
A&M, the most conservative
school in America. STDs are not
a problem here.” To these people,
I say you can wither away in a
hospital, remembering your days
at the most conservative school
in America.
Personally, I am not going to
risk the rest of my life for a night
of pleasure.
See Meier, Page 4
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