Wednesday -June 25, 1997
O The Battalion
'PINION
- the pregnant stomach of America
onspicuous circumstances surround deaths of babies bom to irresponsible parents
leniorprom. For most higli — . . yond these, there are condoms, g, nTIll
leniorprom. For most high
tschool students, this apex
/marks a footstep toward the
e, the last big blowout be-
ethe end of an era. Normally,
leworst case scenario would
dve going stag or showing up
Ithesame dress as someone
!,But, as Bob Dylan said,
Hie times, they are a’changin’.”
I Garden Manor catering hall
([Freehold, New Jersey is
ere the story took place. Seniors and
lirdates enjoyed the ambiance and
igledwith friends in the dimly lit
im. Melissa Drexler, 18, danced with
date and inconspicuously disap-
photjeared into the women’s restroom. Min-
eslateron the dance floor, Drexler was
fain in the arms of her companion,
iighing with fellow promgoers.
t Meanwhile, a shocking discovery was
iingmade by a custodial worker just
mm the hall. In the pristine bathroom of
(banquet hall, a 6-pound, 6-ounce new-
om boy was found dead in a trash bin.
The minutes Drexler spent alone in
lerestroom have aroused a great deal
[speculation. Police are currently in-
fstigating the scene to determine how
(baby, who was alive during the
irthing process, mysteriously died.
Unspeakable questions loom. This in-
fstigation is a haunting reminder of
mother New Jersey young people
^ (hose story shocked a nation. Amy
issberg and her boyfriend, Brian Pe-
Samlrson, were indicted for the death of
"pled heir newborn earlier this year.
Both of these accounts should be un-
linkable today. After all, there are viable
iptionsto having an unwanted child,
and)’feenage parenthood, not necessarily
«elcomed with open arms, is not un-
leard of today. But maybe being a teen
parent is not the right answer. Couples
icrossthe nation await the birth of ba
bies to adopt, and thanks to Roe v. Wade,
Even abortion is a legitimate possibility
at Americans today.
M,let's back up for a second. In this
sgeofAIDS, birth control is available
rerpv/iere. It is not as if unplanned
iregna/icies have to be a reality — pre
cautions can be taken. Dozens of contra-
tptivescurrently exist on the market, in-
siding birth control pills and
permicides. These devices are readily
, fairly reliable and cheap. Be-
Mandy Cater
Senior psychology major
ve the
eagtie
picl
by a
yond these, there are condoms,
which all sexually-active teens
should ideally be using anyway.
And they’re easy enough to find.
Simply walk into a local phar
macy; condoms are as varied as
bubble gum brands.
If all of these products are ac
cessible to the public, including
teenagers, babies should not be
discovered in trash bins.
Drexler’s case, now officially con
sidered a homicide, simply acts
as an illustration for a more far-reaching
problem. American teenagers face a con
servative backlash to sexual revolutions
and rebellions of their parents’ youth.
Baby Boomers are rousing their min
ions to return to “family values.” Sex is
again a hushed word, and education on
the subject is staunchly opposed. Par
ents keep their lips sealed at home, and
when schools try to fill the void, parents
protest. These are not exactly America’s
apple-pie days anymore. While family
values carry some legitimate messages,
these values are the ones which sparked
the rebellions of yesteryear.
Yes, it would be nice to know that
preaching to kids about abstinence
would work. Unfortunately, this tech
nique does not do the job. Just as kids
fall asleep during church sermons and
biology class, the same applies here.
Wake up, America. Teenagers know
about sex. They are inundated with in
nuendoes and imagery from all direc
tions. American teenagers are having
sex, will probably continue to have sex,
and anyone who ignores this reality is
simply blind. This is not Donna Reed’s
America; this is the America of “Melrose
Place,” “Roseanne” and “Baywatch.”
What teenagers need is real educa
tion about sex. They need to know the
realities of pregnancy and reproductive
choices. If they are sexually active, they
need to know what a condom is and
how to use it. They need to know how to
protect themselves from AIDS and oth
er sexually-transmitted diseases. Most
of all, they need to know that sex in the
real world is not as glamorous and easy
to deal with as it is on television.
The conservative rhetoric prominent
in our country is doing nothing but
widening a generation gap already a
chasm wide. Preaching about the moral
ity of sex only makes teens feel ashamed
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— it does not stop them from having sex.
Being embarrassed only encourages
teenagers to keep quiet and try to deal
with problems on their own. When any
person feels backed into a corner with
nowhere to turn, desperation often is the
result. When we alienate teenagers, we
force them to take desperate measures.
Don’t take these written words
wrong, because this column is in no
way advocating the actions taken in the
Grossberg-Peterson case (and possibly
the Drexler case). Flowever, an individ
ual cannot go without asking why these
teens felt so trapped. People must won
der where their parents were and why
they were oblivious to the swelling
stomachs of these young women.
ass«B»a«c
The fact that these cases are tragic is
undeniable but not just for the obvious
reasons. These babies did not have to
die, and that is certain. These young
people did not have to destroy their
lives, either. Perhaps the greatest tragedy
is that these teenagers felt their unthink
able actions were the only solution.
If these cases tell us anything, it is that
teenagers are getting skewed perspectives
on sex and how to handle its aftereffects.
No, it is not comfortable to talk about sex,
birth control or especially the sexuality of
teenagers. Parents and educators being
tight-lipped about the subject only brings
about ignorance and misinformation —
in the aforementioned cases, tragedy.
Teens must be educated about pro-
N4. ■■
Graphic: Brad Graeber
tection and conception. It is a life and
death issue. Parents teach their kids
about the dangers of drugs and hanging '
out with “the wrong crowd,” but pretend
that sex is a non-issue.
If these parents do not want the respon
sibility themselves, they should not protest
when the educational system steps in to
take over. Let teenagers know that con
doms are out there; provide them in the
school health offices. Anything and every
thing must be done to ensure that
tragedies such as these do not occur again.
This is the bottom line: It is better to
send teenagers to college for four years
with a pack of Trojans than it is to pro
vide them a police escort to jail with a
life sentence.
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Educational standards must improve to raise student potential
S tudents in the United States are do
ing horribly compared to students
in other industrialized nations
when the need to be competitive is most
wgent. According to reports by the De
partment of Commerce, one-third of
our gross domestic product is related to
foreign trade, and our trade deficits are
higher than they have been in the histo-
ryof this nation. With the reality of in
ternational trade in this economic envi
ronment, students need to be on par
with their future economic competitors.
A study published in U.S. News and World Report
shows that students in Japan, Germany and France
spend 100 percent more hours studying math, sci
ence, geography and history, and a full 50 percent of
their students take advanced exams, compared with
6.6 percent in the U.S. Not only is there a higher num
ber of students taking these exams, but their passing
rate is eight times higher than that of U.S. students.
Out of a random sample of 1,000 students, there
would be 165 advanced graduates in the aforemen
tioned countries, and only three in the U.S.
This comes out to a 5,700 percent higher
success rate. This is phenomenal.
It is astounding how the American edu
cational system, once the envy of the
world, has let itself slip into this sad state
of affairs. The public school system as we
know it was set up in the midst of the In
dustrial Revolution in order to give stu
dents knowledge necessary to work in a
factory — basic reading, writing, and arith
metic skills. Steel mills and textile factories
were sufficient in the past, but in today’s
manufacturing world of computers and jet aircraft, a
more advanced education is required.
Not to be critical, the three R’s still are very im
portant, but simply not enough.
The problem lies in the fact that, although the
world students face upon graduation has changed
drastically in the past century, the public school sys
tem has not. Most high school graduates have diffi
culty balancing their checkbooks, and the good-pay
ing manual labor jobs of our parent’s generation do
not exist today. “Joe Graduate” is left high and dry.
The reason all this has been allowed to occur is
hard to pinpoint, but a few ideas come to mind.
Some assert that what is needed is an infusion of
more money into the system. Hogwash. Statistics from
the Department of Education show that, combining
primary and secondary spending, per-student spend
ing in the US is 45 to 67 percent higher than the in
ternational competitors who surpass us in perfor
mance. Perhaps the distribution of money is a bit
skewed, but that is another matter—the money is out
there.
If the parents knew how badly their children
compare to peers in other countries — and how
the resources are available to change this — some
thing would get done. It is puzzling that most stu
dents in the U.S. do not receive the sort of tests
which would let a parent know where his or her
child stands with the children of the world. This is
yet another example of a self-serving bureaucracy
trying to save its own hide.
Many are proposing officials wire schools into
“the Net," that incredible invention which millions
of pubescent students use for “self-exploration” of
their sexuality. The money spent on computers
and Internet service for each desk would be better
spent on improved classrooms (i.e., no leaky roofs)
and advances in the salaries of teachers, who are
among the lowest paid in the industrialized world.
Sure, the Internet is a wonderful medium for the
free flow of thought and ideas, but high school stu
dents need to learn geometry and physics. These
things can be taught best by a human being who
can interact with students and understand what
they are going through. A computer cannot under
stand the fear and confusion of not knowing what
is going through a teacher’s head, nor can they un
derstand the thrill and exhilaration of that moment
of enlightenment, that moment of perfection when
an idea becomes clear and real to a student.
A revolution in education is needed for the
United States to catch up with the rest of the
world. The answer, however, cannot be found in
computers or standardized tests. Educating
America only will be achieved through dedication
to teaching our children to excel and achieve
SO, CAN W
p. m perp ?
Mail Call
‘Sexual perversions’
provoke evaluation
In response to James Francis’ June
23 column:
I think you might have a differ
ent opinion if you had been
forced to write a column outlin
ing the positive and negative as
pects of your argument.
The fact that sexual acts are
considered a perversion in this
country is a testament to the fact
that we are ignorant, not directed
toward our ineptitude at dealing
with society’s ills.
You point out that the place
ment of Adult Video is possibly
inappropriate, but I must ask
you where it would be appropri
ate. No children have any cause
to be in that area, unless they
have started staying at the La
Quinta or renting U-Hauls.
Are you implying that the store be
moved to a seedier part of town or
would you rather it be located in the
traditional highway setting where
newcomers to this area would be
greeted by a truckstop environment
of pornography?
And as for the advertise
ments, I have to ask you this: If
the American society did not
want those advertisements on
the air, don’t you think they
would change them?
The facts show that market
forces drive market decisions. If the
demand was removed, so would
the supply. As a business person,
you provide what people want.
As for trying to change the
view of sexuality being labeled
taboo on television and print
media, I ask you to get some ref
erence materials about sexuality
in European countries. It is a
proven fact that fewer deviant,
sexual acts occur when sex is not
considered perverse.
I will conclude this letter by
offering a simple statement: If
having sensual or sexual innuen
do become mainstream helps to
prevent another one of my
friends from being raped (staffs-’
tics show that one in four col
lege students are raped), then I L
will do everything I can to make ;
sure that the American public :
gets “exposed.”
Thank you for your column .
and I hope insight might be
raised by a fruitful discussion
and examination of both sides o£-
this argument.
Rachel Preston
Graduate Student
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