Fox TV Promotes Sex Etc. Site for Teens
Terry Trippany on Nov 07 2007 at 2:19 pm | Filed under: Abortion Debate, Education Watch, Feature Article, Media Watch
Note: This article is crossposted at NewsBusters. The Waxman video is at the bottom.
The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet ran a segment this morning that promoted the Rutgers University Sex, ETC. site for teens. Unfortunately I was not able to watch the program so I can not comment on the specifics of the segment but I can provide some background on the site that should have every parent concerned about the effort to circumvent parental involvement in teaching their teens, and yes, pre-teen children about sex within the context of a parent’s perspective.
The first item you may not be surprised to learn is that while the site runs under the subtext of "a website by teens for teens" that it is heavily influenced by adults with a particular agenda. Adults such as Nora Gelperin who is the training coordinator for the Network for Family Life Education based out of Rutgers University. The organization has been renamed to the more child friendly name of Answer and has been the recipient of government sponsored earmarks for the New Jersey Teen to Teen education project.
Here is how the Sex, Etc. editors describe themselves.
Sex, Etc. is an award-winning national magazine and Web site on sexual health that is written by teens, for teens. It is part of the Teen-to-Teen Sexuality Education Project developed by Answer (formerly the Network for Family Life Education), a leading national organization dedicated to providing and promoting comprehensive sexuality education. Answer is part of the Center for Applied Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
And here is the part that they leave out of that particular description. Training coordinator Nora Gelperin was a former community educator with the Planned Parenthoods of Western Washington and Greater Northern New Jersey. So lets dispel the myth that this is a site "by teens for teens"; that is just the cover story. Likewise I would venture to say that many parents would object to the efforts of Gelperin when it comes to educating children about sex. Perhaps it’s just me but it is clear that some checks and balances are lacking here.
Alarm bells go off all over the place when one delves into the logistics of the site. Let’s start off with rudimentary safeguards that should be in place to prevent young pre-teens from accessing this content without the supervision of their parents. (Isn’t this a law in some states?) The site is set up to present the aura that parents will be informed but that mechanism is fake. The checks that appear to be in place to prevent pre-teens from signing up for the site sponsored e-mails, advocacy literature and monthly previews without parental notification don’t do anything at all. Children are supposed to add a parent’s e-mail address as part of the sign up process yet the e-mail address has no validation; i.e. simple checks to guarantee that the child and parent e-mail are the same or anything ajaxy and simple like that are not in place. Not that it would matter much anyway because the parent e-mail is simply not used for anything; never a mailer, nothing. I’d be surprised to learn that they were actually storing the e-mail. The signup validation check goes straight to the child’s e-mail address. Thus I was allowed to sign up as a "genderqueer" 9 year old (actual choice) and immediately activate my site access for chat rooms and the like while receiving automated monthly alerts.
The alerts themselves are another subject of great joy. Want to know about proper circle jerk etiquette, need abortion advice or want to join the Answer effort to bring more liberal Sex Ed programs to your school? Sex ETC is there to answer that call.
So what’s my problem? The target audience for one, sponsorship by Democrats in Congress for another and the new effort to subvert parental authority by soliciting children to basically get more sexually active (and not feel guilty about it); especially if your parents advocate abstinence.
The site is much more than just a site about teaching teens about sex, it is an advocacy group that is part of a bigger network that includes pro-abortion interests. Perhaps some parents would not be so enamored to learn that their children are reading the Sex ETC article Not Ashamed to Say It: I Had an Abortion. The article was not written by a teen but it definitely was directed to your teen and pre-teen daughters. The article by self proclaimed feminist Jordan Conn, 22, is an extension of the MS. Magazine We Had Abortions campaign and follows in the heels of the planned parenthood "I Had an Abortion" t-shirt campaign.
Note the typical liberal scare tactics being used by Conn to convince your child or grandchild that abortion is nothing more than a set of bad feelings with perhaps some temporary pain. When reading the block quote pay particular attention when Conn talks about not being able to finish school because of this inconvenient "fetus", that she is talking about college and that the "fetus" is really a baby. (side note: "baby" is a word that is never applied by activists when whitewashing the facts about abortion. Much better to stick to fetus. All emphasis mine.)
Having an abortion was not an easy decision or a painless process. I had feelings of guilt, depression and shame. I felt a connection with the fetus—this being that was causing me morning sickness. This made the decision hard. Abortion was no longer an abstract political idea but a real option in response to my pregnancy. Even though it was a hard decision, I decided that an abortion would be the best option for me. Having a child would have made it hard for me to finish school, and I wasn’t ready to give up my dreams. And I wasn’t ready to be a mother at 20 years old.
My parents were involved in the decision. They were worried about how badly I felt about myself. During a phone conversation, my mom said, “Jordan, you had sex, and there is nothing wrong with that. Sex is a beautiful thing that I did not raise you to be ashamed of.” I did not feel ashamed about having sex; I felt ashamed about the abortion I knew I was probably going to have. “It’s your body,” my mom said, “and you are the only one who gets to say what happens to it. Don’t let other people’s ideas make you feel bad about yourself.” I never again felt guilty about having an abortion, although I sometimes feel grief for the child I didn’t have.
Why Take Action for Choice?
Since having the abortion, I’ve interned for the Feminist Majority Foundation, gone to conferences and protests and become a full-fledged activist. Some people think that the right to a safe abortion isn’t an issue we have to worry about. It is legal to have an abortion, so what am I fighting for? My father asked me why I’ve become such an activist for choice. Surely not all people who have an abortion become activists.
I became an activist because of the new restrictions on abortion and new Supreme Court justices that are openly against abortion who could reverse Roe v. Wade—the landmark case that made abortion legal. There are states that are limiting women’s access to abortion. In some places, women have to be over 18 to have one or go before a court and have a judge rule about what goes on in their bodies. Some states only allow abortion for women whose lives are in danger or in cases of rape and incest.
Even though abortion is “legal,” it’s not available to everyone. Mississippi, for example, only has one abortion clinic, making access to abortion impossible for poor women who cannot afford to travel across the state for two consultations. Also, repeated arsons, attempted murders and picketing of clinics make abortion dangerous and force some clinics to close. The increasing limitations on abortion are undeniable, and many people are activists simply because of those facts.
The site does give advice on abstinence and actually permits some non-anti abstinence messages to leak out. But don’t let that fool you, the site editors are clearly on the side of pitting themselves against abstinence advice as evidenced in this youTube interview with Congressman Henry Waxman simply titled Comprehensive Sex Ed vs Abstinence Only. Why are they against abstinence only programs? Because as the teen experts say in the video, "they are misleading, give false information and leave many questions unanswered". How’s that for a broad brush attack by "objective" teens that are tasked to educate your children about sex?
The real problem with this site is that it is mainstreamed, heavily networked with groups that have messages that differ with many parents and are designed to take the parent out of the equation. Finally they are working with your government and already in your schools by recruiting liberally minded sexually active teens to petition for the Sex Etc. preferred sex ed programs. See The Roadmap: A Teen Guide to Changing Your School’s Sex Ed if you don’t believe me.
Rutgers Answer, their Sex ETC distribution site and various advocacy interests are working 24×7 against parental involvement, and now Fox TV is getting that message out. Why? In this respect they are no different than drug dealers and pushers except the drug in this case is a liberalized form of sex education for children. Parents need not attend.
NewsBusters, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Rutgers University, Sex, ETC., teens, Abortion, Sex Ed, Abstinence
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Tags: abortion, Henry Waxman Fox TV, Planned Parenthood, Rutgers University, sex, Sex Etc, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet
Editor,
I did email Fox about this. No answer as of now. The scary part is that someone asked this nut job Waxman anything. give him a minute and he will think of another hearing he can rant about. The video was taken down when I went to look at it. I think it’s time the dems, whackos and weirdos get out of our business of raising our families.
As a parent of two teenagers, I think this is an excellent website for all teens. Whether they are sexually active or not, all young people need to be informed about these critical issues that adolescents face today. While many adults may be concerned with the content of sexetc.org, the coordinators of this website clearly monitor the information. Also, I do not see the problem about Nora Gelperin’s past working history. Clearly, the teen staff needs to be educated in order to teach other young people accurate information; the more experience the experts are, the better for your kids. What’s wrong with that?
What’s wrong with the site is their agenda. It is not merely about providing information, otherwise they would not have such an abstinence bias. And no, people that promote abstinence do not live in the dark ages of intolerance. We are not clueless.
I am the father of two teen girls and have a perfectly normal relationship with two of the brightest people I know. They are well informed of all issues and all sides of the debate.
Clearly the site does have some oversight so marketing it as a site by teens for teens is not entirely true. There is no age limit on the site and they bypass the normal guards for pre-teens access to the site. The registration form pretends to pose as a parental guardian sign up but no checks exist. If they were so transparent I wouldn’t imagine that to be the case.
In the words of the site “age is just a number”. This is a downright lie. It sells well to kids that want to believe so but wisdom and experience are a part of growing up. Having a 16 year old counsel a 13 year old about sex is a slippery slope, an accident waiting to happen.
This country is so ass backwards that I can’t send my daughter to school with aspirin but the school can actually guide her to a surgical procedure to eliminate a life inside her body without parental consent.
I am well aware that all the content on SexEtc is not so one sided but children need guidance. Having a kitchen sink approach merely serves to confuse.
There is plenty wrong with such an approach.
Ah Terry, I do see your point. As a mother of one bright, intelligent daughter (if i do say so myself) who’s in college right now, I certainly do understand your fears and emotions as a good father – I’ve also had my own share of worrying about my daughter’s safety and exposure to confusing material at school and at home.
You bring up some good points, but John does as well. I’ve visited the site recently, and I notice that it does have a more liberal – though certainly not biased (it does emphasize the importance of abstinence as the key form of protection, numerous times) – approach to sexual health issues.
In general, all the articles and ideas are written by teens, with the exception of features such as expert chats and questions which are moderated by adults. Like John, I don’t seem to see anything wrong with that. Obviously, as you said, you cannot have a 16-year-old giving advice to a 13-year-old. That would clearly be “going down a slippery slope.” And that’s why the adult trained professionals are there – to offer realistic, honest, and accurate information. It’s true that adults back up the process and website, but overall, the marketing mission is pretty straight-forward and clear. It IS written by teens, for teens.
After reading more about the organization, I find that this website is more for teenagers who have questions but are afraid or embarrassed to ask adults. Sex Etc. is there to help those teenagers, by providing honest facts and information. Wouldn’t you rather your child to know the clear truth about something – even if it’s not directly from you, but rather a trusted, reliable website – rather than stay in the dark, about something important like STDs or birth control? I, for one, am glad that Sex Etc. is here as a valuable, valid resource.
Hi Elllen,
I understand that the site may work for you and your family; this is fine. Unfortunately this does not work for every family. Worse however is statements you make regarding “honest facts and information”. You obviously either work for the site, haven’t researched it fully or have some inexplicable leap of faith when it come to information provided teens (and worse, pre-teens) on the internet. I have found that the site is mixed, depending on the subject. Not all is appropriate for all kids and not all kids go there for the same reason.
It took me two minutes to go to the FAQ on the site and come up with what I would consider propaganda that is being being peddled by the pro-abortion crowd.
If you go to the “FAQ” on abortion and choose something as innocent as “What is a “crisis pregnancy center”? I see them advertised in my town. What do they do?” the first thing the curious teen is provided is the following:
Balanced? Hardly. It is an agenda driven website run by former planned parenthood members that are aligned with the Democrat party. I find it funny that one can honestly look at the site and think that teens came up with this little factoid.
It is a sad statement when parents are willing to give up their job as parents and entrust that role to a website that is so clearly aligned with a pro-abortion agenda.