Kissing the Feet of Big Teen Sex: Why Does the Post-Gazette Support Endangering Innocent Children

The Post-Gazette has been relentless (and dishonest) in its quest to ban smoking in public places. It's all a matter of public health, see?

Well, let's not limit the number of people we are saving! There are thousands of other public health issues. Like teen sex. Oh yes. That's a big public health issue.Just take a look at today's Post-Gazette:

A sex drive is, of course, a natural thing for adolescents, the study notes, but engaging in intercourse too early can lead to unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, making the matter a public health concern.

But it's a natural thing, right? I mean, people have been screwing a lot longer than they have been smoking. But just like Big Tobacco, society is also faced with the scourge of Big Teen Sex. Or more specifically, Big Music. Seriously. Some guy is doing the research right here in Pittsburgh. Read the whole thing here. And focus on things like this:

Common sense says exposing children to sexually degrading song lyrics cannot be a good thing. Now, a multiyear study of teen sexual behavior and listening habits, led by a researcher in Pittsburgh, is setting out to prove it scientifically.

The Rand Corp. study, released today, shows that the more often teens listen to sexually degrading songs -- marked by obscenities and stereotypes of women as sex objects and men as sexual predators -- the likelier they are to have sex at an early age.

So there is, in fact, something we can do to keep kids from having sex: Limit their access to degrading lyrics. And like smoking, this is a public health issue. So why not act on the legislative level? Why not censor musical artists?

It's for the kids.

Now, the people who did the study specifically advise against that approach. But isn't it time legislators--and the Post-Gazette editorial board--stopped kissing the feet of Big Teen Sex?

Degenerates. I wonder why they hate children so much.

Or maybe it is possible to be against censorship without being for dangerous teen sex.

I will assume the Post-Gazette does not think so until it apologizes for not extending that logic to people against a smoking ban. And I guess readers will also have to assume the Post-Gazette editorial board is for teenagers listening to degrading lyrics and acting them out.

Comments

[Ed Heath]

Weeeellllll, you are talking about a story, not an editorial statement (so far). And if the Trib ran the story and not the PG, would you complain about a cover up?

You are very close to the heart of liberal guilt, though. More than a few people felt conflicted because of Tipper (she killed Zappa, didn't she?). Liberals (not libertarians) are perfectly happy to deprive the undeserving of rights (much like conservatives on the other side of the mirror). So the editorial board of the PG has embraced almost the most extreme anti-smoking position. But music lyrics drifts in a racial direction, so more than likely the PG will say nothing, or come down on the "Parents must watch" side of the equation.

Reading the story, too, I’m glad the study is not coming out of Pitt or CMU. Isn’t the Rand Corporation supposed to study torture (Oh yeah, music lyrics). I have to question the connection between lyrics and behavior. “Invariably -- across all races and among both boys and girls -- they found that listening to degrading lyrical content led to more sexual activity.” Gimme a break, that’s my official position. Well, if it were a slow news day, it would give people something to do. (Did you vote for a Zober? Sounds like a nice guy, but I’ worried that the firefighter’s union didn’t have a chance to anoint him).

[sean mcdaniel]

i'll play the devil's advocate here, again.

if positive peer pressure and good adult role models are supposedly important for building solid values and good character...why can't the opposite be true? just asking...seriously, if you don't say "fuck" every other word around your kids (at least when they're young), chances are they won't say it until they here other kids saying it...or listen to those darn hippity hop CDs.

okay, tell me i'm naive...and if i am, then let me ask how many of you use words like "bitch," "hoe" around your kids. i'm not saying that language can lead to increased or earlier sexual behavior, but it's not putting the brakes on it either.

by the way, i'd love for the PG to take up the issue about the overall "pornification" of pop culture from music videos to what grade school kids wear to class every day.

damn, i'm starting to sound like...my parents. and someday, you will too.especially if you have girls.

[John Morris]

Sam,

Gotta go with Sean on this one. I understand where you are coming from in that in statist society and with a paper with that kind of record you kind of know what they are sort of hinting at but at least so far they haven't pulled out the gun yet. They are just sort of playing around with it and twirling it.

I expect the "it's for the children stuff to come from someone from the "right wing".

[Sam M]

In my mind, the whole "it's the children" card is one that both sides are equally willing to play. Just look at the Post-Gazette on smoking. They;ve already played it. Remember a few editorials back? They wrote something along the line of, "children should not run the risk of getting asthma by simply eating french fries in their favorite restaurant."

Maybe the real solution is to reaise your kids in such a manner that their favorite restaurant is not a saloon.

So yeah. You can wait around until they pull the trigger. But is that wise? Especially in cases of "public health"?

Obesity is the one that really scares me.

But just take a look at the article linked here. Anything--even music lyrics--can be cast as a public health issue. And just look at what happened to smoking when it got cast as "public health."

[Sam M]

As for having girls, I cannot. The cosmos is cruel and ironic. But not that cruel and ironic.

But as for sounding like my parents, I hope i do some day. Especially on issues like this. That is, when my parents didn;t want me to go somewhere, the didn;t let me go. They listened to me cry and moan for five minutes, then said, "No." They did not demand legislation to make the palces in question safer. They did not demand a commission on lyrics or video games. And they certainly did not demand that every business in town become kid-friendly. They decided which ones were not kid-friendly and said, "If you go their, you're finished. So don't try it, clown."

Today's parents, it seems, want to turn every dive bar in town into a Chuck E Cheeses.

[sean mcdaniel]

you know what kills me about chuck e cheese...parents can get drunk there and drive their kids home afterwards.

my parents were the same way...but i still listened to the rolling stones' stray cat blues and read roth's portnoy's complaint...and still think that overall, porn influences so much of our culture these days.

[sean mcdaniel]

one other thing. on cnn this morning soledad o'brien interviewed a black college student who filmed a documentary about whether little black girls would pick a black doll over a white doll to play with. though the show only showed one clip, the student said most black girls picked the white doll...the girl in the film clip said that she thought the white doll was pretty and good. when asked which doll was bad, she chose the black doll. and when asked which doll resembled her...she actually hesitated, sort of started to reach for the white doll and then quietly pushed the black doll toward the student...you think maybe that hearing the words "bitches," "hoes" and "nigger" thrown around as insults might not have affected her feelings?

we all know words are powerful. wouldn't you agree, sam?

[John Morris]

Sean,

I think that both of us agree that a lot of those lyrics are just wrong and the advice about parents being aware of them is pretty obvious. What can I say some of these lyrics are just so wrong.

As an uncle who was somewhat down with street cuture, I have had to some times pull my sister aside when I knew her kids liked a certain group. Just to give her a heads up if what they were saying seemed pretty out of line for kids.

[sean mcdaniel]

actually, i don't think the lyrics are wrong...stupid, infantile, hate-filled...maybe, but not wrong. even sam might agree that it comes down to common sense and how you raise your kids.