wtf is that?

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http://tinyurl.com/6patam

ENCOURAGING ABSTINENCE–AND MAKING ENGINEERING SEEM REALLY LAME
by gwen on Aug 12, 2008 at 12:06 am

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Timothy H. sent in this billboard (found here), which advertises…actually, I’m not sure because I can’t read the small print in the left corner (I read online somewhere that this billboard was up in Kansas City, and I think the second line says “The Kansas City [something] Health Department”). I guess the message is that in order to have a good future you need to be abstinent?

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Also some commentary at cosmicvariance,

http://tinyurl.com/6xn6zh

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That’s why you should become scientists, kids! (Because engineers don’t have sex. You want me to spell it out for you?)

I really should just leave it at that, but the sprawling, multifaceted stupidity of this public service announcement — apparently having sex, like smoking the wacky weed, kills brain cells and will cripple your SAT scores, or something — is difficult to let pass without comment. The immaturity of our cultural attitudes toward sex is flat-out embarrassing. There are real concerns that adolescents should be taught about — disease and the risk of unwanted pregnancy being the obvious ones. But they should also be taught that, as long as you are careful about such things, there is nothing wrong with having sex. Done correctly, it can be fun! Sure, there can be emotional trauma, awkward moments, broken hearts, impetuous late-night phone calls that you wish you could take back the next day. But these are downsides associated with life, not with sex per se.

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[ 13 August 2008: Message edited by: 500_Apples ]

[ 13 August 2008: Message edited by: 500_Apples ]

In one way, I can sort of understand it - probably the vast majority of teens who become parents don't go on to post-secondary education (and probably a lot drop out of even high school too). At least, not right away when their peers generally go, after high school.

[ 13 August 2008: Message edited by: CMOT Dibbler ]

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Originally posted by remind:
My first thought was that it is directly targeting a racial demographic in its encouragement to not have sex and to have continued education instead. I do not see it as a blanket abstinence billboard.

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That being said, I have trouble merely coming up with a plausible agenda for abstinence, period.

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Originally posted by Michelle:
But hello, there ARE ways of not ending up being a teen parent. And I'm sorry, but abstinence-only education isn't going to achieve that goal.

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Originally posted by 500_Apples:
I thought of that but I couldn't come up with any plausible agenda that would lead them to do that. That being said, I have trouble merely coming up with a plausible agenda for abstinence, period.

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I think when sex is equated with getting pregnant we can be assured that this billboard is not a promotion by a pro-birth control organization.

And 500, your friend who said "that's what abortion's for", though technically correct, is a sexist twit. Access to abortion is not about a guy's ability to be more of a jackass, though it clearly has that effect sometimes.

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Originally posted by Robespierre:

Some fundamentalist Christians have influence in Kansas City (not the most progressive place in the USA) and this ad is how they express religious beliefs while hiding it behind a public service message. That sign should announce the location of publically distributed condoms and family planning services but, well, that's not what the Christians believe in, so they promote abstinence. If that sign is paid for by the public school board I would not be surprised, Christians love to send their messages out to the public on the taxpayer's dime, they just leave out any direct mention of God to avoid legal challenges.

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Originally posted by bigcitygal:
And 500, your friend who said "that's what abortion's for", though technically correct, is a sexist twit. Access to abortion is not about a guy's ability to be more of a jackass, though it clearly has that effect sometimes.

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Originally posted by 500_Apples:

Yes,
But,
Evangelical christians in the USA seem to practice pick and chose christianity, you don't hear much about Jubilee from these people.

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Originally posted by remind:
My first thought was that it is directly targeting a racial demographic in its encouragement to not have sex and to have continued education instead. I do not see it as a blanket abstinence billboard.

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I do not know what Jubilee means. sorry

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Here is an article about it.

[ 13 August 2008: Message edited by: RosaL ]

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Originally posted by RosaL:

Here is an article about it.

[ 13 August 2008: Message edited by: RosaL ]

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Originally posted by bigcitygal:
Back to the billboard: was this part of a series? Were there other images of young people besides the Black young man? I won't leap to any conclusions without knowing this info.

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There seems to be a theme here between the 3 images. And it's an AIDS/HIV awareness campaign, which wasn't entirely clear from the first image 500 posted.

I'm thinking some good things about these images, which are positive and alternative images of young Black men, how often is this found in the media?

Many young Black men don't see themselves going to university for a number of reasons, not the least of which is how they're treated in elementary and high school, which is to say, badly.

I don't know that that many "Christian" school graduates would be able to finish this sentence:

"Blessed be the meek, for they shall inherit the___"

Or fill in the blanks in this one: