| 4-21-98
By Luke Ford
On KABC radio AM 790, Dennis Prager began his show attacking sex
education classes in public schools. Though Prager supports giving
clean needles to drug addicts, P does not equate drug addiction
with sexual addiction.
He wants to discourage kids from having sex.
P was skeptical of a new study that showed that giving out condoms
to kids did not encourage sexual intercourse. Why not give out safe
cigarettes?
The study was carried out by the Rand Corporation, a conservative/libertarian
think tank.
Condom access shows no effect on teen sex rate
( USA TODAY )
Teens who have access to condoms at school are no more sexually
active than those who don't, a new study shows.
Researchers surveyed 1,945 students at a Los Angeles high school
about their sexual behavior and beliefs before the start of a program
in which condoms were placed in baskets in classrooms. A year after
the program began, 1,110 students answered a follow-up questionnaire.
The result: No significant increase was found in sexual activity
among students, but condom use by sexually active teens increased.
``The big change was that the (sexually active) boys were more
likely to be using condoms, and virgins were much more likely to
plan to use condoms when they have their first vaginal intercourse,''
says researcher Mark Schuster of RAND, a nonprofit research group
in Santa Monica, Calif. The UCLA pediatrician's study is published
today by the Alan Guttmacher Institute in Family Planning Perspectives.
Previous studies of condoms-in-school programs in New York, Philadelphia
and Seattle also found no increase in sexual activity after the
programs began.
Luke:
Prager kept saying this study was propaganda, which is dubious
as the Rand Institute is not pro-sex education.
P says that whoever thought up the term "social sciences" should
be "dug up from his grave and dismembered." There are no social
sciences, says Prager. There is only social thought. But precious
little these days at universities says P. They just rely on empirical
studies instead of thinking things through. Other times P has criticized
universities for theorizing too much. So whether social scientists
use studies and empirical tests, or theorize, they are damned by
Prager for their godless leftist views.
Prager often claims that people hate him because he speaks the
truth. He is controversial for using his common sense he claims.
Yet the type of inflammatory language that he uses routinely, such
as advocating digging up the body of someone who thought up the
term "social sciences" and dismembering their body, accounts for
much of the antagonism he arouses. He frequently calls people he
disagrees with "stupid," and when he hears a thought he strongly
disagrees with, he says it makes him want to vomit. "Give me an
air sickness bag."
Growing up, Dennis was often called "Dennis the Menace." It reflects
his rebellious bent, typical of the youngest child. Prager enjoys
stirring people up, his protests to the contrary not withstanding.
Every orthodox rabbi whom I've heard on the subject of abortion
has declared it murder, while Prager routinely says that Judaism
considers abortion far less than murder. This is one example of
why orthodox Jews are furious with Prager for misrepresenting Judaism
to the world.
Prager began the second hour trying to find the Time magazine
article he based today's show on. He could not find it.
Prager's complaint was with the lockstep media, not student sex.
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE MONTHWith Teens, Ignorance of STDs
Is High, and So Is RiskBy ROBYN DAVIS and HARLAN ROTBLATT, SPECIAL
TO THE TIMES
Los Angeles Times Monday April 13, 1998Home EditionHealth, Page
8
Teens are deluged with images about sex. On TV alone, it isestimated
that the average teen sees 14,000 sexual messages each year,less
than 1% of which deal with sexual responsibility or consequences,according
to a definitive study by Planned Parenthood. Unfortunately,thousands
of teens face the very real consequences of sexuallytransmitted
diseases (STDs) every day.
By the 12th grade, nearly two-thirds of U.S. high school students
havehad sexual intercourse, and approximately one-quarter have had
four ormore sex partners, according to a report done in recent years
by thefederal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet almost
half ofsexually active teens did not use a condom the last time
they had sex,the report said.
The math is elementary: Sex minus condoms equals today's teen
STDepidemic. Teens 15 to 19 have the highest rates of gonorrhea
and chlamydia of any age group in Los Angeles County, and account
for nearly one-third of all reported STD cases. Recent studies have
found thatnearly 10% of girls in some L.A. County high schools are
infected withchlamydia. Other studies have found similar rates of
human papillomavirus(HPV), the virus that causes genital warts,
in teen girls.
Luke:
Prager discussed O.J. Simpson's recent interview when he lunged
at the English female interviewer with a banana. OJ says that women
find him even more interesting these days. P says this is another
argument that women are not morally superior to men.
A caller compared Prager to Socrates for his dedicated search
for truth.
Prager referenced the LA TIMES four part series on Jewish life.
Here is a sample from today's paper:
The newfound power of women is "the greatest change in Jewish
life since the destruction of the Temple in the 1st Century," said
Susannah Heschel, a scholar and author of one of the first books
on Jewish feminism.
The fabled Jewish gift for grand statement may be in evidence
in that claim, but there is much to support it.
If a rabbi from another century parachuted into just about any
non-Orthodox synagogue in America--yes, even in an outpost like
Macon--the first thing he would probably notice is the women.
Increasingly, in years to come, he might be noticing them more
prominently in Jewish communities worldwide. "This is the Judaism
that we are now exporting to Israel and South Africa and Australia,"
Heschel said. And American Jewish women are at the root of that
change.
Women rabbis, cantors and synagogue presidents are all phenomena
of the past two and a half decades. Lay women also are stepping
up to the bimah, or podium, to lead services and study sessions,
to read from the Torah and have aliyot, the honor of chanting Torah
blessings.
Girls in Reform and Conservative synagogues are now treated no
differently from boys as they prepare and conduct bat mitzvah services.
These coming-of-age ceremonies also are performed by legions of
women who are long past 13 but who did not have the opportunity
in their youth.
In short, in the past generation, a religious tradition that gave
the Western world the very model for the term "patriarchy" has been
reinterpreted. As a result, the acceptance of women has become among
the most stinging issues in the Jewish world.
Dennis Prager was quoted in today's LA TIMES: " * * *
" It's a beautiful country. They love us. They love us so much
they marry half of us."
--Dennis Prager, author and radio talk show host
In his third hour, Prager talked about the overwhelming response
he got to his April 6 show on the decline of adult culture. P referred
to a 4/5 Washington Post article.
Prager discussed his bar mitzvah experiences. Literally, it means
"son of commandments." It means that you are now responsible for
observing Jewish law. At age 13. You can no longer just do what
you want. You are now an adult.
A few years ago, a Jewish family rented out the Orange Bowl for
their son's Bar Mitzvah with Miami Dolphin cheerleaders. It's become
an event of fun more than religious significance.
At his bar mitzvah, Prager says it was a communal and adult affair.
When he and his friends got bored, they ran into the hall and ran
around and flirted with girls.
Wall Street Journal:
Sometimes Spanking Can't Be Beat
By BARBARA LERNER
Is spanking bad for kids? Some 90% of American parents today admit
to having spanked their children; is that one of the reasons why
so many American schoolchildren are so violent? The American Academy
of Pediatrics recently added its voice to the growing chorus of
contemporary child-care experts and organizations saying yes, arguing
that punishing children by striking them teaches them that physical
aggression is acceptable and makes them more likely to act out violently
against others. Other experts say that letting your kids watch violence
on television and in the movies teaches them the same lesson.
Hogwash. Effective moral education teaches children to make critical
moral distinctions, and what's striking about these expert opinions
is their failure to make any such distinctions at all.
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