A Culture of Restraint & Responsibility

Suzanne Fields writes an encouraging article today.

The ranks of the "good girls" are growing. Teenage pregnancies are down, way down. The high rates recorded in the 1980s, peaking in 1990 at 116.9 of every thousand girls, have steadily declined. Among teenage girls between 15 to 19 years old in 2000, the rate was 83.6 per 1,000 girls. The good news reaches across all racial and ethnic groups in every one of the states.

Teenagers are changing the message for themselves, having overdosed on the culture of movies, music and television that plays to the lowest common denominator of irresponsible sex and vulgarity. The adolescents among us may be tired of imitating the bad behavior of adults. Teenage girls are sick of being labeled "ho's," "sluts" "skeezers" and "slides" by the mindless slang of rap music. They want self-respect. What's more astonishing is that increasing numbers of young men want the same thing.