Dear Editor,

This is in response to a disturbing advertisement repeatedly aired in the local media where two young women discuss the concern of having children early. Instead of promoting abstinence until marriage, the ad’s core message is ‘Choose 2: take an injection and use a condom’.

This promotes a false sense of safety while encouraging persons to do whatever they want. This concept generally pervades today’s society and the argument is frequently made that “they are doing it anyway, might as well be safe”.

But one really has to ask, how ‘safe’ are these methods of contraception? Do they really protect an individual from the enduring emotional attachment or the physical consequences sexual activity entails? The use of condoms is promoted as a way to ensure safe sex, giving pseudo-hope that you can be promiscuous without suffering the consequences of pregnancy or STDs; however, the reality is not so.

Dr Edward Green, former director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project, Harvard, in the documentary Cultural Imperialism: The sexual rights agenda, has shown that as condoms become more available in countries worldwide, instead of infection rates decreasing, they actually rise. Infection rates were considerably higher in countries with signifcant condom use, such as Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, compared to countries like Uganda, which promoted abstinence first, being faithful to one partner, and then the use of condoms as the last alternative.

In the face of such information, why advertise “choose 2” as if they are 100 per cent effective? Was abstinence purposely omitted because it would not bring the monetary gain that condoms and injections bring? Too many lures for early sexual involvement already exist in our society — from the age of consent being 16 to lewd lyrics and sexually explicit music videos.

Currently, too many Jamaican children are born out of wedlock, and many of the ills of our society stem from the lack of stable family life. Since abstinence is the only truly safe way, it should not be swept aside in family planning discussions. Ignoring abstinence as the most plausible and safest option to prevent having children early will only encourage more reckless and irresponsible sexual behaviour.

I encourage everyone reading this, especially the youth, not to let the pressures of society lure you to give in to the ‘pleasures of this world’, which can cause disappointments. If you are unmarried, I challenge you to realise your value and join the thousands of us who are waiting until marriage before engaging in sexual activity. If you are married, remain faithful to your partner. Let us return to the ideals that God, the designer of sex, created.

Sarah Buckland

s131993@yahoo.com