Teach children that it is better to wait
Sex is definitely a hot issue that parents of teen-agers must come face-to-face with today. But parents' permitting teens to have sex in their own home is absurd! ("Some parents permit teens to have sex inside home," Evening Sun, April 4).
"Sixty percent of teen-age boys and 50 percent of teen-age girls have had intercourse," according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute. I can assure you that this is true. I am a young adult myself, and I feel these figures are steadily rising. With all the problems and peer pressures that teen-agers face today, parents argue that "sex in the home is a way for them to protect their children." As Dr. Ron Taffel says, teen-age sexual activity is "a real dilemma for parents," and I agree with him. All parents want to do what is best for their children but, by allowing teens to have sex in the home, the parents are confusing the teen-agers
The first thing parents should try to do is talk freely about sex with their children. Sex is not a bad word, and neither is the word virgin! If we teach teen-agers that it is all right to be a virgin and we make them aware of the consequences of sexual activity, like pregnancy, then we may be able to lower the percentage of sexually active teens. The best thing that parents can do for their children is to listen to them. Really listen to what your teen-agers say and be open with them about sex. Teach children that it is better to wait!
Lisa A. Burch
Towson
Aid and Israel
There's an old saying which goes: "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good folks to do nothing." But, in the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, almost the opposite is true.
The single thing which permits Israel to refuse to negotiate an independent, unarmed Palestinian state on the West Bank and in Gaza is multi-billion-dollar U.S. aid. All the U.S. needs to do to bring Israel to the peace table with the PLO is to threaten, seriously, to cut off that aid if Israel refuses to negotiate in good faith.
The mere existence of such a Palestinian state, developing mutually advantageous, economic relations with Israel, would cut the tap root of Arab state military aggression. If the Palestinians are qualitatively satisfied with their peace and independence treaty, how could other Arab states continue to justify their rabid anti-Zionism?
Perhaps then, Arab nationalism ' no longer diverted toward destroying the Jewish state ' would address the overwhelming need of the Arabs to overthrow the tyrannies under which they all live; perhaps then the Arabs would establish a union of free, democratic societies using their oil wealth to advance their common standard of living.
L But perhaps that is just what our own government most fears.
A. Robert Kaufman
Baltimore
Disdain for poor
George Bush certainly showed his true colors when he made inferences which led the Kurds to believe that the United States government would aid them in ousting the regime in Baghdad. Instead of aiding in a military action, the Kurdish people were left to twist in the wind.
I suppose the simple explanation for Bush's inaction is that the Kurds are a poor people who have nothing to offer, unlike the obscenely rich oil barons in Kuwait.
It should be abundantly clear to anyone by now what George Bush is about. Much like his predecessor, he has nothing but total disdain for poor people, regardless of what country they occupy.
Kenneth W. DeVaughn
Middle River
Problems, solutions
The euphoric sense of renewed power that swept the country after our decisive military victory in the Persian Gulf has been displaced, for many Americans, by a feeling of impotence as we fumble for a response to the tidal wave of misery that followed in the wake of the war. A lesson this nation has not mastered is that it is easier to assume responsibility than to lay it down.
It may be that the European community is better suited to heading up relief measures. After all, its approach to international relations is totally distinct from ours. Americans believe, with frequently unfounded and unrealistic optimism, that every problem has a solution. The more skeptical European attitude is that every solution creates another problem.
Myron Subotnik
Baltimore
3,000 strikeouts
On opening day the Orioles drew 50,000-plus fans. Why would the new stadium being built have a seating capacity of only 47,000?
Bob Crooks
Baltimore
Gulf vs. Vietnam
As a retired Air Force master sergeant, I wholeheartedly supported the Persian Gulf war. However, as a veteran of the Vietnam conflict, I feel, and I'm sure I'm not alone, that the military personnel who served in the Middle East did nothing more than we did.
We did not choose to serve in an unpopular war; we went with pride to defend this country.
We served in a war we couldn't win. Today's men and women served in a war they couldn't lose. I think the best comment was made the day the gulf war began when the president said that these troops would not be forced to fight with one hand tied behind their back.
God bless the men and women who served in the Persian Gulf, but please remember we also served this country the best way we could.
John E. Bowersox
Baltimore
Reaping reality
I read with amusement Anna Quindlen's column, "Image and Reality" (April 12), about the highly publicized Kitty Kelley biography of Nancy Reagan. Though I don't normally put stock in these types of books, if any of this one is true, I think this is a fitting example of the trickle-down theory that created the "me" decade of the '80s.
My parents once said that people's personal lives trickle down to their businesses, and government is big business.
Regarding Quindlen's quote, "Reagan's administration will speak for itself," I feel it already has. Airline deregulation and a record number of plane crashes, banking deregulation and a record number of bank and S&L; failures, the Michael Milkens and Ivan Boeskys ' all are truly the products of eight years of sowing the "image." The sad thing is that now we are reaping the "reality."
Bill Purdy
Baltimore