Teens Say Bristol Palin is a Hypocrite
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Teens Say Bristol Palin is a Hypocrite
| Thu, 05-07-2009 - 9:25am |
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ReproductiveHealth/story?id=7516975&page=1
New York City students who heard Bristol Palin's warnings against teen pregnancy say they might consider abstinence, but they wouldn't take advice on it from the young unwed mother.
Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, recently was selected as an ambassador to The Candie's Foundation to help create awareness about the pitfalls of teen pregnancy.
On Wednesday, she carried her message to about 150 teens at a town meeting forum at The Times Center that included "Heroes" actress Hayden Panettiere and Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Garza, who was a teen father.
"It's a big flop," said Jerry Kowal, a senior at Solomon Schecter High School in Hartsdale, N.Y., referring to Palin's campaign to get teens to abstain from sex. (click link for complete article)

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As I said in this thread, I have read (not heard any interviews) where she did say teaching abstinence only is not effective for teens. I think she could be a strong voice in this, if she wanted, in saying that teens need to take responsibility for pregnancy, it could happen to anyone, and you need to take precautions.
You have not provided a link which would support the statements you've made about Bristol's message.
I did some looking into Levi's statements during interviews.
"Johnston said, 'I was using condoms, but, you know, there's a few times, you know, we didn't. And that's what happened. We had a kid.'"
http://tinyurl.com/o4ne7o
Safe sex? NO WAY!
Repeating (in slightly altered form) what I said earlier: If Bristol or Levi CHOOSES, for whatever reason, to go out in public with a message, it had better be consistent, well thought out, and coherent. The message will be dissected, critiqued, and analyzed from here to kingdom come. ANY flaws will be exposed. Blaming iVillage members for picking apart stories and commenting on them is inappropriate, IMHO. Otherwise the site might just as well feature bobble-heads.
Bristol didn't abstain, and Levi didn't practice safe sex. Them's the facts.
Now both are giving interviews in which they say that other teens should do what they themselves did not. Unless they express regret or remorse about those earlier actions, they will come across as "do as I say, not as I did" hypocrites.
Edited to amplify and re-word.
Edited 5/11/2009 1:03 pm ET by jabberwocka
Jabberwocka
I don't know if they've been run over by mom's political machinery which seems likely, or that her message has been taken out of context.
I watched the CNN clip of the Fox interview. If Bristol wants to be taken seriously (calling media "evil" is not a good idea), then she has to be tough, consistent, and repeat her message in many different settings; not just on Fox where the perception could well be that she's being favored for her family connections.
Am still getting the impression that there's a certain amount of ambivalence about the abstinence issue. After all, her forceful mother backed abstinence-only sex ed in lieu of more specific information about contraceptive measures. Also, saying "I messed up, don't follow my example" is never easy.
As you point out, media outlets could be manipulating Bristol to reinforce their own agendas. She's very young to be tackling the "evil" media, but cannot claim ignorance after her mother's experiences.
FWIW, DH and I taught our children that our religion and our values did not endorse sexual promiscuity or sexual experimentation outside of marriage. DD was somewhat shocked to hear that no other contraceptive measure, save abstinence, was 100% effective. She took the message to heart, as did DS. They both know that having a child is a huge responsibility to be undertaken only by the truly committed. To that end, they also were taught about other forms of birth control.
Jabberwocka
I wonder if she wants to be taken seriously, or is just being put in the limelight. I feel bad for her since it's been thrust on her because of her mother. What she's going through is tough enough without having to deal w/ everyone watching you.
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