Safe sex ad causes controversy in Dorchester

[Aqua]

(SF)

Original Story Here (http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO59475/)

BOSTON -- Officials at the Saint Kevin School in Dorchester are upset over a safe sex ad promoting condom use that has been placed across the street from the school.

The billboard ad, part of a city-wide campaign which promotes condom use, displays two hands holding a condom and asks people to get tested for AIDS. The ad is one of three in the city of Boston sponsored by the Boston Public Health Commission, which said that it is promoting condom use in the prominently African American community.

"We really wanted to get the message out there that HIV and AIDS is a concern for all residents of the city," Dr. Nancy Norman, Boston Public Health Commission, said. "But we especially wanted to make sure that we got that message out to communities of color because we know that the rates are rising in the black and latino communities."

City officials recieved only one complaint regarding the billboard, coming from administrators at the Saint Kevin School. The Catholic school is across the street from where the ad is, and students have a clear view of it from their classrooms.

Officials at the Saint Kevin School were not available for comment, however some residents epressed their concern.

"I was shocked at first because it's so blatant," Cheryl Melvin said.

The ad campaign, which started during gay pride week in June, includes two other billboards and smaller signs on buses and in stores. The campaign is only for one month, and Mayor Menino promises that the billboard will be remove prior to the beginning of the school year.

[Oldfart]

We can't have those kids knowing anything about s-x.

[Booger]

We can't have those kids knowing anything about s-x.


It's a Catholic school so it worse yet not only do they learn about sex but they could learn about safe sex even.

[jseal]

They were able to get it taken down before the Fall semeseter (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/aug/07081401.html) begins.

[Oldfart]

Totally inappropriate.

Not only are condoms a tool of the devil, they're a devil on your tool.

Eight out of ten altarboys have been ribbed, no I mean, something about ribbed.

Where's a scoutmaster when you need one?

[jseal]

... Where's a scoutmaster when you need one?
Oldfart,

The scoutmasters I am familiar with are working to help keep the boys in their Scout Troop off drugs, remain in school until they graduate, and learn useful life skills.

In my experience, that is also true of the Girl Scout & Girl Guide leaders. There was a thread in this forum (http://www.pixies-place.com:81/forums/showthread.php?t=31252&highlight=guide) about that.

[Lilith]

And the ones I was familiar with had sex with small children.

[Oldfart]

There is an apocryphal link, choirmasters, scoutmasters and clerics.

They should not all be tarred with the same brush, at least without the feathers.

[Lilith]

You could well add teachers to that list, with all the stories that have come out in the last decade or so. Their victims are just usually teens. Same sickness.

[Oldfart]

And public servants, if a couple of recent convictions here in the NT are any guide.

They call them "rock spiders" here, but don't give out bug spray.

[jseal]

You could well add teachers to that list, ... Same sickness.
Lilith,

I stand corrected – I was unaware that you had any experience with any of the three organizations I referred to. If you don’t find my asking intrusive, with which one(s)?

Is it reasonable to infer from these – well documented – incidents that there is some predisposition of those who say they wish to help young people succeed towards pedophilia?

[Neige]

There was a man who was scoutmaster here for years who was caught with his puter full of child porn. I knew him. Never would have thought.

[scotzoidman]

s it reasonable to infer from these – well documented – incidents that there is some predisposition of those who say they wish to help young people succeed towards pedophilia?
I would guess that there's a predisposition for the fox to say he just wants to help guard the henhouse, because he really cares about the chickens.

[Oldfart]

I suspect in a number of instances it is good but weak men placing themselves in situations they were unaware would lead to badness.

[Lilith]

There was a man who was scoutmaster here for years who was caught with his puter full of child porn. I knew him. Never would have thought.

I was a senior in high school when a scoutmaster in my area was arrested after a child was taken to the hospital with bleeding coming from his rectum after a camp out. That day as I sat in the school library reading the newspaper, my boyfriend was seated across from me and caught the front page of the paper and the picture of the scoutmaster who was funny enough also a Baptist church deacon. My boyfriend turned sheet white and ran from the library. It took a lot of coaxing to find out his story (and then convincing him to tell it to authorities) and I spent many a day at the courthouse as children from 8-21 years old were packed in to recall the accounts of their abuse. For some it was simply being exposed to porn (which is how he would feel out his victims) and for some it was full out sexual assault with the threat of harm to family or being exposed in a very rural area as a "faggot", that earned most of the children and now men's silence. I just remember the faces of the teenagers who could not even look eachother in the face or for many did not even look up. No person should have to feel such shame. I'm not sure how much time he got but I know my boyfriend had to drive by the jail to get to some locations and that caused trauma as well.

[jseal]

I would guess that there's a predisposition for the fox to say he just wants to help guard the henhouse, because he really cares about the chickens.
scotzoidman,

Yes sir, no arguments there. I guess I was approaching the issue from the other direction. When is there a reasonable basis for being suspicious of the motives of the volunteers who offer their time to help steer children through youth into adulthood? Is there any plausible reason for assuming the worst of volunteers – because they are volunteers?

When you and I, and (I assume) almost anyone opens a newspaper and reads articles containing stories as Lilith has detailed above, we wince and rightly condemn the perp. When can one suspect a volunteer of being a predator?

There will always be those who fly off the handle and say silly things like "we have to make sure this will never happen again!", ignoring the reality of human nature. One need only look to NASA’s astronaut corps to realize that even with the best psychological testing that money can buy; eventually an undesirable will slip past. There will also always be those who will attempt to exploit these situations, either for personal gain, or to advance a political agenda.

Setting these distractions aside, there remains a real problem of identifying and excluding the foxes from the guardians of the henhouses. As society (and its assumptions expectations) changes, the volunteer organizations must change appropriately.

I am sure I am not alone when I wonder what those changes should include.