Here is a shocking piece of news. Researchers have discovered that if young people are constantly being exposed to images of attractive people burning houses down and playing with matches, if these programmes contain the strong message that being an arsonist is 'cool', 'grown-up' and involves no serious risk of injury or loss to anyone, young people are much more likely to start fires. The media cannot understand why this should be the case. The Government and their faithful agencies are equally baffled as to why handing teenagers boxes of matches as well as promoting the message that arson is a good idea, appears to be aiding and abetting this problem. Indeed, they doubt this is really the case. Teenagers are, by their very nature, prone to starting fires and it is far better if they are taught to do so in an open, responsible, adult....[cont. page 98]
I can't be the only person who choked on their morning cornflakes, having it solemnly announced to me via the radio news that explicit television programmes portraying sex as a glamorous recreational activity devoid of any negative consequences are increasing the teenage pregnancy rate. Good heavens, really? Can't think why that should happen.
Predictably, the give-toddlers-condoms brigade are using this latest piece of research to argue in favour of exposing children to yet more sexually explicit material (in the classroom not on the television so that's all right then). Society needs to wake up and take responsibility for this moral crisis before any more young people are sucked into a pattern of behaviour that causes such physical, mental and emotional suffering, whether or not a pregnancy occurs.
