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good, and many were not so good"
(Love and the Facts of Life,
Evelyn
Duvall, p. 72) .
The statistics vary from survey to sur–
vey.
In
another survey, mentioned later,
approxúnately
2
5% of the teen-agers
cited their peer group as a major source
of ideas about sex and marriage. St ill
other studies found that between
ONE
THIRD
and
ONE HALF
of both boys aod
girls named friends as their chief source
of information.
In any case, the point is that friends
and peers very heartily influence teeo–
ager's sex and marriage knowledge.
Ooe might well have sorne qualms
about other children as sex educators
and wonder about tbe nature of the
"educatioo." Can young boys and girls
really have complete and mature knowl–
edge about the subject? Their very pre–
occupation with sex reveals a poor
orientation as to what it's all about.
Teachers Are Failing
In this same natioowide survey,
young men and women revealed other
sources influencing their ideas on sex,
love and marriage. A few, but only a
few, pointed to the churches and
schools as their sources of information.
"Studies since 1960 find
fetuer
than
three percent of today's youth crediting
their religious leaders with their sex
education. Scout leaders, doctors, nurses,
and other responsible professional per–
sons are of help to
EQUALLY SMALL
percentages of today's teen-agers"
(Duvall, p. 70). Those who should
have studied - and have the experieoce
and maturity to offer sorne help - are
reaching only a few. Of course, many
doctors, relig10us leaders, educators are
themselves
having marital problems.
School systems are reaching only a
few more than the churches. Unfortu–
nately, up to this time, there has beeo
very little increase in the number of
young people who get what they need
from the schools. In 1938, 8% of the
young people studied by the American
Youth Commission gave the school as
the source of their sex education.
Since 1960, studies have found about
the
same sma/J percentage
of teen-agers
crediting either teachers or school
counselors with teaching them this vital
knowledge.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
Few young people feel they are
receiving much essential marriage edu–
cation in our schools.
How About Books?
A survey revealed that one out of
every three boys and one out of four
girls said they learned what they knew
about dating and marriage preparatioo
from reading books.
The question is, "What kind of
books and what information do they
contaio ?" Sorne few books undoubtedly
are helpful, but sane aod balanced
books on sex and marriage are seldom
found- and seldom read. Much of the
education is coming from racy novels,
love stories, true confessions, soap
operas, advertisements, movies and tbe
like- sources filled with miseducation.
One co-ed in a prívate university in
New York put it this way, "1 actually
think young couples are pressured into
sex today because of what they
think
everybody else is doing, what they see
on television, in the movies and what
Oecembec
1970
Madison Avenue promotes." Young peo–
ple who
try
to pattern their lives after
the
fiction
of books and movies are in
for a shock! The result is experimenta–
tion with premarital sex, early marriage
- and often divorce. But no happiness.
There are also the "self-help" books
which claim to give all the facts on sex,
love and marriage.
Take a look at what sorne of these
authorities are writing concerning Jove
and marriage.
Here's a quote from the book,
Love,
S
ex
t.md the Tem-agu,
written by Dr.
R. L. Lorand, a leading psychotherapist
and psychoanalyst. The book is fully
endorsed by other "authorities" and
readily available in print.
Notice what the author tells teen–
agers and
PARENTS:
He asks this question. "How do I
know if l'm in !ove?"
The aoswer: "Being in !ove is above
all things stimulating aod exhilarating.
The natural tendency to greatly over–
estimate the beloved is what makes