Things that Robert is thinking about that keep him from accomplishing anything.

 
Other Options?
I just saw this article about abstinence-only textbooks in Texas. I wonder if there's not an alternative strategy to reach teens though. Suppose private foundations sent junk-mail (e.g., Dear Resident postcards with condom messages instead of missing children) to teenagers' homes in Texas. There is no "do not junk mail" list residents can sign up for. A lot of it would end up in the trash, but not all of it. Of course, the reactions of conservatives in Texas to the distribution of sex-related materials might create the impetus for a "do not junk mail" list. That alone might be worthwhile. I wonder also about PSAs and getting billboards near schools, though to some degree those probably already happen.

6o Minutes did a story on undercover marketing in which firms paid actors to use a product around others to promote buzz. I wonder if you could plant fake students in high schools or teens at the mall or tanning salons or in the kitchen at restaurants and have them talk up safe sex. Or maybe form groups/clubs in the same way Christian teens promote their "true love waits" stuff. Maybe t-shirts with messages like, "If you want to get in my pants...you need one of these" with a picture of a condom. Or, "Laid, not played" (with pictures of a happy dude with his chick (or several chicks) next to the same guy with the girls and each has a baby). Alright, so I'm no marketing genius. But, you get the idea.

posted by RSaunders at 1:55 PM ⇒