HOLLYWOOD On August 4, 2005, the youth of America presented a petition to movie executives in Hollywood, California, pleading for cleaner movies. Youth Petition 2005 (see petition below) was drafted by a teen member of the Youth Advisory Council of the Abstinence Clearinghouse. The petition comes as part of the “Lights, Camera, NO Action” Conference during which one thousand abstinence educators, parents and teens will gather in Hollywood, California to learn about advances in abstinence education.
Youth Petition 2005
You have a lot of power.
As a leader in the movie industry, you wake up each morning with millions of youth literally watching your every move. We come to your movies with anticipation, ready to be taught what the real world is like. You instill expectations within us in a form we like, enjoy, and understand.
You do so much more than provide “entertainment.” We don't walk away from movies merely amused; we walk away with images in our minds, dreams in our hearts, and expectations for our future. All of this we gain from what was portrayed in the 140 minutes of film that you created.
That's why we're upset. What you've shown us isn't real. The glorified sex we see in movies doesn't match our experiences. We never see the teenage beauty queen getting STDs from her boyfriend. We never see the insecurity children feel living in homes with unmarried adults. We never see the 137,213 AIDS patients writhing in their deathbeds as a result of so-called “casual sex.” We expected happy endings from the passions of sex! But we've found that sex before marriage only ends well in the movies.
Our friends are getting STDs, roughly 1 in 4 of them. Kids from broken or never married homes are depressed at greater rates than we've ever known in America's history. And lots of us have broken hearts from trying sex before marriage and realizing it wasn't true love and it didn't fill our desire for intimacy.
All we ask for is the truth. We, the youth of America, simply ask for a movie industry that will teach us about a lifestyle that brings happy endings in real life. We believe this lifestyle is abstinence until marriage.
All eyes are on you. Please consider our voices and give us the lessons of life that will enrich our minds and enhance our lives. Our future is in your hands.
Signed,
The Youth of America
See also:
More information on the Conference
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)