Self-control is the solution, not blaming Harris Teeter

TO THE EDITOR:

I have to say, I’m astounded at the dichotomy that can exists among intelligent people here at UNC as displayed in Abbey Caldwell’s column in The Daily Tar Heel (“Condoms can be hard to come by,” Sept. 11).

The idea that a food corporation is irresponsible because they’ve made condoms too hard to find actually took me off guard.

No doubt, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are major problems in this society, but are we honestly going to depend on sex markets to fix them?

Caldwell suggests there is something “terribly wrong” with Harris Teeter not making “safe sex” a strong priority. But who is she fooling?

The often-ridiculed, seldom-denied point is that abstinence is the only guaranteed safety, although the idea’s become all but irrelevant in our sex-driven culture. There is a way to fix these problems but it lies in a cultural shift, not condoms.

You don’t eliminate a disease by treating its symptoms.

When everywhere you look, whether it’s the mall, the news or even the grocery store and all you see is sex selling; you cannot blame the problems it creates on those few who have decided not to promote it.

We are not children. It is irresponsible to shift blame away from personal choices. It is irresponsible for the DTH to advertise Playboy Magazine. It is irresponsible to reprimand Harris Teeter for keeping condoms out of view.

We are adults. We are capable of self-control, and there is something terribly wrong with promoting sentiment that we are not.


Christopher Spargo
Freshman
Undecided