To the Honorable Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison:
Dear Senator Hutchison,
Greetings from the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. My name is Chad Sorensen. I am currently enrolled as a full-time student at Brigham Young University, but I am a citizen of the state of Texas. Consequently it is to you that I address my remarks.
Teenage pregnancy is a serious issue in society today. It is an especially serious problem in the state of Texas. Only Mississippi has more live teen births per 1000 teenagers than Texas does. Another point of concern is that women between the ages of fifteen and nineteen account for more than one out of every ten pregnancies in Texas. Something must be done in an attempt to combat statistics as startling as these.
It has recently come to my attention that research has been conducted which links teen pregnancies to the amount of sexual content viewed by teenagers. In a study published in 2008, in the journal Pediatrics, researchers concluded that teenagers who viewed low amounts of sexual content were half as likely to be involved in a pregnancy as teens who viewed high amounts of sexual content.
As a recent high school graduate, I do not find this statistic particularly shocking. The majority of my peers who were involved in sexual behavior preceded such behavior with a high intake of sexual content from various media sources.
Senator, based on the evidence noted above, as well as countless other studies and statistics that have been completed or are being conducted currently, I am suggesting that a change be implemented. We need a solution to better protect the youth of America, and more specifically, the youth of Texas, from the dangers of media sexuality. I am asking for your help in finding a solution to this current problem.
Of course there are several Constitutional issues that could arise if the government were to attempt to increase its regulation on the media. However, I do not think that voters would disagree that small changes could be implemented to help protect teenagers from the dangers posed by sexual content in the media. Perhaps a restriction upon the amount and type of sexual content that can be displayed in a show would help to slow the tide of the media onslaught that our youth are facing. Even if this is not possible, I am hoping that by bringing this issue to your attention that steps will be taken to help combat the problem of teenage pregnancy.
May God Bless You in Your Endeavors,
Your Concerned Citizen
Chad Sorensen
Please comment on anything you don't like as I am actually considering sending a letter Senator Hutchison on another topic and would like to know if what I have written would be considered acceptable if I were actually communicating with a United States Senator.
ReplyDeleteI definitely support you sending a letter. You have a great respectful tone, which helps a lot. One thing you could consider is adding more facts and potential solutions into this letter; the early stats in the letter and the 2008 study you already have is good, but more would be better.
ReplyDeleteAlso, can you outline more why teen pregnancy is such a problem? This would be a great place to push with pathos--probably early in your letter, perhaps with the second paragraph. Bring in some individuals here: perhaps in your research you've found a particularly sad or awful example of teenage pregnancy gone wrong, ruining lives of expectant mothers and innocent babies, etc. Remember that pathos is what powers people to specific action.