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Dear Principal Marks, I believe that the Elmwood High School’s newspaper should not be allowed to publish the article on teenage pregnancy. While the issue discussed in the article is a legitimate one, it is the frank discussion of students’ sexual history and birth control that is inappropriate in a school-sponsored publication distributed to fourteen-year-old freshmen. Without careful guidance, discussion of sexual activity and birth control with high school students may have the effect of encouraging them to have sex. Four out of one hundred students interviewed say that the content of the teen pregnancy article makes them uncomfortable. They fully support the decision to ban the article. The remaining ninety-six students indicated that they were comfortable with the content of the article. This illustrates the potential danger of the article. Fourteen-year-old freshmen do not yet have the ability to make independent judgments. They are easily swayed by the behaviors of the others around them. Discussion of sexual history and birth control of other students in a school newspaper gives them the impression that having sex is a social norm. Once they become “comfortable” with the idea of students having sex, the