American Idol Mocks Abstinence Choice

Baptist Press 2/1/08

CULTURE DIGEST: Abstinence ridiculed on 'American Idol'
By Erin Roach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A teenage contestant in a preliminary round of this season's "American Idol" was mocked for his abstinence stance, sending a message to thousands of viewers about how the culture treats the issue.

Bruce Dickson, a 19-year-old from Bastrop, Texas, was asked to tell something about himself during the Dallas auditions for the reality show, and he said he had never kissed a girl.

"What?" Randy Jackson, one of the show's judges, asked. "On purpose?"

"On purpose," Dickson said. "On my wedding day, that will be my first kiss."

The home-schooled, Christian teenager went on to explain that he has made a commitment to abstain from sexual activity until marriage, and his father holds him accountable in his decision.

"Maybe next year he'll come back less a boy and more a man," host Ryan Seacrest quipped as Dickson's segment ended.

Dickson later told Cybercast News Service he disagreed with Seacrest's assertion.

"A real man would rather wait than just do whatever with whoever," Dickson said.

And on Fox News, the editor of a pornographic magazine said American Idol is a "national popularity contest based on talent and sex appeal. There's nothing sexy about a 19-year-old guy who's never kissed a girl and wears a heart necklace his father is holding the key to."

Dickson told CNS he is firm in his decision despite the puzzling ridicule.

"I respect women and don't think of them as a sexual object, and I'm the freak?" he said, adding that divorce and other problems his parents observed in their extended family led them to challenge their children to abstain from sex outside marriage.

"It wasn't anything they forced on us," Dickson told CNS. "It was something they talked to us about, something they taught us the importance of."

Jason Burtt, national director of Silver Ring Thing, a Christian organization that promotes abstinence, commended Dickson for his stance and said a growing number of youth are choosing to abstain based on their morals and faith. Burtt also lamented the treatment Dickson received on the show.

"Bruce has said he's going to walk the hard walk, and instead of lifting him up and praising him, we're mocking him," Burtt said. "I think that's because when someone is up on a chair, it's easier for people to pull him down than to pull everyone else up off the floor. Maybe they feel bad they couldn't do it themselves."

In related news, a Boston University School of Medicine study said teens with positive attitudes about delaying sexual activity are more likely to practice abstinence. Influences like parental opinions on sex, personal beliefs and their friends' sexual behavior help determine whether a teen will have sex, the study said, while fears of pregnancy and STDs did not make teens more likely to abstain.

"This study proves that when teens are given the skill sets needed to make the best health choice about sex, it is clear they are capable of choosing to abstain," Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, said Jan. 16. "The core teachings of abstinence education include character building, goal-setting and exploring the emotional risks of casual sex. Abstinence education is the only curriculum that offers such a clear, risk-avoidance approach to sexual health."