Press Release about Our Poll, Issued on December 28, 1999, Ignored by All Media Except Boston Herald
     The following Press Release about our poll of 500 citizens was ignored by all the media except for David Wedge of the Boston Herald. Many more stories about the forcing of sex upon our teenagers, and younger, by our state government, can be found in our archives in the issue of January 2000, just before the Fistgate scandal.

Massachusetts Citizens Disagree With Sex Education
     Massachusetts citizens strongly disagree with the sex education courses that are being taught in the public schools of the state, according to a poll by Wirthlin Worldwide of six hundred residents.
      When asked whether teenagers should be encouraged to be sexually active, 92% of the residents oppose the concept, either for heterosexuals or homosexuals.
     The opposition was universal with men and women, young and old, liberals and conservatives expressing their strong opposition.
     Despite this overwhelming sentiment of the citizens, the great majority of schools are encouraging teenagers to be sexually active, according to Robert Bradley, Chairman of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
     “These results do not surprise us. We have always known that most citizens disagree with what is being taught about sex to our children,” said Bradley. “If these people ever discover what the schools are teaching, they will be very upset.” Forty-seven per cent of the respondents to the poll said they are liberal, 40% are conservative and 9% percent moderate, but they all opposed the idea of teenagers being sexually active. When they were read the statement that teenagers should be encouraged to be sexually active, the liberals, moderates and conservatives all disagreed with the statement by these percentages, 90%, 89% and 95%. Both sexes disagreed with the statement, with men disagreeing by 89% and women by 94%.
     There was near unanimity between the generations with 87% between the ages of 18-34 disagreeing with the statement, 93% between 35-54 and 95% of those over 65.
    They also expressed strong opposition to the idea of the schools helping a child be sexually active without parental knowledge or approval. Eighty-five per cent disagreed with the following statement: “Regardless of parental knowledge or approval, schools should be involved in helping all teenagers, both heterosexual and homosexual, be sexually active.”
     The poll also shows that residents strongly oppose a lowering of the age of consent for teenagers to have sexual intercourse with anyone they wish. Eighty-five per cent oppose the following statement: “Teenagers should be able to have sex with anyone they wish, regardless of what their parents advise.”
Families in Trouble
     The “status of the family” is a concern of 69% of those polled. They believe that the quality of family life is weaker than it was thirty years ago. Only 12% think it is stronger and 13% say it is about the same.
     “This also is not a surprise to us,” said Robert Bradley, Chairman of the Massachusetts Family Institute. “That is precisely the reason that so many of us felt we needed to start our organization. The policies of the last thirty years have severely damaged the concept of the family as the basic unit of society. Many forces are working to change that basic unit to one that is determined, managed and controlled by the government.”
      When given a choice of six topics to pick as most important “to you personally,” the largest number of those polled, 36%, replied that it was the “breakdown of the family.” The next most important was “health care” at 22%. Other topics were, “quality of public school education” at 20%, “the economy” at 11%, “taxes” and “gun control” at 5% each.
     Some 47% of those polled identified themselves as liberals.