DEAR ABBY: I have been reading your letters on how to say no to sex, and have been cutting them out to share in a few years with my daughter. You printed some great one-liners and comebacks to use as needed. However, they were primarily addressed to women.
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Also urgently needed by young men and teen-age boys is an arsenal of comebacks to counter the usual locker room banter of, "Did you score last night?" or, "You mean you've never gone to bed with a girl?"
Peer pressure for young males today is greater than ever. Please ask your readers to provide my son with some verbal ammunition to approach and finesse this pressure with a sense of humor -- and his dignity intact. -- MOTHER OF A PRE-ADOLESCENT
DEAR MOTHER: Tell your son that because a classmate claims to have sexual experience doesn't necessarily mean he has. It is not unusual for a boast to be untrue.
One way to handle the question, "Did you score last night?" might be to respond, "I didn't score last night because I didn't 'play' last night. But if I had -- I wouldn't talk about it!"
You are not the only reader who voiced concern about sexual pressure on teen-age males. Read on:
DEAR ABBY: I appreciated the letters you printed from people about how to say no to sex. I work with a teen pregnancy prevention program as a certified Family Life Educator and I often assign your column to the group for discussion and ideas. Teens appreciate your "real" approaches to their issues.
Please ask for letters from guys on how to say "no." Guys are the other half of the problem when it comes to unwanted teen pregnancy, and they need support and role models in order to behave responsibly. There are advantages for both sexes in having the courage and confidence to behave responsibly when it comes to sex.
Think of the positive feedback that might be generated from a column with the head, "How Macho Guys Say 'No' to Sex." -- BETTE SCHLOESSER, R.N., B.S.N., MARSHFIELD, WIS.
DEAR MS. SCHLOESSER AND ALL OF THE READERS WHO WROTE TO ECHO SIMILAR SENTIMENTS: I would be pleased to hear what young men have to say on this important subject.