The the best thing to do is IGNORE him. Snarking at trolls only encourages them.
If unbrok3npp really was a kid looking for help the snark was out of line.
And if unbrok3npp was a troll then the snark was stupid.
In case it’s not obvious, I thought many of the posts in the GQ thread were uncalled for.
While the sanctimonious one-upmanship berating youthful and foolish sexual practices was annoying and unhelpful, I do think that there was enough information in the thread for the OP to receive a lot of benefit, a benefit which he seemingly ignored.
Also, I’m not sure if my snarkdar is broken or not, but it really didn’t seem that bad to me.
I was quite an educated high schooler, relatively speaking, but I know that my school did NOT inform the students how to use condoms. We were just informed that they existed. I think we may have had some stats on them. Mostly we were taught about the general mechanics of how reproduction works.
Didn’t read this thread; had to go shopping. My vote for other thread was troll. I did not FTT in the other thread.
WhyNot, you know I love ya, but you probably also know that I think stuff like this is less than helpful when dealing with teenagers:
Kids think they are invincible, underestimate risks and consequences, and will take your slight endorsement of withdrawal or rhythm method and fool themselves into thinking it will work for them. Especially if it’s free, seems easy, and doesn’t require any visits to Planned Parenthood or the pharmacy.
Yes, pulling out is better than nothing. I bet prayer is too. But knowing what I know about teenagers, telling them they can use it as a valid method of birth control is a bad idea and irresponsible. The kid in this situation is already pretty ignorant and is engaging in reckless sexual behavior. Under no circumstances should he think, even for a second, that he and his girlfriend should use withdrawal when there are better, safer methods he can obtain with a little effort. Statistics are almost irrelevant here because it seems unlikely at best that he would actually withdraw every time, would wash off between go 'rounds, stuff like that. Ditto with recommending he use the “rhythm” method-- it’s actually a pretty complicated system, and entails much more than simply counting days from ovulation. It also assumes that this girl is educated enough to figure out accurately when she’s ovulating and that they have the willpower to abstain when necessary.
Any responsible health professional, Planned Parenthood ed worker, health teacher, doctor, etc., would advise religous (sic) condom use, period. It is by far the safest non-medicated birth control method for teens, because there’s also diseases to worry about. If this kid is freaking out this badly at the thought of conception, he needs to use a barrier method if his GF isn’t able to use the Pill or an IUD. I feel very strongly about this. If your religion forbids using condoms, then it probably also forbids pre-marital sex. In for a penny, in for a pound.
The GQ thread was sad. Sad because the OP is so totally clueless, and willfully so.
Yes, I was 17 once, and the business of sexual relations with females was a prime topic of interest, along with cars and beer. That being said, I could read, and it’s a safe presumption that the OP can, also.
It’s also evident that the OP has internet access, such that far more information is available with a few mouse clicks than could be had when I was 17.
Take your pick: troll or idjit.
Good call, Brain Wreck. I was similarly disgusted by the replies in that thread.
I have to say that after reading all three pages I thought that after the initial snark of the first 5 posts or so, the thread took on a much more serious tone and he got lots of helpful and useful information including one poster who found out where he was, where the nearest planned parenthood office was and what bus could take them there.
He got everything he needed but he seemed to want reassurance more than facts.
Yes, I suppose people could have been a bit less snarky in the beginning but it got better.
Hmmm…Guess I’m the only doper who ever did anything stupid when he was young. Everyone else appears to have known everything there was to know at 17 years of age.
Swing and a miss, dipstick.
We all did stupid stuff when we were younger, myself most assuredly included. When we did so, our peers, parents, teachers, neighbors, and so forth would set our stupid asses straight, with enough of a dose of ridicule to make us desperately want to avoid seconds. In so doing, we learned to avoid future fuckups.
The pitting here is about mean nasty folks saying things to the OP because he’s a fuckwit. I sincerely hope the snark in GQ does him good.
Fuck you, bitch.
Only if they were assholes.
Okay, read the whole thread now (and found a very nice shirt, too), and I agree with the assessment “troll or idjit.” Like others have said, the kid obviously has access to the internet; he really is willfully ignorant. Our mandate here is to fight ignorance, but the people on the other end have to make some kind of effort, too.
I got that sense as well, especially since he seemed to be more willing to buy a pregnancy test off eBay instead of at a nearby store that a Doper had called up for him. Plus, he’d been informed about condoms in a previous thread yet failed to use them when having sex.
Yes to all.
I think that thread will be useful for the next broken peepee out there who finds himself in the same pickle as the OP. The options were laid out very clearly and some people offered very direct, immediate, personal help. The next one now knows where to ask.
As for the snark, as I said earlier, is par for the course. It seems that most thread start with a couple of jokes and insults until someone picks the ball and the loiterers realize it is time to find another thread to goof around (this usually includes me, I am not saying it in a negative way).
That the OP will make or not the best use of the information given. Well, the horse and the water and all that we all know.
I have done my best to add some productive info in that thread. Some of the snark was good, but yes, there is also a lot of negative stuff in there.
I’ll admit, the OP does have this t-word scent about him. But I really think it’s just someone who doesn’t understand a lot about our SDMB sort of etiquette/style. So rather than t____ I’d rather assume it’s more of an uninitiated and unfamiliar type of poster. I hope he sticks around, and maybe we can help him out with some other life questions (and the gf update, though I doubt she’ll ever get pregnant from this).
There are plenty of undereducated 17 year olds; I used to be one of them. Less snark guys, remember we had one very scared young man come to us for help.
.
Sorry for quoting the entire post, but I couldn’t figure out where to snip it.
I really believe that we should offer the truth to children. It builds trust, and though that may sound naive and corny, I have seen it in action.
In my neigborhood, there was a rumor rampant that this certain high school had found out that 70% of the students are HIV positive. I recognized this as an urban legend, and I told people so. I was surprised to find out lots of parents were encouraging this misinformation, hoping to ‘scare’ kids into abstinence!
Of course this is not a good idea. The children learn better, and then they don’t trust adults about these kinds of things. They say amongst themselves, “All that shit they be tellin’ us is BS anyways! Imma just have my fun!” Seriously. I actually saw that attitude.
Now, I don’t think that **Whynot ** was saying that we should teach teenagers that the withdrawal method, (or the complicated ass rhythm method) is the way to go. From what I read, it looked as if she was just trying to give a true answer to the boy’s question, which was, I think, what is the likelyhood of pregnancy.
And of course your well-put post had good information for any teenager smart enough to take notes.
And of course, I don’t presume to speak for Whynot. Only for my take on her post.
Can I pick idjittroll too?
CMC fnord!
Thread about sex, started by someone with unbrok3npp as a username, stupid troll was my first thought.
Seems this tidbit gets trotted out in almost every pit thread. Does being “par for the course” render a thing immune from criticism? The point was that mean-spirited, insulting answers don’t belong in GQ. I don’t care if people think they’re par for the course; that doesn’t make it right. If one thinks the OP a troll, the correct course of action would be to alert a moderator. If one thinks the OP is “stupid”, I still don’t see how that warrants a rude response.
Brain Wreck wasn’t pitting the valid responses, he was pitting the useless, demeaning, sarcastic ones.
Note to unbrok3npp
Perhaps you should consider changing your user name to something a little more believable. That might remove the doubts caused by the unbrokenpp moniker.
Something masculine, with a little John Wayne in it, maybe like
There is a growing trend in “Lil’ Squirt”