A chara, - In response to the article, "Say hello to the teenage sex guru" (Weekend, May 22nd), I must ask: when are self-confessed gurus going to grow up? Perhaps these sages have nothing else to learn in life; perhaps we should ponder their every word. But like the rest of us they will reach their late twenties and realise that they don't really know as much as they thought they did.
Sex is not just a pastime: the devastation caused by promiscuity goes far beyond the mere physical reality of STDs. Human beings are not mere playthings to be used without care of consequence. The psychological and - dare I say? - spiritual side-effects of so-called casual sex are the cause of much misery that is not often talked about.
While the likes of such "gurus" are funded by our wonderfully incompetent Government, the real solutions are avoided like the plague. The concept of abstaining from sexual activity before marriage was not designed to make us all boring, self-flagellating hermits. Such a philosophy stems from an understanding that while sex brings a lot of pleasure, it brings often just as much pain, especially if it is used for the sole purpose of providing pleasure and not that of expressing love. - Is mise,
CATHAL Ó BROIN, College Rise, Droichead Átha, Condae Lú.