We’ve all heard the saying, “Sex Sells.” While I don’t know how much it actually sells, I do know it’s everywhere.  Sex, it’s on television, in many of your favorite movies, it’s in music videos, on the radio, in video games, it’s all over the internet and it’s even used to sell products in commercials.  Speaking of commercials you can’t even watch an entire sitcom on local television without seeing a Viagra-type sex enhancement spot.  Nowadays a parent will have some serious explaining to do as things like “a five-hour erection” are discussed on TV while simply spending a little family time around the tube.

Let’s talk about sex.  We’ve got teens who shouldn’t be engaging that are and on the other side of the spectrum senior citizens who need performance-enhancing drugs to help them engage because without it they can’t.  We wonder why the teenage pregnancy rate is so high.  We find ourselves in a world where grandma is thirty, Big Mama no longer exists, and marriage is becoming less and less popular.  Well, at least it seems that way in the heterosexual world.   In the words of the late Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On?

Not only are people of all ages engaging in sexual activities, many are not even protecting themselves. And this leads to increasing numbers of single-parent households and skyrocketing STD rates.  Speaking of STD’s did you know that Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are at epidemic highs here in the city of Milwaukee? According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Herpes, yes I said Herpes affects 50% of African American women between the ages of 14 and 44.  The CDC also estimates that 80% of the people who are infected with the Herpes virus don’t even know it.  Ugh!

Oh, I must also mention that there’s also a number of adults who are having sex with minors.  Many teenage girls are impregnated by adult men.  Many teenage boys are contracting AIDS by engaging in sexual acts with adult men.  I was shocked to learn that fact while recording The 411 Live, Sex in the City.

While I am not here to judge – that’s not my job.  Hopefully, I can challenge you to think about your habits.  Whether you’re young, old, single or even married find out your status.  Do the right thing because what feels good today may make for a painful tomorrow.  I’m not preaching.

I’m just saying.

– Tyrene “TJ” Jackson