Ad Campaign Designed To Make Teens Think Aggressive Statewide Program Focuses On Sexual Assault

In Megan Garcia’s first week at Gonzaga Prep, she got a lesson in sex.

“It’s all the guys talk about, how they’re gonna score, who they’re going to do it with,” the 14-year-old freshman said. “From junior high to high school, (sex) becomes this really big thing.”

So does rape, she said.

One in four American girls and one in six boys are sexually assaulted by the time they are 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

“Guys don’t get it. They don’t think about the girl,” Garcia said. “They just think about having sex.”

Starting today, Garcia and about 10 other Spokane students are hoping that new radio advertisements will make a difference in attitudes about sex and rape.

The students have helped create an aggressive statewide ad campaign - with in-your-face, slang-ridden language - to get boys to think about the consequences of forcing girls to have sex and to teach girls that saying “no” is OK.

The program is part of the new Washington Sexual Assault Prevention Campaign and is bound to raise a few eyebrows, campaign organizers admit.

In one radio spot running on KZZU (93 Zoo FM) and KAEP (The Peak 105.7 FM), teenage guys talk in graphic detail about the consequences of rape.

“I forced her … talked her into it,” one portion of the ad details. “Now I’m locked up in juvie … have to register as a sex offender.

“If you force her to have sex, you’re screwed.”

Why take the chance at offending people to get the message across?

“Many of us find the language kids use to talk about sexual assault as disturbing as the problem itself,” said Kim Koeppen, who manages the campaign for the Washington Office of Crime Victims Advocacy. “But to connect with teenagers we can’t sugarcoat the message.”

Teens agree.

“You don’t want to talk to your parents about this kind of stuff,” said 17-year-old Ferris High School student Nick Busch. “They think we’re not going to have sex. They don’t know what is going on with us.

“These ads make you think about what’s really going on. It just makes you aware.”

The campaign was developed with federal money from the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. Pilot programs in Spokane, Seattle and Tacoma were set up to get teens involved in rape prevention work.

Locally, teens work with the Spokane Sexual Assault Center and the Spokane Regional Health District.

The radio ads, as well as posters in junior highs and high schools, are designed to promote awareness and reduce the number of sexual assaults in the Spokane area.

The teens who developed the ads volunteered to work with state officials and were consulted on every detail. The decision to go with the rough-edged ads was made on the recommendation of students.

“We gave them what we call the Cream of Wheat version of these ads and they called them cheesy, didn’t like the music, it wasn’t real to them,” Koeppen said. “This will make them stop and listen.”

Listening is something these teens admit they don’t often do when adults try to talk to them about sex. But the ads woke them up.

“I never knew (rape) was an issue,” said 17-year-old Ferris High School senior Blane Bageant. He helped pick the music for the ads. “I never stopped to think about the girl’s point of view, until I heard the ad.”