Syphilis Program Is A Worry

Folks in Rockdale County, Georgia, are up in arms about a TV documentary detailing shocking sexual behavior among area youngsters.

The program is part of the PBS series "Frontline." It centers on a 1996 syphilis outbreak that infected 17 teen-agers and forced 250 others to get medical treatment.

The program contains interviews with kids who claim they've had as many as 100 sexual partners or joined in group sex parties. Some report becoming sexually active as young as age 12.

The Rockdale Coalition, a non-profit youth organization, says it objects to having the community's "dirty laundry" aired publicly.

But the producers say the program is not intended to make
Rockdale County seem aberrant. They say the idea is to show something that is pertinent to kids everywhere.

The community is still recovering from a school shooting in May, when a teen wounded six classmates.