Recently, the skies over Taiwan have taken on a lurid glow. Even as the local press brace themselves for the arrival of a HK-based daily and its muckraking style of journalism, society has served up a succession of juicy tidbits, with various private dramas being played out in public. Clouds of suspicion surrounding a news anchorwoman, the alleged date-rape of an author, and accusations against a government official have all added spice to the mixture. The shocking thing is that these incidents, which have no value beyond titillation and idle chatter, have all been carried as headlines in newspapers and on TV. This is both baffling and worrying. How can parents guide impressionable youngsters in establishing a healthy system of values in the face of this tide of appalling behavior?

Not long ago, a journalist friend arrived home early to find that her 13-year-old daughter had brought a boy home to chat. Although they had not "done" anything, she broke out in a cold sweat. Her concern reminded me of the time a few years ago when I discovered a 15-year-old student whom I was tutoring engaged in a raucous game of mahjongg with three classmates, each of them accompanied by a girlfriend!

Yet, looking at the example set by the confused values of the adult world, what can we demand of our children? If the younger generation has to grow up in this kind of environment, what kind of sustenance can parents and teachers give them?

In part because Taiwanese society seems to be growing ever more restless, this summer Sinorama planned two features on family and society. In August, we published "It Ain't Over Till It's Over: Rewriting the Rule Book on Marriage," which examined family relationships. In this month's cover story, we probe attitudes to sex and love among the "e-Generation." The feature is supported by an Internet survey of sexual values, conducted in collaboration with ET Today and the Bureau of Health Promotion. The survey included detailed questions on behavior and attitudes regarding safe sex, one-night stands and abortion. We also asked experts to interpret the results and suggest how mainstream culture should regard these phenomena, and what advice and assistance parents and teachers can give to youngsters.

The aspect of the survey that attracted most media attention was attitudes to one-night stands. Perhaps because online surveys depend entirely on participants' own motivation, male respondents outnumbered females by three to one. As many as 37% of respondents approved of one-night stands, and when ET radio's "News Escape" followed up this topic, it elicited a lively audience response. Two young men and a woman who immediately called in said there was nothing wrong with one-night stands, for they could relieve stress and fill a need, and afterwards both people could go their separate ways with neither owing the other anything. Such views may come as a shock to some parents. But looking at the hard-hitting diet of "adult" news served up by today's media, along with romantic scenes in films, TV dramas and novels, experts can only suggest that parents should face the reality of sexual issues and insist on safety-"no glove, no love"-at whatever age, especially for girls. As for where young people are to learn such lessons as the value of conjugal love and of family, this has become an almost unanswerable question!

Some may say that this is the global trend in a democratic age. Taiwan is strongly influenced by the West, and that's how things are in the advanced countries, so what can we do? But in fact, in Western countries with a more mature media environment, there is great diversity in the media. You can read all the salacious tittle-tattle you want, but you can also choose outstanding publications such as the New York Times that offer in-depth analysis of cultural and social trends. In democratic Taiwan, if competition drives too many of the media to opt for shallow titillation, and people spend all their time and effort thinking about such matters, how can our younger generation develop a global view? How can they be competitive? And worse, how can they become complete and happy people, healthy in body and mind?

As a part of the media ourselves, we hope to share with readers some topics that can give greater satisfaction to the soul: Taiwan's first "ecological village, Taumi; the old forestry settlement of Lintienshan; Stan Lai, founder of Performance Workshop, who has done much to promote small theaters; and Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian, who is in Taiwan to produce his new work Snow in August, which has attracted worldwide attention. Through them, we can see the abundance of creativity throughout Taiwan and the richness of its natural resources, and we can hear the words of great masters. I am sure you will agree that although sensationalist news may give us a frisson of excitement, what can really enrich our lives is to look in depth at the beauty of nature and at outstanding people.