www.preemptivekarma.com/archives/2005/01/texas_abstinenc.html
Not that they'll pay any attention: Despite taking courses emphasizing abstinence-only themes, teenagers in 2 9 high schools became increasingly sexually active, mirroring the overal l state trends, according to the study conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University. "We didn't see any strong indications that these programs were having an impact in the direction desired," said Dr. The study was delivered to the Texas Department of State Health Services, which commissioned it. The federal government is expected to spend about $130 million to fund pr ograms advocating abstinence in 2005, despite a lack of evidence that th ey work, Pruitt said. "The jury is still out, but most of what we've discovered shows there's n o evidence the large amount of money spent is having an effect," he said . The study showed about 23 percent of ninth-grade girls, typically 13 to 1 4 years old, had sex before receiving abstinence education. After taking the course, 29 percent of the girls in the same group said they had had sex. Boys in the tenth grade, about 14 to 15 years old, showed a more marked i ncrease, from 24 percent to 39 percent, after receiving abstinence educa tion. Abstinence-only programs, which have sprouted up in schools across the na tion, cannot offer information about birth control and must promote the social and health benefits of abstaining from sex. Abstinence education doesn't keep kids from having sex AND it keeps them from information regarding birth control and safe sex. "Family values" appears to be about getting kids to have families. Neverm ind the massive health risks to this sort of irresponsible way to educat e young people. Posted by Carla at January 31, 2005 05:09 PM Comments Carla, I completely agree with you on this one. This is a perfect example of how religious beliefs and wishful thinking can overc ome rational policy. I think trying to convince teenagers, especially yo unger teenagers, that abstinence is the way to go is the right thing to do. But denying them basic sex education and information on contraceptio n is just plain insane.
Tom Carter at January 31, 2005 06:31 PM In the dark ages of 1980, we had a missing chapter in our 10th grade Biol ogy textbooks -- the chapter on human reproduction. We were expected to learn about that in the backseat of a car on Friday n ight, like our parents did.
Tom Carter at January 31, 2005 07:30 PM If only these youngsters knew the kind of world, these days, into which t hey would be bringing a child! Kids who are engaging in sex at such young ages are really playing with f ire. As the cost of living keeps rising faster than wages, it is becomin g increasingly harder for anyone to get out of poverty. I hope that the people promoting "abstinence only" will, at some point, r ealize this is not having the desired effect of preventing teenage pregn ancy. But then, I wonder if, for many of them, this is really their goal . Could it be that some of these "abstinence-only" promoters are really and truly trying to promote pregnancy, after all? I was listening to one of the Catholic "Relevant Radio" radio stations in Chicago a few days ago. This station has me convinced that the Catholic leadership has become pretty much a fertility cult. I listened to women with 10, 11, 12, 13 children call in and ask for advice as to why they felt depressed, or why they felt such despair and hurt upon learning tha t their husbands had secretly obtained a vasectomy. And I listened to th e Catholic "doctors" and therapists dispense advice that essentially tol d women to try harder to appease abusive husbands, by giving their husba nds even more sex and more children. I listened, almost in shock, to the ridiculous advice dispensed by these Catholic "professionals." Everything, everything, centered upon urging w omen to pump out more babies. How can kids listen to all of this propaganda that urges women to pump ou t babies like watermelon seed gunfire, and not get the impression that b eing barefoot and pregnant is okay and even desirable? How can they list en to "abstinence only" messages, simultaneously with the "fertility cul t" messages, without concluding that, "Hey, maybe it's not all that bad to be barefoot and pregnant?" on the other hand, teenagers are hearing heaps of praise being laid upon women who have over a dozen children, who are hearing how "generous" their men are being to give the m so many children and so much sex? If I were a teen, I would find such mixed messages confusing: "Don't have sex before marriage, but once you are married, focus your entire life u pon having having sex and upon producing as many children as possible, b y being "generous" to your partner and having as much sex and as many ba bies as humanly possible."
Daemmern at January 31, 2005 07:33 PM To paraphrase an old joke: What do you call kids who practice abstinence? These kids have the same urges, the same pressure, the same equipment we had when we were young and foolish. I lived through the 70's in high sch ool and graduated with 12 mothers - out of 106 grads. The bes t thing we can do is be there when they need us and help them when they get in trouble. I feel we have to stop treating our kids like porcelain morons. Honesty may not be flashy and new, but it will build trust an d that's always a good place to start.
David Aquarius at January 31, 2005 08:41 PM To paraphrase an old joke: What do you call kids who practice abstinence? These kids have the same urges, the same pressure, the same equipment we had when we were young and foolish. I lived through the 70's in high sch ool and graduated with 12 mothers - out of 106 grads. The bes t thing we can do is be there when they need us and help them when they get in trouble. I feel we have to stop treating our kids like porcelain morons. Honesty may not be flashy and new, but it will build trust an d that's always a good place to start.
David Aquarius at January 31, 2005 08:41 PM David Aquqrius makes some excellent points. If I were charged with developing a program designed to get kids to embra ce the idea of abstinence I would model it after the "scared straight" p rograms that make kids want to stay out of jail by introducing them to m ean ex-cons. I'd bring some girls and guys into the classroom who have h ad their youth stolen away by the responsibility of having and supportin g a child. It would also help if abortion was absolutely NOT an option f or any girl under the age of 18. Kids have to understand that they have no rights, except those granted to them, on a contingency basis, by pare nts.
Whymrhymer at January 31, 2005 09:31 PM Great topic and even better responses. We live in a very middle to upper middle class ar ea, very typical of your average American community. I know a small percentage (say 20%) were sexually active in middle school and virtually all of her age group have had some sort of sexual encount er by 17-18. Oral sex was the big thing in middle school, early high school. At the point that I learned that little gem, I took to educating any of t hem that would listen to me about the seriousness of STDs and oral sex. I spoke to them about if they had to have any sort of sexual encounter t hey must be protected. I spoke of the women I knew in life that were sad dled with early pregnancies and lose of their lives to same. Since most of the kids I am around are young women, I spoke to their stan ding as a sexual partner since most of the oral sex was servicing their young men. I explained that a good man would want to please his partner more than himself, and to accept the role of servicer reduced a glorious act to smut. I also noticed increased traf fic to our house as these kids wanted to have a serious conversation on sex and all it's ramifications.
G Davis at January 31, 2005 09:46 PM I have some experience with abstinence outcome evaluations in Virginia; I worked at VCU during the 90s when a series of conservative Goobernors l ike George Allen and Jim Gilmore forced abstinence ed on the state's sch ools. We received grant funding to review those programs, and found they were useless at best, and led to more pregnancy at worst. In test...
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