Abstinence Only a Failure

[piratemonkey]

Check out this government report on Abstinence Only education.Â*Â*Just page through until you get to the graphs and charts.

What it shows is that kids that go through Abstinence Only education were just as likely to have sex before marriage as any other kids.

http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/impactabstinence.pdf

"Just Say No" has never worked.

[wonder cow]

no shit! Hahahahah.

Let's see:

slide show presentation from run of the mill high school teacher type vs. human sex drive?

I'll put my money on human sex drive.

[BoogyMan]

slide show presentation from run of the mill high school teacher type vs. human sex drive?

I'll put my money on human sex drive.


I still don't think it has actually ever been tried WC. I have said this before and am sure the castigation will begin very quickly for having said so again, but I don't believe that abstinence has actually been tried.

An honest review of what is being called the failure of abstinence is a failure, IMHO of man to control himself.

[Kallisti]

.....IMHO of man to control himself.


Therein lies the problem, it is opinion vs. fact.

Opinion: Man can control himself, against thousands of years of instinct and natural drive.

Fact:Â*Â*Man is an animal, a much more intelligent and aware animal, but animal nonetheless, man has bio-survival needs and these needs are at the root sexual.

[wonder cow]

^ Mostly agree with Kallisti's post.

The thing is Boogy, this abstinence only sex education is simply promoting a thinly veiled political/religious opinion. Firstly, I believe that some who promote this type of sex education due to Christian beliefs, have a basic, fundamental misunderstanding of Christianity and an immature view of human sexuality.

Also, the target audience is notoriously good at sifting out and discarding certain types of propaganda. This type of propaganda being exactly that type.

Sex education should be 100% propaganda free. Make all the information available without inserting "value statements", as my social worker wife would say.

The hypocrisy of people who, no doubt, largely failed to abstain from premarital sex actually insisting on abstinence only sex education is disgusting but pretty much par for the course.

And that statement is not directed at you Boogy.

[Elrathin]

Sex education should be 100% propaganda free. Make all the information available without inserting "value statements", as my social worker wife would say.


That's pretty much it and that is what many Christian fanatics hate. They don't want the information available, they want to scare children, much like they scare them into the religion itself by saying if you don't do this you're going to hell.

I have yet to see sex education class that doesn't incorporate the teaching, "The only 100% way to avoid pregnancy or STDs is to not have sex". Abstinence is always taught to be the only 100% avoidance to STDs and unwanted pregnancy as part of the sex education class anyways.

Those that want ONLY abstinence education taught in schools are seriously undermining their children's safety in today's age.

[Mayberry]

"The only 100% way to avoid pregnancy or STDs is to not have sex" Unfortunately, this is a true statement. Condoms break, birth control pills are not 100% effective..... But I agree that teaching abstinence isn't the answer. Horny teenagers will do what they do. All we can do is teach them what can happen, and hope for the best. Parents hold the best position for teaching their children how to act.

[bobbylien]

I still don't think it has actually ever been tried WC. I have said this before and am sure the castigation will begin very quickly for having said so again, but I don't believe that abstinence has actually been tried.

An honest review of what is being called the failure of abstinence is a failure, IMHO of man to control himself.

I went to a public high school and they didn't teach anything but abstinence and how terrible STDs are. Then surprise surprise, everyone started having sex at 15-16 and kids got pregnant. The only way to lower the abortion, std and teen pregnancy rates is to teach kids the truth and make proper protection available. Hypocrite parents aren't capable of teaching something so important. If you want to fill your kids heads full of bullshit you can send them to a private Christian school.

[BoogyMan]

I went to a public high school and they didn't teach anything but abstinence and how terrible STDs are. Then surprise surprise, everyone started having sex at 15-16 and kids got pregnant. The only way to lower the abortion, std and teen pregnancy rates is to teach kids the truth and make proper protection available. Hypocrite parents aren't capable of teaching something so important. If you want to fill your kids heads full of bullshit you can send them to a private Christian school.

Wow thats a cynical view Bobby. Maybe I should clarify what I mean by "not been tried." I am not referring to the teaching, I am simply referring to no-one abstaining. That it my meaning behind "not been tried."

[wonder cow]

am simply referring to no-one abstaining. That it my meaning behind "not been tried."

Oh. Well, no, I agree. There has not been a lot of effort in that area.

[Drocket]

Wow thats a cynical view Bobby. Maybe I should clarify what I mean by "not been tried." I am not referring to the teaching, I am simply referring to no-one abstaining. That it my meaning behind "not been tried."

It would also be nice if we could all have ponies. Both are about as likely to happen.

Sex education needs to deal with reality as it exists, not as we wish it exists (the same is true for war planning, BTW...) The reality is that large numbers of teenagers ARE going to have sex. You can wish them not to from now until the cows come home, but it's going to happen anything - we now have conclusive proof of that. Wishing harder isn't the solution - the solution is to deal with the reality of teenagers having sex and try to make sure that the sex they have is as safe and pregnancy-free as possible. That means handing out birth control and condoms, and teaching how to use them.