Abstinence education Failure - thanks Right Wing Nuts!

Abstinence only works great as long as you don't have sex.

Best advice I ever got in HS was from an older friend of a friend when I was a freshman: "I used to use the pull-out method, now they call me 'Dad'".

 

Your analogy is still as stupid as it was last night.

 

It isn't just STD's though, what about teenage pregnancies??

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/07/06/teen-births-texas/

Even though teenage pregnancies have been reduced over the years, it still appears Texas has a huge problem. Teaching abstinence in school isn't really what is best for kids. I think you need to give kids guidelines on what unprotected sex leads to and instead of trying to push contraceptives out the window, let kids know if they are really hell bent on having sex, then at least use some protection.

I agree with another poster that said that the problem also lies with the parents. I know my parents never touched the subject of sex with me. It was similar with a lot of my other friends. Thankfully we were smart enough to protect ourselves, but like in the case of a lot of my younger cousins, they definitely were not so smart. I feel that if the parents would just make the effort to teach their kids that their options, it would go a longer way in reducing STDs, unwanted pregnancies, etc among teenagers. The options obviously include abstinence, but a parent can't be ignorant of the world we live in and only present that option to their kid.

 

Well, the risk is unplanned pregnancies, abandoned children and double-digit AIDS infection rates, so maybe there should be more than a three day course.

 

I think one can advocate sex education without overstating metrics. There are all kinds of emotional, psychological, ethical and esteem factors that come from parenting and other developmental and life planning inputs, along with reproductive and contraceptive education; that ensure optimal or low-risk venereal and reproductive decisions.

 

With the constant taxation of citizens and ridiculously increasing prices, in many households both parents (if there's even two parents) are forced to work (some even long hours) so many children actually spend more time at school than they do with their parents so the government shares some responsibility as well.

In defense of your parents... Maybe they didn't feel the need and or depending on your age, maybe you grew up in a different era. The views on acceptance/tolerance has changed and children are exposed to a lot more things.

I agree about teenage pregnancy but one thing that article doesn't touch on is that there is probably a good size percentage of those teenage girls who are not getting pregnant by boys their own age.

In my opinion a educational system teaching abstinence in a world were "sex" is everywhere you look is a waste of tax dollars. They'd be better off teaching girls what they would have to go through as single parents, teaching boys the financial impact of having children out of wedlock and paying child support while trying to raise another family, teaching about sexual transmitted diseases, and having contraceptive dispensers on campus.

 

Virtually all children spend hours every day with some sort of adult guidance outside of school. It should begin there.

My point was that this thread ripped an effort as a failure that only ran for three days... at probably an hour or two per day at the most. That's nothing.

I'm about to concede that it is more important to teach kids how to NOT make babies than it is to teach them Algebra.

 

Huh? Who did your study? Abstinence worked for me. I bet it would help if we stopped ridiculing it culturally. Abstinence is provably the best method of birth control. Maybe not the most popular... but that's on us, our culture.

Abstinence has been proven scientifically to work better than a guy double-wrapped, soaked in spermicide copulating with a young girl on the pill and fitted with an IUD and a morning after pill on her bedside table.

 

Link to this study?

 

It's actually just a mathematical proof.

 

A link would be nice, but are you talking about little kids or teenagers. And are you sure those adults are capable of discussing those things...

Do you have children...?

 

It's not a flaw; it's the challenge.

I'm quite sure that I'm not alone-- certainly a minority. However, every individual decides. I notice how you have unwittingly bought in to my argument by putting the only restraining voice on "the teachers." It is tough for an abstinance message to work when half or more of the adults are mocking it. The thing is that you are not so much IN FAVOR of teenage sex as you just don't have the gumption to speak out against it. There is NOTHING GOOD to come of it except a pleasant sensual experience.... but look at all the fallout beyond that. Why defend that?

Knowledge exercised is power.

 

If not, adults can get capable of discussing these things.

This is not about one momentous TALK. This is about a lifetime relationship with you children that NO ONE ELSE HAS.

I have four children between 13 and 31.

 

If you think not, it's exactly why abstinence-only education doesn't help. They are going to do it anyway, so let's educated them on how to reduce the risk of STD and pregnancy.

But to answer your question, it definitely can help. Education is education, some will learn some will not. Someone who never or rarely been exposed to the negative reality of unsafe sex and/or the tools available to decrease that risk would benefit from learning that reality. An abstinence-only education is a partial education leaving out much information. Students with a fully education is better educated and has more knowledge to make their own decision. Republican often don't care about educating to reality but about protecting their beliefs.

 

Parents are the First Educators.

 

See, here's the problem: nowhere did I promote teaching Abstinence only.

I came in knocking the critical headline which seems to believe that three hour-long lessons in a dark auditorium is going to impart life-changing knowledge in high schoolers.

Abstinence is far and away the best solution conceptually. Parents are far and away the preferred medium for the message. The further away we get from that combination, the more watered-down will be our results. Book it!