Abstinence education? Get real!

Seattle Times | March 12, 2002 | Nicole Brodeur

[ethical]

Posted for educational purposes only.

Of all the causes we invest in to try to make honorable citizens of our rotten kids, abstinence is our moralistic Enron. Utter the word to your average teenager, and your stock drops to nothing.

It's a notion as old-fashioned as "The Patty Duke Show" or Peter Pan collars. Worse, it underestimates young people.

I recently raised the issue to a 17-year-old girl, telling her that President Bush had asked Congress for $135 million to encourage teens to make abstinence their only birth control.

Her gust of disgust could have blown me to Bremerton.

"Nobody comes into school and says, 'Oh, I didn't have sex last night, and it was so great,' " she said. Cynical stare. Tight lips. Next question?

This one, for Bush, from both of us: Why?

To me, funding abstinence education is head-in-the-sand politics. Promoting it to teenagers is averting one's gaze from the couples clutching in the school halls. From peer pressure that could move mountains. From the working parents who leave their kids alone in the crucial after-school hours. And from the fact that most teenagers know their AIDS as well as their ABCs.

And unless you're teaching them to parallel park, teenagers prefer to learn most lessons on their own.

Bush should know this better than anyone. His daughters learned nothing from his youthful indiscretions and didn't listen. If the fact that her father was the new Leader of the Free World couldn't keep Jenna Bush from sidling up to a bar with a fake ID, what the heck could?

But teenagers will listen if you acknowledge their reality. That means admitting that, yeah, maybe a nationwide push to draw the line at heavy petting was best pitched to Frankie and Annette.

These are new, less modest times. Madonna and Britney Spears have seen to that. Their moaning and midriffs may have sexualized our kids before their time but also have exposed them to the naked truth about the dangers of sex.

Some of that exposure has taken hold. The teen-pregnancy rate dropped 22 percent in the last decade.

Demographers attribute the decrease not to abstinence education but to the economy: Teenagers are focused on improving their education and occupational skills. So if they're having sex, they want and know how to be careful.

Josh Katz, 19, of Bellevue is open to discussing birth control with a potential partner.

"I don't think kids screw around with that," he told me. "They're smarter. They don't want to have babies unless they are financially able. I don't want to have a kid until I can afford one. They're expensive."

Hats off to Alan Greenspan. But there's more to be done.

America is far behind other countries in reducing teen pregnancies, births and abortions, according to a study released last fall by the Alan Guttmacher Institute. The study credits other nations' success to teaching young people more about birth control and allowing them greater access to it.

So with $135 million to invest in young people's lives, we would be wise to abstain from ignoring the truth.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or at nbrodeur@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/ columnists. It's a shame about the sponge.

Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company

[ethical]

"Nobody comes into school and says, 'Oh, I didn't have sex last night, and it was so great,' " she said. Cynical stare. Tight lips. Next question?" Oh my gosh!

Liberals are sooooo snotty. Their tone and attitude is truly disgusting. The absurdity of what she says speaks for itself. This is a little dated but I checked and didn't find it posted.

[TxBec]

These are new, less modest times. Madonna and Britney Spears have seen to that. Their moaning and midriffs may have sexualized our kids before their time but also have exposed them to the naked truth about the dangers of sex.

Some of that exposure has taken hold. The teen-pregnancy rate dropped 22 percent in the last decade.

.. could it be that more (gasp) kids are abstaining???

[mconder]

"I recently raised the issue to a 17-year-old girl, telling her that President Bush had asked Congress for $135 million to encourage teens to make abstinence their only birth control.

Her gust of disgust could have blown me to Bremerton."

Obviously this 17 year old girl is a whore just like the writer of this article.

[Texaggie79]

But, according to Libertarians, if we tell all kids that they can have sex, they won't want to do it....

[kritikos]

I looked for the article at Seattletimes.com. Can't seem to find it. Can you post a link?

The point of view of the article is so ignorant and dangerous. It ignores the fact that birthrate decline alone means nothing. What is the pregnancy rate? And what are the rates of STD's?

In fact, both of these latter issues are not good news.

[lady lawyer]

Teaching sexual morality in the proper context, and setting an example of it for your children, works. Isn't it amazing how now even sluts are acting like they have the moral and intellectual high ground.

[Ward Smythe]

But teenagers will listen if you acknowledge their reality.

What an idiot. I reject the argument that teenagers (and adults for that matter) can't be taught to control their passions. Don't give me this garbage about "urges."

After all, they also have urges to pee and poop in their pants until they're taught it isn't appropriate.

That's reality. Get real yourself moron! (directed, of course to the author, not the poster)

[TxBec]

I thought that too..

[ethical]

But, according to Libertarians, if we tell all kids that they can have sex, they won't want to do it....

That reminds me of the ACLU librarian I heard on the radio yesterday. She was opposing any kind of internet filter to weed out pornography by saying that once you give pornography to 10 year olds and they have had time to look at it that they lose interest and will turn it back in for, oh I don't know, something like War and Peace?

[ravingnutter]

"Contraceptive education has failed to stem the tide of teen pregnancy. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, teen pregnancy rates increased an alarming 23 percent from 1972 to 1990--the period during which "comprehensive sex education" (read: contraceptive education) began and became widespread. In the meantime, we’ve created a public-health emergency. Not only are rates of teen pregnancy at a historic high, but a shocking one-third of the 20 million annual cases of sexually transmitted disease (STD) strike junior-high and high-school students, many of whom become sterile for life."

"Now consider the programs that teach abstinence. In Washington, D.C., Elayne Bennett’s Best Friends program is credited with slashing rates of sexual activity among teens from 71 percent to 3.4 percent in the schools that have introduced it. In one year, teen pregnancy rates also have dropped, from 20 percent to 1.1 percent. Teen Aid, a West Coast abstinence program, cut the number of teen pregnancies in the San Marcos, California, school district from nearly 150 a year to just 20. Perhaps this explains why welfare reformers in Congress last year managed to find $50 million to fund similar initiatives."

More Info

[ecomcon]

Hers is a world view informed by fear, gutlessness and above all else, pragmatism. Utter stupidity.

[twigs]

it underestimates young people.

No, failure to teach abstinence underestimates young people. A friend of mine made a presenation to the Philadelphia public schools to start an abstinence program. The two student representatives on the council stated that they definitely wanted the program and other students did as well. The head of the council (a liberal adult) said that they did not understand what young people demanded. ??? I couldn't believe it and neither could my friend. Contemporary liberalism which believes that only they can understand the needs of the rest of society.

[mconder]

I don't have any problem with teaching abstenance, but that is something that should be done at home, not with tax payer $$$$.

[Cacophonous]

While I applaud President Bush's ethics, and certainly agree that abstinence is the only 100% effective means of birth control, I don't think public schools are the place to be "teaching" abstinence; it is the duty of the parents.

Unfortunately, today's parents often are not home to teach the kids. IN my opinion, the single-most degnerative factor on families and kids is the loss of the stay-at-home Mom.

So I would propose that that $135M be set aside as tax incentives for stay-at-home Moms. This would, in my opinion, have a more profound impact than tesaching kids how not to do something.

[fortress]

One good thing (and there aren't many)I can say about our (Oregon) Governor Kitzhaber.
He and his wife really pushed a program on abstinence in the public schools.
STARS (Students Today Aren't Ready for Sex),
It would be interesting to see how it made a difference in pregnancies and spread of STD's

[jwalburg]

What if it was fire prevention? What if the article ran like this?


Of all the causes we invest in to try to make honorable citizens of our rotten kids, fire prevention is our moralistic Enron. Utter the words to your average preteen, and your stock drops to nothing.

It's a notion as old-fashioned as "The Patty Duke Show" or Peter Pan collars. Worse, it underestimates young people.

I recently raised the issue to a 10-year-old girl, telling her that President Bush had asked Congress for $135 million to encourage kids to avoid playing with matches.

Her gust of disgust could have blown me to Bremerton.

"Nobody comes into school and says, 'Oh, I didn't play with matches yesterday, and it was so great,' " she said. Cynical stare. Tight lips. Next question?

This one, for Bush, from both of us: Why?

To me, funding fire prevention education is head-in-the-sand politics. Promoting it to kids is averting one's gaze from the kids with lighters in the bathrooms.
From peer pressure that could move mountains. From the working parents who leave their kids alone in the crucial after-school hours. And from the fact that most kids
know their stop-drop-and-roll as well as their ABCs.

And unless you're teaching them to cook pizza, kids prefer to learn most lessons on their own.

But kids will listen if you acknowledge their reality. That means admitting that, yeah, maybe a nationwide push to draw the line at avoiding matches was best pitched to Beaver Cleaver.

These are new, less restrictive times. Beavis and Butthead have seen to that.
Their joking at risky behavior may have matured our kids before their time but also have exposed them to the naked truth about natural fire exploration.

Some of that exposure has taken hold. Child arson and accidental conflagration levels dropped 22 percent in the last decade.

Demographers attribute the decrease not to fire prevention education but to Nintendo: Kids are focused on Pokemon games and Zelda64.
So if they're lighting fires, it's because they don't have computers at home.

Josh Katz, 19, of Bellevue is open to discussing fire extinguishing techniques with friends.

"I don't think kids screw around with fire," he told me.
"They're smarter. They don't want to start big fires unless they are able to extinguish them quickly.
I don't want to start a fire until I can be sure I can put it out in a few minutes. They're expensive."


Hats off to Smokey. But there's more to be done.
America is far behind other countries in reducing child arson, according to a study released last fall by the Fanned Firehood Institute.
The study credits other nations' success to teaching young people more about fire extinguishing techniques and allowing them greater access to it.

Having buckets of water nearby, or sand or taxpayer-provided extinguishers just makes more sense than all the corny song and dance Smokey gives out.

So with $135 million to invest in young people's lives, we would be wise to prevent ignoring the truth.

[Texaggie79]

I bet if you took off her coat and wig you would see a 10 year old on another 10 year old's shoulders....

[Don Myers]

Yeah, right. The little kiddies are too busy experimenting and practicing what they were taught in school to listen to abstinence education.

[TxBec]

good post!

[laotzu]

"But, according to Libertarians, if we tell all kids that they can have sex, they won't want to do it...."

I didn't know you were a Libertarian. How disappointing.