Teen sex increased after abstinence program Texas study finds no impact on sexual behavior

msnbc ^ | Feb. 1, 2005

[najida]

Hmmm,
Some things (like basic biology) need to be taught in the schools.

Ethics and morality need to be taught by parents who have ethics and morals. They also need to understand all the factors that cause a child/teen to experiment with sex at an early age. And it ain't all about hormones either. If the child is lacking love, affection, kindness etc at home, they will find it somewhere.

And scaring them with disease, pregnancy or damnation doesn't work if they feel they have nothing left to lose or that what they have found with someone else is far better than anything you have offered.

Some people/parents, sometimes with good intentions, have such a bizarre view of sex they shouldn't be giving sex ed to a blow up doll, much less a child. It just does a whole lot more harm than good.

[Antoninus]

If that were true I would have picked up an STD in college. Never did.

You sure? Have you been tested for HPV? Condoms do not prevent HPV and many sexually active, non-monogamous men carry it and never know. The symptoms only show up in women. It is a major risk factor for cervical cancer. Look it up. Hopefully, you haven't been unwittingly infecting your "partners."

[nyg4168]

How about: teach them that sexual relations outside of the marriage bed are forbidden and carry penalties--in both this life and the next. Teach them to choose their spouses carefully and to avoid at all costs the ones that think it's ok to "put out" before marriage. Show them some photos of what STDs look like and read them what can happen to you when 50%+ of sexually active individuals are infected, condom or no.

*Poof.* Problem solved.

Poof, problem solved? I hate to break it to you, but you live in a bit of a fantasy world. That may be the ideal, but it's not reality.

Everything you suggested was taught in my Baptist youth group, and half the kids were still screwing each other by the end of high school.

[Antoninus]

Sometimes. Consider the 2nd Amendment, and how to teach about it:

Mr. Apple, please meet Mr. Orange.

Nice try.

[Zeroisanumber]

I work at a hospital and got tested for everything under the sun. Came out clean.

[orionblamblam]

Alright, tell me what's wrong with the analogy. "Stay away from X, but if you *do* find yourself in that situation, deal with it appropriately."

[orionblamblam]

> *Poof.* Problem solved.

Yeah, just like the "Scared Straight" programs eliminated teen crime, and SADD/MADD eliminated teen drunk driving, and the numerous No Smoking ads and programs eliminated teen smoking.......

You can *easily* impart factual information to the young. Imparting wisdom is not nearly so easy, and comes from experience more than from authority.

[frgoff]

Agreed. This falls under morality, and that is something for the government to keep its chubby fingers out of.

This attitude is about 40 years old and started with the hippie crowd in the 1960s. Prior to that in this country, morality was considered very much in the interest of the state for the commonly understood fact that an immoral people cannot remain a free people. Morality and freedom are as inextricably linked as mass and gravity.

The words to America the Beautiful understood this: "Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law."

[Antoninus]

Everything you suggested was taught in my Baptist youth group, and half the kids were still screwing each other by the end of high school.

Let me tell you, that's a much better rate than what went on at my Catholic school. We were taught the non-abstinence-based, "experimentation tacitly encouraged" sex ed every year from grade 7 to grade 9 and I'd say about 70-80% were screwing each other by age 14. I was considered a freak for not engaging in such behavior. If my parents weren't so tough, (and without the help of Almighty God) I probably would have fallen victim too.

Sex ed should NEVER be taught in public school outside of biology class, where it should be discussed as part of anatomy and physiology, along with sexually-transmitted diseases. As long as we're not teaching Christian values, we shouldn't be teaching anti-values either.

[LWalk18]

This attitude is about 40 years old and started with the hippie crowd in the 1960s. Prior to that in this country, morality was considered very much in the interest of the state for the commonly understood fact that an immoral people cannot remain a free people. Morality and freedom are as inextricably linked as mass and gravity.

You cannot expect state imposed lessons on abstinence, often taught by teachers who are openly fornicating, to carry the same weight as that from parents or clergy. Government's role is not to subsidize immorality, but it cannot make people sexually moral or turn back the clock.

[Antoninus]

I work at a hospital and got tested for everything under the sun. Came out clean.

You're one of the lucky ones. Many aren't so fortunate.

[Ignatz]

The study showed about 23 percent of ninth-grade girls, typically 13 to 14 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.

So it was a six percent increase? Maybe after the abstinence program, 6% more have admitted they had sex.

[shubi]

Obviously, sex education in school teaches kids how to do it rather than discouraging them from it.

It would be better to let their parents scare the hell out of them, except that many parents are more promiscuous than teenagers.

[Antoninus]

Yeah, just like the "Scared Straight" programs eliminated teen crime, and SADD/MADD eliminated teen drunk driving, and the numerous No Smoking ads and programs eliminated teen smoking.......

If advertising doesn't work, then why do corporations spend billions of dollars on it?

It works, it's just not 100% effective. Nothing can be. I remember I was a pre-teen when that first "scrambled egg" commercial came out. It was effective. That and watching Cops in my later teen years. I never wanted to be one of those guys with their pants around their ankles running from the cops.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

What to do?

Well when I went to school, sex education consisted of watching a few horrifying films on venereal disease. It scared the crap out of us. I doubt that would work today since it couldn't compete with a media that's completely infused with sex.

[almcbean]

If this is truly a study, where is the control group?

[Ignatz]

You cannot expect state imposed lessons on abstinence, often taught by teachers who are openly fornicating, to carry the same weight as that from parents or clergy

Especially if the same teachers are telling straight kids not to have sex, but openly approve of homosexual behavior.

[nothingnew]

If this is truly a study, where is the control group?

Look pal...if Doctor "Buzz" Pruitt said it, then that's good enough for me! hahahahahaha!

FMCDH(BITS)

[madprof98]

I think the conclusion reached is very, very reasonable and intelligent:

One program technique has been to try to bolster students’ self-esteem, based on the theory that self-confident teenagers would not have sex. Those programs, which sometimes do not even mention sex, have shown no effect, Pruitt said.

Other programs that focus on the social norms and expectations appear to be more successful, he said.

The problem, of course, is that psychobabble ("self-esteem") is no basis for making decisions. But public schools have trouble when they try to offer kids anything else because somebody, somewhere is sure to be offended.

[dmz]

What product are you going to sell with your advertising? I don't see how you can compare a public service announcement to an ad selling a product.