Monday, February 01, 2010

Um... NO.

Abstinence-only programs might work, study says. (This is saying that kids who have been told not to have sex don't have sex for two years after the program):
Only about a third of sixth- and seventh-graders who completed an abstinence-focused program started having sex within the next two years, researchers found. Nearly half of the students who attended other classes, including ones that combined information about abstinence and contraception, became sexually active.

The findings are the first clear evidence that an abstinence program could work.

"I think we've written off abstinence-only education without looking closely at the nature of the evidence," said John B. Jemmott III, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who led the federally funded study.
Riiiiggghhhtttt. So there may be a slight delay in sexual activity. But when they DO start, those abstinence trained kids who have not been given specifics on how things work.....
Teen pregnancy rate up after 10-year decline

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. teen pregnancy rate rose in 2006 for the first time in more than a decade, reversing a long slide, a U.S. think tank reported on Tuesday.

The overall teen pregnancy rate was up 3 percent in 2006, with a 4 percent rise in the rate of births and a 1 percent rise in the rate of abortions, according to the report by the Guttmacher Institute.

[snip]

"It's interesting to note that this flattening out of the rate and the increase in the rate is happening at the same time that we've seen substantial increases in funding for abstinence-only programs," Finer said.
We can't even get elected Republicans to behave themselves, how on earth do you think we could control hormonally challenged teenagers? We need to tell them EVERYTHING: give them contraceptives, books, parental interest and advice, and sex education from when they were very little.

It's that simple and that necessary.

2 comments:

Steve Bates said...

I've often quoted an old saying regarding why abstinence is not adequate, especially for teens:

"Abstinence makes the front grow harder."

(Is that right? Did I spell everything properly?)

ellroon said...

I'd say you've been paying very close attention! A+ for effort....