How many times does
abstinence-only "education" have to be debunked before conservatives (like
Daddy Dobson) finally stop
pushing ignorance?
A recent survey that found some Florida teens believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy has prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state.
The survey showed that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant. State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida's abstinence-only sex education, Local 6 reported.
UPDATE:
Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Does Not Work:
Stoking the fire, a study published in the April edition of the Journal of Adolescent Health found that those who received comprehensive sex education were 50 percent less likely to become pregnant than those who received abstinence-only education. The study also found that those who received comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to become pregnant than those who received no sex education at all.
"I do think that there's strong evidence that comprehensive sex education is more effective at preventing teen pregnancies," said Pamela Kohler, lead author of the study and program manager at the University of Washington's Center for AIDS and STD. "I think we pretty much debunked the myth that comprehensive sex education causes teenagers to have sex."
6 comments:
I'd like to see the curriculum that is being taught.
I don't see how teaching abstinence until marriage causes ignorance if it is taught well. You can teach kids that the best way to avoid STDs and unwanted pregnancies is to NOT HAVE SEX while teaching them accurate, scientific facts about sex.
I think it is purely a political ploy to blame these kinds of rumors on an abstinences only sex education curriculum.
I'm sure surveys conducted in states where this type of curriculum isn't being used would also find just as many teens who believe similar ideas and/or horribly ignorant rumors.
I think most of the blame can and does fall on the parents.
Thanks -- I've added a link up there to clarify that abstinence-only education "emphasizes abstinence from sex to the exclusion of all other types of sexual and reproductive health education, particularly regarding birth control and safe sex." So, what you describe, which includes information about the "best way to avoid STDs and unwanted pregnancies" would, by definition, not qualify as abstinence-only. And abstinence-only is the approach favored by the Bush adminstration and the other conservatives who have been so powerful in recent years.
I'd say that it's perfectly fair to blame the abstinence-only curriculum for the kinds of ignorance found in Florida teenagers. Sure, parents are also at fault, but if responsible sex education were made available to these kids, they would have access to crucial health information despite their parents' ignorance and neglect.
As a product of the State of Florida's school system I am surprised that they were as close to accurate as they were! You said it: Abstinence only = ignorance only.
I think I would rather have the Florida school system give it their best, than some of the best speakers of our day tripping on their words.
"When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include -- which should include abstinence education and teaching the children -- teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual," he said.
"But it should also include -- it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old," he added.
"I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby," Obama said.
Oh, please. After eight years of Bush's tortured, incoherent syntax, even on his worst day, Obama is a breath of fresh air!
Thank you, Captain Irrelevant. =P
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