From the Washington Post (Thanks, T):
According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the (completely imagined) decline in teen sex has "leveled off." More alarming, condom use has also started to decline. The teen pregnancy prevention world is in a tizzy about this report.
Here's my grad school advisor on abstinence and condoms:
"Since we've started pushing abstinence, we have seen no change in the numbers on sexual activity," said John Santelli, chairman of the department of population and family health at Columbia University. "The other piece of it is: Abstinence education spends a good amount of time bashing condoms. So it's not surprising, if that's the message young people are getting, that we're seeing condom use start to decrease."Sarah Brown, Chief of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, offered this explanation:
"The truth is that, as a field, we really don't know what the answer is," Brown said. "There are lots of theories: the economy, classroom education, the messages kids are getting in the digital world where they spend their time. They probably all play a role."The thing that nobody seems to realize or is afraid to admit to the Washington Post is that sex is fun. Teenagers can't even shop at K-Mart without being bombarded with the tired abstinence message; just look at these sweatpants.(Thanks, C)*
Let's hear from one of the abstinence pushers:
"Contraceptive sex education does not provide practical skills for maintaining or regaining abstinence but typically gives teens a green light to activity that puts them at great risk for acquiring STDs or which serve as gateway-to-intercourse activities," said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association.Valerie, you're goddamn right that comprehensive sex education doesn't give kids "practical skills for maintaining abstinence." And those "gateways to intercourse"? Normal people refer to those as "foreplay."
If I've said it once I've said it a million times: Kids aren't having sex because of abstinence education or comprehensive education; they're having sex because sex is fun. The end.
*After seeing a 12 year old girl here in Orlando wearing a pair of booty shorts that said, "Girls Make Boys Cry," I can understand the appeal of a pair of ass-message pants that say something not totally sexual, but come on.
5 comments:
You'd think that the cold, hard facts would persuade the abstinence-only idiots, but oh no. They just shut their ears and scream "REALITY HAS A LIBRUL BIAS!! REALITY HAS A LIBRUL BIAS!!" *headdesk*
what if we start promoting childhood obesity to prevent teens from having sex? the fat ones never get laid.
do they make those sweatpants in xxxxxl?
The best comment I saw out in the blogosphere about these pants was that they would be a great way for kids to convince their parents that they weren't having sex. Riight. Just like how girls need birth control pills nowadays for "acne" and "cramps." Gotcha.
All one can do is educate themselves and make responsible decisions.
There are lots of different ways to skin that cat, but ultimately it is all up to you.
I feel like the sooner parents are inclined to openly talk about sexuality with their child ,the greater potential that child could have. Ignorance is partly to blame for this population explosion.
TC
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