abstinence-only really doesn't work, okay?
If this post (hell, if the first link) doesn't convince you about the failures of abstinence-only education, ...wow, please get yourself sterilized now.
Some things to keep in mind as you read the links and the post: this government has spent almost $2 billion dollars in the past 10 years promoting these kinds of programs, and has earmarked $200 million for 2008, a few states have already declined to take this money, and THANKFULLY the insane pro-life incompetent idiot who had a top family planning position in the department of health and human services resigned a couple weeks ago because of medical board warnings. Meanwhile, Time Magazine incorrectly states that Plan B "induces abortions" (and any idiot bothering to read the inserts for Plan B know that this is absolutely not true, and of course it's clearly impossible considering what Plan B is, but thankfully Time corrected that statement) and some shitheads are suing the FDA for making Plan B OTC for women over 18..of course, the only way to get Plan B OTC is to give the pharmacist your ID to buy it in the first place, and perhaps get subjected to a mini-lecture about what Plan B is and what it does..if you can even get it from your pharmacist cause apparently Walgreens has no problem hiring and keeping pharmacists who have clear conflicts of interest and should not be working there if they can't offer everything they can to someone who wants it. Anyway, enough with the sidenote...
I first heard this on NPR, but look. Today was the release of a 164 page document about a 10-year study on abstinence-only programs clearly stating on virtually every single page that abstinence-only programs do not work.
A while back, a study showed that abstinence-pledge programs only resulted in teenagers being less likely to have safer sex when they in fact do eventually engage in premarital sex.
Then came along the report that said that 88% of Americans have had premarital sex by the age of 44. (formerly covered on a previous lj post)
Before then was a report about the content of the majority of federally funded abstinence-only programs in the US. It has choice quotes too, a lot.
Apparently failure to use condoms correctly and consistently for birth control means that condoms suck for HIV protection in general: One curriculum draws an analogy between the HIV virus and a penny and compares it to a sperm cell (“Speedy the Sperm”), which on the same scale would be almost 19 feet long. The curriculum asks, “If the condom has a failure rate of 14% in preventing ‘Speedy’ from getting through to create a new life, what happens if this guy (penny) gets through? You have a death: your own.”
Apparently inconsistent condom usage means the same thing as consistent and perfect usage: “When used by real people in real-life situations, research confirms that 14 percent of the women who use condoms scrupulously for birth control become pregnant within a year.”
Apparently just the mere act of touching genitalia causes pregnancy: The curriculum erroneously states that touching another person’s genitals “can result in pregnancy.”
Apparently a bundle of 100 cells not even called a fetus at that point is a baby (apparently "blastocyst" is too harsh of a term..) capable of snuggling with mommy (aka implantation): After conception, the tiny baby moves down the fallopian tube toward the mother’s uterus. About the sixth to tenth day after conception, when the baby is no bigger than this dot (.), baby snuggles into the soft nest in the lining of the mother’s uterus.
Apparently women are vulnerable and need to be protected by the strong men: The curriculum also teaches: “The father gives the bride to the groom because he is the one man who has had the responsibility of protecting her throughout her life. He is now giving his daughter to the only other man who will take over this protective role.”
What happened to Gardasil, that HPV vaccine, (granted this was 2004) and ...hpv...cervical cancer..leading complication?!? : Another curriculum asks, “What is the leading medical complication from HPV? Cervical cancer.” Neither of these curricula mentions that human papilloma virus (HPV), though associated with most cases of cervical cancer, rarely leads to the disease, nor that cervical cancer is highly preventable when women get regular Pap smears.
And the best of all, a cure-all for anyone who's sexually active but also depressed, jealous, whatever...: For example, one curriculum tells youth that a long list of personal problems - including isolation, jealousy, poverty, heartbreak, substance abuse, unstable long-term commitments, sexual violence, embarrassment, depression, personal disappointment, feelings of being used, loss of honesty, loneliness, and suicide “can be eliminated by being abstinent until marriage.”
Female and male sperm? [The same curriculum] also teaches: “Girls produce only female ovum, boys, however, have both male and female sperm.
Yeahhh..this country is messed up...if only people would actually do something about this travesty and immense waste of money...why not spend $2bn on condoms and birth control for people who can't afford it (or..donate all that to groups like Planned Parenthood that actually does the right thing by supporting peoples choices and providing affordable reproductive health services for men and women), it would actually make a difference.
I'm not ragging on people who choose to abstain, great for you! I really have lots of respect for people that do. What I am ragging on is the lack of quality and misinformation spread around by the majority of abstinence-only programs being taught to kids and teenagers, and spending billions of dollars doing that too. There are better things to do, everyone knows it, and nobody does it. WTF?!
Some things to keep in mind as you read the links and the post: this government has spent almost $2 billion dollars in the past 10 years promoting these kinds of programs, and has earmarked $200 million for 2008, a few states have already declined to take this money, and THANKFULLY the insane pro-life incompetent idiot who had a top family planning position in the department of health and human services resigned a couple weeks ago because of medical board warnings. Meanwhile, Time Magazine incorrectly states that Plan B "induces abortions" (and any idiot bothering to read the inserts for Plan B know that this is absolutely not true, and of course it's clearly impossible considering what Plan B is, but thankfully Time corrected that statement) and some shitheads are suing the FDA for making Plan B OTC for women over 18..of course, the only way to get Plan B OTC is to give the pharmacist your ID to buy it in the first place, and perhaps get subjected to a mini-lecture about what Plan B is and what it does..if you can even get it from your pharmacist cause apparently Walgreens has no problem hiring and keeping pharmacists who have clear conflicts of interest and should not be working there if they can't offer everything they can to someone who wants it. Anyway, enough with the sidenote...
I first heard this on NPR, but look. Today was the release of a 164 page document about a 10-year study on abstinence-only programs clearly stating on virtually every single page that abstinence-only programs do not work.
A while back, a study showed that abstinence-pledge programs only resulted in teenagers being less likely to have safer sex when they in fact do eventually engage in premarital sex.
Then came along the report that said that 88% of Americans have had premarital sex by the age of 44. (formerly covered on a previous lj post)
Before then was a report about the content of the majority of federally funded abstinence-only programs in the US. It has choice quotes too, a lot.
Apparently failure to use condoms correctly and consistently for birth control means that condoms suck for HIV protection in general: One curriculum draws an analogy between the HIV virus and a penny and compares it to a sperm cell (“Speedy the Sperm”), which on the same scale would be almost 19 feet long. The curriculum asks, “If the condom has a failure rate of 14% in preventing ‘Speedy’ from getting through to create a new life, what happens if this guy (penny) gets through? You have a death: your own.”
Apparently inconsistent condom usage means the same thing as consistent and perfect usage: “When used by real people in real-life situations, research confirms that 14 percent of the women who use condoms scrupulously for birth control become pregnant within a year.”
Apparently just the mere act of touching genitalia causes pregnancy: The curriculum erroneously states that touching another person’s genitals “can result in pregnancy.”
Apparently a bundle of 100 cells not even called a fetus at that point is a baby (apparently "blastocyst" is too harsh of a term..) capable of snuggling with mommy (aka implantation): After conception, the tiny baby moves down the fallopian tube toward the mother’s uterus. About the sixth to tenth day after conception, when the baby is no bigger than this dot (.), baby snuggles into the soft nest in the lining of the mother’s uterus.
Apparently women are vulnerable and need to be protected by the strong men: The curriculum also teaches: “The father gives the bride to the groom because he is the one man who has had the responsibility of protecting her throughout her life. He is now giving his daughter to the only other man who will take over this protective role.”
What happened to Gardasil, that HPV vaccine, (granted this was 2004) and ...hpv...cervical cancer..leading complication?!? : Another curriculum asks, “What is the leading medical complication from HPV? Cervical cancer.” Neither of these curricula mentions that human papilloma virus (HPV), though associated with most cases of cervical cancer, rarely leads to the disease, nor that cervical cancer is highly preventable when women get regular Pap smears.
And the best of all, a cure-all for anyone who's sexually active but also depressed, jealous, whatever...: For example, one curriculum tells youth that a long list of personal problems - including isolation, jealousy, poverty, heartbreak, substance abuse, unstable long-term commitments, sexual violence, embarrassment, depression, personal disappointment, feelings of being used, loss of honesty, loneliness, and suicide “can be eliminated by being abstinent until marriage.”
Female and male sperm? [The same curriculum] also teaches: “Girls produce only female ovum, boys, however, have both male and female sperm.
Yeahhh..this country is messed up...if only people would actually do something about this travesty and immense waste of money...why not spend $2bn on condoms and birth control for people who can't afford it (or..donate all that to groups like Planned Parenthood that actually does the right thing by supporting peoples choices and providing affordable reproductive health services for men and women), it would actually make a difference.
I'm not ragging on people who choose to abstain, great for you! I really have lots of respect for people that do. What I am ragging on is the lack of quality and misinformation spread around by the majority of abstinence-only programs being taught to kids and teenagers, and spending billions of dollars doing that too. There are better things to do, everyone knows it, and nobody does it. WTF?!