By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Politics Discussion - Promoting Abstinence "proven to work"

coolbeans said:
Your word choice is a bit dicey. I didn't expect "promoting abstinence" to branch off into "abstinance only teachings". As I recall, high schools promote abstinence but are also obligated to inform students in every other aspect of sex. What exactly did Santorum say?

 

It was in reference to Title XX, a federal abstinence only program.



Around the Network

Abstinence and having sex only after marriage are definitely against nature, so Christians should consider both abominable. O-)



Stwike him, Centuwion. Stwike him vewy wuffly! (Pontius Pilate, "Life of Brian")
A fart without stink is like a sky without stars.
TGS, Third Grade Shooter: brand new genre invented by Kevin Butler exclusively for Natal WiiToo Kinect. PEW! PEW-PEW-PEW! 
 


I'm assuming he is referring to the studies that were released a couple years ago:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/02/health/main6165752.shtml

(AP)  An experimental abstinence-only program without a moralistic tone can delay young teens from having sex, a new study found.

Billed as the first rigorous research to show long-term success with an abstinence-only approach, the study released Monday differed from traditional programs that have lost U.S. federal and state support in recent years.

The classes didn't preach saving sex until marriage or disparage condom use. Instead, they involved assignments to help students around the age of 12 see the drawbacks to sexual activity at their age. It included having them list the pros and cons themselves, and it found their "cons" far outnumbered the "pros."

The study appears in the February edition of Archives of Pediatrics&Adolescent Medicine. It was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and involved 662 black children in Philadelphia.

The students were assigned to one of four options: eight hour-long abstinence-only classes; safe-sex classes; classes incorporating both approaches; or classes in general healthy behavior. Results for the first three classes were compared with the group that had only the general health classes. That was the "control group" the study used for comparison.

Two years later, about one-third of abstinence-only students said they'd had sex since the classes ended, versus nearly half - about 49 per cent - of the control group. Sexual activity rates in the other two groups didn't differ from the control group.

Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Program, praised the study and said she hopes it revives government interest in abstinence-only sex education.

Critics of abstinence-only programs have long argued that most evidence shows they don't work. The new study challenges that, but even the authors say the results don't mean that more comprehensive sex education should be ignored.

The abstinence-only program was based on social psychology theories about what motivates behavior. It encouraged abstinence as a way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Psychologist John Jemmott III, the lead author, called the findings surprising given negative results in previous abstinence-only research. Jemmott said the single focus may have been better at encouraging abstinence than the other approaches in his study.

"The message was not mixed with any other messages," said Jemmott, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has long studied ways to reduce risky behavior among inner-city youngsters.

Monica Rodriguez of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, an advocacy group favoring comprehensive sex education, said the study doesn't mean other abstinence-only programs would work.

"It's unfair to compare this abstinence-only intervention to the typical abstinence-only-until-marriage program that young people in this country have been put through," she said. These typically portray sex and condom use in a more negative light, she said.

Rodriguez said the program studied might be one approach to try with younger children, but that it probably would be less successful with older, more sexually experienced teens.

Almost one-fourth of the teens studied said they'd already had sex at least once, similar to other studies of urban, mostly black children of middle school age, around 11 to 13.

 



I put little to no stock in such sentiments. Norway is a perfect example of how prohibition, regulations and strict rules do not work. At all.



Funny thing is that with the increase in focus on "sex-ed" classes in schools and easier than ever access to birth control / contraceptive products over the past 2 decades, the STD rates in this country have skyrocketed during the same time frame. The only thing that's actually gone down is teen pregnancy, but that's attributed more to the fact that teens are experimenting and trying other stuff more frequently instead of just the old in-out, in-out.



On 2/24/13, MB1025 said:
You know I was always wondering why no one ever used the dollar sign for $ony, but then I realized they have no money so it would be pointless.

Around the Network
Mummelmann said:
I put little to no stock in such sentiments. Norway is a perfect example of how prohibition, regulations and strict rules do not work. At all.


Except there is some evidence that they can work (as my post above displayed) ...

I was (somewhat) surprised to hear a couple of years ago that sex education had changed its approach dramatically from when I was a child. The program I went through was more similar to what is called abstinence-first education, and (from what I recall) it was highly successful; from what I remember, there was (on average) about 1 girl who became pregnant per year in a 1000+ student highschool.





 

Face the future.. Gamecenter ID: nikkom_nl (oh no he didn't!!) 

NiKKoM said:

As good an argument against this as any.



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

You might as well teach the Earth is only 5000 years old. Abstinence only education is about the dumbest bullshit idea invented in the past century.



NightDragon83 said:
Funny thing is that with the increase in focus on "sex-ed" classes in schools and easier than ever access to birth control / contraceptive products over the past 2 decades, the STD rates in this country have skyrocketed during the same time frame. The only thing that's actually gone down is teen pregnancy, but that's attributed more to the fact that teens are experimenting and trying other stuff more frequently instead of just the old in-out, in-out.


They are doing it in the butt and not the vag.