"June 24, 2004
True Love Waits or Just Waiting for the Fall?
President George W Bush's faith makes it predictable that sex education in American schools is increasingly about teaching teenagers not to do it, rather than how they should protect themselves when they do.
While public promises to abstain prior to the honeymoon gives pleasure to fundamentalist Christians, a *Columbia University study cited recently in The Weekend Australian Magazine (June 19-20 2004) found only 12% of the 2.4 million adolescents who'd made such a vow kept it* (well, obviously they didn't survey 2.4 million teens, but that is how many have taken the "pledge", so one can extrapolate that the percentage of failed "pledgers" in the wider "pledge" community would be equivalent to that amongst those surveyed).
This makes these pledges even less successful than the ones taken at that other often religiously motivated ceremony involving rings.
Unfortunately, adolescents weighed down with the anti-sex message of groups like True Love Waits (TLW) aren't likely to be carrying condoms in their pockets or knowledge in their noggins when they succumb, although they might be wearing a TLW ring or other assorted jewellery available from $24.95 to $249.95.
As the Magazine states with regard to the study's findings, *"(they) were more likely to have unsafe sex."*
Interestingly, *TLW acknowledges the study on its website (www.southernbaptistsrefrain.com)*, but quickly dispenses with it by saying others, like parents and churches; should offer support to abstaining youths, as they do.
The site means you need look no further for evidence "purity pledges" fail: more than one contributor has repledged; that is, lost their virginity before committing to celibacy, again (all they need to do is turn thirty and be single; celibacy is then thrust upon you, whether Christian, Jew, atheist, pagan or whatever).
*The �guilt�, �pain� and sanctimonious and oversimplified thinking guiding these "pledgers"* might be familiar to many people raised in earlier times. Advice from the sickly-sweet counsellors such as �another good boundary is not to lie down together on the floor, couch, bed � anywhere� possibly also rings a bell, and reminds of a lack of ring-a-ding-ding.
In some ways, TLW recalls old cautionary movies or episodes of The Simpsons where such films are so skilfully sent up.
There�s a moment of unintended mirth when the reader realises one pair of �pledgers� don�t live on the same continent. Any humour is soon erased by Asha, who believes �this is special to me because I�m not great at a lot of things. I don�t sing, I can�t play sports and I�m not the smartest person. This is something that not all girls can do (that I know)�.
It wouldn�t be the first time a young woman with limited confidence has found some sense of self from what she doesn�t do rather than what she does and by comparing her actions to those of other girls.
Alas, as any dieter knows, when you deny yourself something, you don�t stop thinking about it until you get it, either by the truckload or with the same amount of shame you�d have if you did.
Thomas Keneally put it more eloquently when reflecting on his days in a seminary in The Best Australian Essays 2002, *"sexuality is always there - the more assiduously repressed, the more likely to cause psychic mayhem"*
Whereas Keneally idealised the Catholic Church, these *youthful Protestants possess such an unrealistic view of wedding nights and the value of virginity as a "gift" for spouses, they are surely in for one heck of a "fall"*, if not the type that comes from having intercourse without getting Jesus' okay first.
Accepting that extreme religious devotion will always exist, perhaps the most troubling thing about TLW and its unsuccessful program is that it has been embraced, albeit with no �prolonged kissing� or �looking at�pictures that feed sexual thoughts�, by the US Government to the tune of $135 million in Australian dollars, with more to come.
We are left wondering how much more US taxpayers are having to fork out for the effects of unsafe youthful indiscretions than needs to be the case so the religious right can continue to believe young 'uns are sexually pure and what they deem to be morally upright. "
Eli koko homma on toimimatonta roskaa, niinkuin tällä palstalla samasta asiasta aiemminkin jo sanoin.
----
Here are a few examples of the problems created by the abstinence-only approach to sex "education":
* Public funds go to religious institutions for anti-sex education. In Montana, the Catholic diocese of Helena received $14,000 from the state's Department of Health & Human Services for classes in the "Assets for Abstinence." In Louisiana, a network of pastors is bringing the abstinence-only message to religious congregations with public funds, and the Governor's Program on Abstinence is appointing regional coordinators and other staff members from such religious organizations as the Baptist Collegiate Ministries, Rapides Station Community Ministries, Diocese of Lafayette, Revolution Ministries, Caring to Love Ministries, All Saints Crusade Foundation, Concerned Christian Women of Livingston, Catholic Charities, Christian Counseling Center, and Community Christian Concern. (2) * Public schools host "chastity" events. In California, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and many other states, schools regularly host chastity pledges and rallies on school premises during school hours. During these rituals, students often pledge "to God" that they will remain abstinent until they marry. (3) *Textbooks are censored. The school board in Franklin County, North Carolina, ordered three chapters literally sliced out of a ninth-grade health textbook because the material did not adhere to state law mandating abstinence-only education. The chapters covered AIDS and other STDs, marriage and partnering, and contraception.* In Lynchburg, Virginia, school board members refused to approve a high-school science textbook unless an illustration of a vagina was covered or cut out. (4) *Crucial health programs are canceled. In response to a petition from 28 parents, a highly regarded comprehensive AIDS-prevention presentation for high-school students in the Syracuse, New York, area, given by the local AIDS Task Force, was canceled for future students. In Illinois, critics blasted Centers for Disease Control program, called "Reducing the Risk," because they claim it is inconsistent with an abstinence-only message.* (5) * Sex-ed teachers are disciplined for doing their jobs. In Belton, Missouri, a seventh-grade health teacher was suspended when a parent complained that she had discussed "inappropriate"sexual matters in class. The teacher had answered a student's query about oral sex. In Orlando, Florida, a teacher was suspended when he showed a student-made videotape called Condom Man and his K-Y Commandos, about preventing AIDS transmission. (6) * Teachers are threatened with lawsuits; student journalists intimidated. In Granite Bay, California, an article in the student paper prompted charges that a sex-ed teacher engaged in "sexual misconduct"and threats of a lawsuit against the teacher and the paper's faculty adviser. The article took the position that newly mandated abstinence-only education was doing nothing to stop either sexual activity or widespread sexual ignorance among students. In Santa Clarita, California, a high school principal censored the student paper from printing an article entitled "Sex: Raw and Uncensored." The article was actually about the benefits of abstinence and methods of safe sex. (7) * Students suffer from ignorance. Comprehensive sex education is becoming the exception rather than the rule; as a result, more students lack basic information. In Granite Bay, one student asked where his cervix was, and another inquired if she could become pregnant from oral sex. Students in New York City protested that the increased focus on abstinence-only has curtailed access to education about HIV/AIDS. *The Colorado Council of Black Nurses decided to return $16,000 in abstinence-only funding, because the program "was just too restrictive. It did not teach responsible sexual behavior."* (8)
Abstinence-Only Education: Facts
* Over a five-year period ending in 2002, approximately $500 million in federal and state matching funds will have been spent on abstinence-only education. Because of the requirement that states match federal funds for abstinence-only programs, state dollars that previously supported comprehensive sexuality education—which includes but is not limited to abstinence-education—have been diverted to abstinence-only programs. (9) * The vast majority of American parents support comprehensive sex education. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, most parents want their children to receive a variety of information on subjects including contraception and condom use, sexually transmitted disease, sexual orientation, safer-sex practices, abortion, communications and coping skills, and the emotional aspects of sexual relationships. Given the choice, only 1% to 5% of parents remove their children from comprehensive sex education courses. (10) * Fewer than half of public schools in the U.S. now offer information on how to obtain birth control, and only a third include discussion of abortion and sexual orientation in their curricula. A large nationally representative survey of middle- and high-school teachers published in Family Planning Perspectives reported that 23% of teachers in 1999 taught abstinence as the only means of STD and pregnancy prevention, compared with 2% in 1988. The study's authors attributed the change to the heavy promotion of abstinence—not sound educational principles. (11) *Abstinence-only sex education doesn't work. There is little evidence that teens who participate in abstinence-only programs abstain from intercourse longer than others. When they do become sexually active, though, they often fail to use condoms or other contraceptives. Meanwhile, students in comprehensive sex education classes do not engage in sexual activity more often or earlier, but do use contraception and practice safer-sex more consistently when they become sexually active.* (12) * The U.S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world, and American adolescents are contracting HIV faster than almost any other demographic group. The teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. is at least twice that in Canada, England, France, and Sweden, and 10 times that in the Netherlands. Experts cite restrictions on teens' access to comprehensive sexuality education, contraception, and condoms in the U.S., along with the widespread American attitude that a healthy adolescence should exclude sex. By contrast, *the "European approach to teenage sexual activity, expressed in the form of widespread provision of confidential and accessible contraceptive services to adolescents, is...a central factor in explaining the more rapid declines in teenage childbearing in northern and western European countries."* (13) *Every reputable sex–ed organization in the U.S., as well as prominent health organizations including the American Medical Association, have denounced abstinence-only sex ed. And a 1997 consensus statement from the National Institutes of Health concluded that legislation discouraging condom use on the ground that condoms are ineffective "places policy in direct conflict with science because it ignores overwhelming evidence* ... . Abstinence-only programs cannot be justified in the face of effective programs and given the fact that we face an international emergency in the AIDS epidemic." (14)
http://www.ncac.org/issues/abstinenceonly.html
Suomeksi lyhyesti:
asdfasdfsd kirjoitti 15:41 ilmianna asiaton viesti
vastaa
Pidättäytyminen seksistä ei toimi:
a) Lupauksesta huolimatta ylivoimaisesti suurin osa ei pidättäydy siitä (12% noudattaa - 88% ei noudata!!!)
b) Nuoret joille asiallista seksivalistusta ei ole annettu, käyttäytyvät osaamattomuuttaan huolimattomasti, joka *on johtanut teiniraskauksien ja seksin mukana leviävien tautien yleistymiseen!!*
c) Opettajia, kouluja ja muita tahoja on uhattu milloin milläkin heidän yritettyään antaa seksivalistusta.
d) Oppikirjoista on jouduttu poistamaan kappaleita, joissa valistetaan ehkäisyn tärkeydestä!
e) Väitteet joiden mukaan kondomi ei anna suojaa ovat "suorassa ristiriidassa tieteen kanssa, koska ne syrjäyttävät ylivoimaiset/valtavan laajat todisteet"
True Love Waits or Just Waiting for the Fall?
President George W Bush's faith makes it predictable that sex education in American schools is increasingly about teaching teenagers not to do it, rather than how they should protect themselves when they do.
While public promises to abstain prior to the honeymoon gives pleasure to fundamentalist Christians, a *Columbia University study cited recently in The Weekend Australian Magazine (June 19-20 2004) found only 12% of the 2.4 million adolescents who'd made such a vow kept it* (well, obviously they didn't survey 2.4 million teens, but that is how many have taken the "pledge", so one can extrapolate that the percentage of failed "pledgers" in the wider "pledge" community would be equivalent to that amongst those surveyed).
This makes these pledges even less successful than the ones taken at that other often religiously motivated ceremony involving rings.
Unfortunately, adolescents weighed down with the anti-sex message of groups like True Love Waits (TLW) aren't likely to be carrying condoms in their pockets or knowledge in their noggins when they succumb, although they might be wearing a TLW ring or other assorted jewellery available from $24.95 to $249.95.
As the Magazine states with regard to the study's findings, *"(they) were more likely to have unsafe sex."*
Interestingly, *TLW acknowledges the study on its website (www.southernbaptistsrefrain.com)*, but quickly dispenses with it by saying others, like parents and churches; should offer support to abstaining youths, as they do.
The site means you need look no further for evidence "purity pledges" fail: more than one contributor has repledged; that is, lost their virginity before committing to celibacy, again (all they need to do is turn thirty and be single; celibacy is then thrust upon you, whether Christian, Jew, atheist, pagan or whatever).
*The �guilt�, �pain� and sanctimonious and oversimplified thinking guiding these "pledgers"* might be familiar to many people raised in earlier times. Advice from the sickly-sweet counsellors such as �another good boundary is not to lie down together on the floor, couch, bed � anywhere� possibly also rings a bell, and reminds of a lack of ring-a-ding-ding.
In some ways, TLW recalls old cautionary movies or episodes of The Simpsons where such films are so skilfully sent up.
There�s a moment of unintended mirth when the reader realises one pair of �pledgers� don�t live on the same continent. Any humour is soon erased by Asha, who believes �this is special to me because I�m not great at a lot of things. I don�t sing, I can�t play sports and I�m not the smartest person. This is something that not all girls can do (that I know)�.
It wouldn�t be the first time a young woman with limited confidence has found some sense of self from what she doesn�t do rather than what she does and by comparing her actions to those of other girls.
Alas, as any dieter knows, when you deny yourself something, you don�t stop thinking about it until you get it, either by the truckload or with the same amount of shame you�d have if you did.
Thomas Keneally put it more eloquently when reflecting on his days in a seminary in The Best Australian Essays 2002, *"sexuality is always there - the more assiduously repressed, the more likely to cause psychic mayhem"*
Whereas Keneally idealised the Catholic Church, these *youthful Protestants possess such an unrealistic view of wedding nights and the value of virginity as a "gift" for spouses, they are surely in for one heck of a "fall"*, if not the type that comes from having intercourse without getting Jesus' okay first.
Accepting that extreme religious devotion will always exist, perhaps the most troubling thing about TLW and its unsuccessful program is that it has been embraced, albeit with no �prolonged kissing� or �looking at�pictures that feed sexual thoughts�, by the US Government to the tune of $135 million in Australian dollars, with more to come.
We are left wondering how much more US taxpayers are having to fork out for the effects of unsafe youthful indiscretions than needs to be the case so the religious right can continue to believe young 'uns are sexually pure and what they deem to be morally upright. "
Eli koko homma on toimimatonta roskaa, niinkuin tällä palstalla samasta asiasta aiemminkin jo sanoin.
----
Here are a few examples of the problems created by the abstinence-only approach to sex "education":
* Public funds go to religious institutions for anti-sex education. In Montana, the Catholic diocese of Helena received $14,000 from the state's Department of Health & Human Services for classes in the "Assets for Abstinence." In Louisiana, a network of pastors is bringing the abstinence-only message to religious congregations with public funds, and the Governor's Program on Abstinence is appointing regional coordinators and other staff members from such religious organizations as the Baptist Collegiate Ministries, Rapides Station Community Ministries, Diocese of Lafayette, Revolution Ministries, Caring to Love Ministries, All Saints Crusade Foundation, Concerned Christian Women of Livingston, Catholic Charities, Christian Counseling Center, and Community Christian Concern. (2) * Public schools host "chastity" events. In California, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and many other states, schools regularly host chastity pledges and rallies on school premises during school hours. During these rituals, students often pledge "to God" that they will remain abstinent until they marry. (3) *Textbooks are censored. The school board in Franklin County, North Carolina, ordered three chapters literally sliced out of a ninth-grade health textbook because the material did not adhere to state law mandating abstinence-only education. The chapters covered AIDS and other STDs, marriage and partnering, and contraception.* In Lynchburg, Virginia, school board members refused to approve a high-school science textbook unless an illustration of a vagina was covered or cut out. (4) *Crucial health programs are canceled. In response to a petition from 28 parents, a highly regarded comprehensive AIDS-prevention presentation for high-school students in the Syracuse, New York, area, given by the local AIDS Task Force, was canceled for future students. In Illinois, critics blasted Centers for Disease Control program, called "Reducing the Risk," because they claim it is inconsistent with an abstinence-only message.* (5) * Sex-ed teachers are disciplined for doing their jobs. In Belton, Missouri, a seventh-grade health teacher was suspended when a parent complained that she had discussed "inappropriate"sexual matters in class. The teacher had answered a student's query about oral sex. In Orlando, Florida, a teacher was suspended when he showed a student-made videotape called Condom Man and his K-Y Commandos, about preventing AIDS transmission. (6) * Teachers are threatened with lawsuits; student journalists intimidated. In Granite Bay, California, an article in the student paper prompted charges that a sex-ed teacher engaged in "sexual misconduct"and threats of a lawsuit against the teacher and the paper's faculty adviser. The article took the position that newly mandated abstinence-only education was doing nothing to stop either sexual activity or widespread sexual ignorance among students. In Santa Clarita, California, a high school principal censored the student paper from printing an article entitled "Sex: Raw and Uncensored." The article was actually about the benefits of abstinence and methods of safe sex. (7) * Students suffer from ignorance. Comprehensive sex education is becoming the exception rather than the rule; as a result, more students lack basic information. In Granite Bay, one student asked where his cervix was, and another inquired if she could become pregnant from oral sex. Students in New York City protested that the increased focus on abstinence-only has curtailed access to education about HIV/AIDS. *The Colorado Council of Black Nurses decided to return $16,000 in abstinence-only funding, because the program "was just too restrictive. It did not teach responsible sexual behavior."* (8)
Abstinence-Only Education: Facts
* Over a five-year period ending in 2002, approximately $500 million in federal and state matching funds will have been spent on abstinence-only education. Because of the requirement that states match federal funds for abstinence-only programs, state dollars that previously supported comprehensive sexuality education—which includes but is not limited to abstinence-education—have been diverted to abstinence-only programs. (9) * The vast majority of American parents support comprehensive sex education. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, most parents want their children to receive a variety of information on subjects including contraception and condom use, sexually transmitted disease, sexual orientation, safer-sex practices, abortion, communications and coping skills, and the emotional aspects of sexual relationships. Given the choice, only 1% to 5% of parents remove their children from comprehensive sex education courses. (10) * Fewer than half of public schools in the U.S. now offer information on how to obtain birth control, and only a third include discussion of abortion and sexual orientation in their curricula. A large nationally representative survey of middle- and high-school teachers published in Family Planning Perspectives reported that 23% of teachers in 1999 taught abstinence as the only means of STD and pregnancy prevention, compared with 2% in 1988. The study's authors attributed the change to the heavy promotion of abstinence—not sound educational principles. (11) *Abstinence-only sex education doesn't work. There is little evidence that teens who participate in abstinence-only programs abstain from intercourse longer than others. When they do become sexually active, though, they often fail to use condoms or other contraceptives. Meanwhile, students in comprehensive sex education classes do not engage in sexual activity more often or earlier, but do use contraception and practice safer-sex more consistently when they become sexually active.* (12) * The U.S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world, and American adolescents are contracting HIV faster than almost any other demographic group. The teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. is at least twice that in Canada, England, France, and Sweden, and 10 times that in the Netherlands. Experts cite restrictions on teens' access to comprehensive sexuality education, contraception, and condoms in the U.S., along with the widespread American attitude that a healthy adolescence should exclude sex. By contrast, *the "European approach to teenage sexual activity, expressed in the form of widespread provision of confidential and accessible contraceptive services to adolescents, is...a central factor in explaining the more rapid declines in teenage childbearing in northern and western European countries."* (13) *Every reputable sex–ed organization in the U.S., as well as prominent health organizations including the American Medical Association, have denounced abstinence-only sex ed. And a 1997 consensus statement from the National Institutes of Health concluded that legislation discouraging condom use on the ground that condoms are ineffective "places policy in direct conflict with science because it ignores overwhelming evidence* ... . Abstinence-only programs cannot be justified in the face of effective programs and given the fact that we face an international emergency in the AIDS epidemic." (14)
http://www.ncac.org/issues/abstinenceonly.html
Suomeksi lyhyesti:
asdfasdfsd kirjoitti 15:41 ilmianna asiaton viesti
vastaa
Pidättäytyminen seksistä ei toimi:
a) Lupauksesta huolimatta ylivoimaisesti suurin osa ei pidättäydy siitä (12% noudattaa - 88% ei noudata!!!)
b) Nuoret joille asiallista seksivalistusta ei ole annettu, käyttäytyvät osaamattomuuttaan huolimattomasti, joka *on johtanut teiniraskauksien ja seksin mukana leviävien tautien yleistymiseen!!*
c) Opettajia, kouluja ja muita tahoja on uhattu milloin milläkin heidän yritettyään antaa seksivalistusta.
d) Oppikirjoista on jouduttu poistamaan kappaleita, joissa valistetaan ehkäisyn tärkeydestä!
e) Väitteet joiden mukaan kondomi ei anna suojaa ovat "suorassa ristiriidassa tieteen kanssa, koska ne syrjäyttävät ylivoimaiset/valtavan laajat todisteet"
Vastaukset 1
Vanhimmat
Kyllä hekin pian huomaavat että pidättytyminen ja seksivalistuksen puutee johtavat juuri siihen
mitä sen pelätään aiheuttavan eli teini raskauksiin ja sukupuoli tautien leviämiseen. Tilastot kertovat heille aikanaan totuuden, toivottavasti tässä asiassa ei matkita USA:ta.