Reply With Quote
And welfare hasn't had an effect on poverty...the government spending money on ineffectual programs surprises you?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT
Report: Abstinence not curbing teen sex
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
Report: Abstinence not curbing teen sex
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Programs that focus exclusively on abstinence have not been shown to affect teenager sexual behavior, although they are eligible for tens of millions of dollars in federal grants, according to a study released by a nonpartisan group that seeks to reduce teen pregnancies.
"At present there does not exist any strong evidence that any abstinence program delays the initiation of sex, hastens the return to abstinence or reduces the number of sexual partners" among teenagers, the study concluded.
The report, which was based on a review of research into teenager sexual behavior, was being released Wednesday by the nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
The study found that while abstinence-only efforts appear to have little positive impact, more comprehensive sex education programs were having "positive outcomes" including teenagers "delaying the initiation of sex, reducing the frequency of sex, reducing the number of sexual partners and increasing condom or contraceptive use."
"Two-thirds of the 48 comprehensive programs that supported both abstinence and the use of condoms and contraceptives for sexually active teens had positive behavior effect," said the report.
A spending bill before Congress for the Department of Health and Human Services would provide $141 million in assistance for community-based, abstinence-only sex education programs, $4 million more than what President Bush had requested.
The study, conducted by Douglas Kirby, a senior research scientist at ETR Associates, also sought to debunk what the report called "myths propagated by abstinence-only advocates" including: that comprehensive sex education promotes promiscuity, hastens the initiative of sex or increases its frequency, and sends a confusing message to adolescents.
None of these was found to be accurate, Kirby wrote.
Instead, he wrote, such programs improved teens' knowledge about the risks and consequences of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and gave them greater "confidence in their ability to say 'no' to unwanted sex."
The sponsors of the study praised Kirby for his "thorough research" and for being "fair and evenhanded," but they also acknowledged that ETR Associates developed and markets several of the sex education curricula reviewed in the report. Several of the previous studies that were reviewed also were written by Kirby.
The report noted that there continues to be "too high levels of sexual risk-taking among teens" with 47 percent of all high schools students reporting having sex at least once and 63 percent saying they have engaged in sex by the spring semester of their senior year.
"Many teenagers do not use contraceptives carefully and consistently," said the report. About 40 of every 1,000 girls age 15 to 19 gave birth in 2005, the last year for which data was available, the report said.
You mean just telling them not have it doesn't work?
And welfare hasn't had an effect on poverty...the government spending money on ineffectual programs surprises you?
Well I am going to assume the the welfare system has helped a few folks get on thier feet. I know that isn't in the GOP talking point manual but I am confident there are success stories for people who have gotten themselves off of welfare.
Last edited by George Gervin's Afro; 11-07-2007 at 11:02 AM.
teen-sex abstinence program is ideology jerking itself off as a power play, as a political ploy to pander to radical "Christian" freaks.
social welfare programs actually try to help people.
Shouldn't the headline have read, "Abstinence programs not curbing teen sex?"
Because, technically, abstinence will, in fact, curb teen sex.
Maybe it's the program. If I were going to teach an abstinence class, I'd show lots and lots of pictures of diseased genitalia alongside photos of the fully-clothed and healthy-looking teenagers that owned them.
We're too squeamish these days.
Well I am going to assume the the abstinance system has helped a few folks stay on thier feet. I know that isn't in the Democrat's talking point manual but I am confident there are success stories for people who have refrained from having premarital sex.
Operative word being "try"; but why would we let ACTUAL results get in the way of good motives?
Pop em' out! 5k to all those little bas s!
Have a kid at 13, have an abortion, let someone adopt it...I don't care. Just don't make me pay for it.
These programs are a joke, I agree.
Good. so the we both agree that some govt programs do work.
It's better to encourage teens to have sex and then abort.
Yeah, because they should all grow up with the guilt of killing their unborn children. That's healthy.
Billions of dollars are spent on drug prevention programs. I guess those are worthless too.
Absolutely.
You throw ENOUGH money at anything, and you'll no doubt get SOME results.
It's the "bang for the buck" (poor choice of words for this thread) that I generally have a problem with.
When are we going to divert some of this funding into making parents give a crap about their kids again?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
