Just Saying No to Abstinence Ed

Thinking about the "stop smoking" campaigns, or drug and alcohol resistance education (DARE), giving our kids, beginning in kindergarten, the message that this is unhealthy and unsafe behavior that they should avoid. You will still have kids, of any age, trying, using, even abusing, cigarette, drugs and alcohol. Does this mean that we should stop sending a safe, healthy message to our children? No, of course not, as the earlier the message is given, the more people who are sharing it, the more people who are modeling and encouraging this safe, healthy behavior, the higher the impact will be. Why should the model and message for sexual health offer anything less? Yes, you will always have people, teens and adults alike, who decide to ignore the message, regardless of consequences for their bodies and lives, but should does that mean that we should stop sending it? No. A major role of government is the protection of the residents which it serves. By providing funding to allow a safe, healthy message to be heard offers protection for all of our residents, regardless of age. I agree that the research needs to be done, data collected and evaluated, and the message needs to be standardized, not politicized or religicized. A program needs to be in place for our children, beginning with early intervention, and for the parents as well, so that they message can be reinforced at home, so that they, themselves, can make a safe, healthy choice.

It seems that as a country, and society, we are in the business of fixing "sick" people, reacting retroactively rather than proactively, rather than trying to keep them from becoming "sick" in the first place. Why should we model any less than safe, healthy behavior for our children? Unfortunately, many adults adopt the "do as I say, not as I do" behavior and mentality. Sexual health extends far beyond the risk of teen pregnancy. First, we need to define sex, because there is a tremendous amount of confusion regarding this three-letter word. Sex includes oral sex, anal sex, and sexual intercourse, as all of these activities put you at risk for contracting an STI, only some of which are curable. Secondly, the ramifications of sex go far beyond the physical act, and include emotional and psychological consequences, for anyone, regardless of age. Too often, our teens are looking for love, and are willing to share such an intimate act with someone in an effort to fulfill this need, believing that it will end their search. Parents should have open discussions with their kids regarding sex to remove the veil and mystique. However, in most cases parents are uncomfortable discussing the subject themselves, unequipped with information on the consequences beyond "getting pregnant", and unwilling to admit to themselves that they may be engaging in unhealthy behavior, which carries the same consequences for them, as it does for their teen. STIs, pregnancy, emotional and psychological consequences are not discriminatory, meaning that affect all ages, genders and races. Why should teens not receive anything less than a message demonstrating safe, healthy behavior, emphasis on valuing their self-worth, and encouraging their ability to exercise self-control and resist temptation?

It's funny that for years we haven't been able to teach abstinence to teens because of the so called religious restriction from state or government matters, but yet the teen pregnancy rate goes up and the blame is put on abstinence education. The fact is the world is teaching us and the kids by example and not just class room literature. What we see in the real world is people doing what ever the hell they want and getting away with it. Companies are going bankrupt and then able to pay CEO's millions of dollars a pension for their incompetence. We watch rapist and child molesters go free from jail because of some stupid technical complication and then go on raping and molesting children. Judges in the seats award millions of dollars for people not using common sense and suing a company for their own stupidness. Now this country won't allow abstinence teaching because it 's too selfish and when things aren't going the way they like it they blame the Christian and Bible based teachings even when they weren't allowed to be taught. You want it to work then you need to get hollywood and the rest of the media in the US and the rest of the world to stop promoting " ME FIRST" thinking. The commercials all say get what you want and when you want it, even if you can't pay for it, NOW! When we as a people can start showing patience with others and start thinking about taking care of those that need help instead of just trashing them on the way side, start admitting to our own responsibility instead of disregarding the consequences of bad behavior or wrong choices, then we will watch abstinence work. It's not a "ME FIRST " world and those that believed it have fallen, ie Roman empire, the Greecian empire. The US empire is just heading down the same road and it's having bad effects already. Note the Wall Street collapse recently. Stop blaming Christianity and start accepting your own responsibility of your own actions

Remember, it takes two to tango. So, the boys/men are responsible too. With comprehensive sex ed, and accessible forms of birth control, girls/women are unable to get pregnant, and can plan their pregnancies, to make all children wanted children. Males cannot get pregnant. Now, Females have the choice of not getting pregnant, until their children are wanted.

with the almost 200billion in pork the democrats added to the rescue bill you have the gaul to write a story on only 1 billion. also i guess the only way to check is see how many girls are pregnant or how many had abortions. i dont know who you are or why newsweek even have you on salary. why dont you aually do your job and go write a truthful story on the collapse of the fannies and how bill clinton even said the democrats bere most of the burden. then to have the gaul to take a 10 page document and turn into a dictionary. thats what your messiah is promising. i bet you wear a obama propeller beanie.

The facts are, that as long as there are boys and girls who are taught impossible odds, like to maintain morality alone, without a solid partner, we're going to have trouble. Why did we start encouraging young adults to put money before their family? Yes, there is going to be sex, it feels good. Better to educate than spout silly, repetitive muck. Our kids are to important than to feed them swill. But they're also too important to let them figure out for themselves that Family is the most important asset they'll ever acquire, and that to start their own, within a marriage, is the best way to diversify they asset base.

We're too rich ... men and women no longer *need* each other the way they once did, so why should anyone stay togather? Unless young adults can truly believe in reasons to stay together, the choice to not wait, the choice to kill inconveniently timed unborn babies, poor marriages and infidelity will lead the way to armageddon!

What is the first thing a young person who lives in the real world and can see for them selves, do? It is almost always just the opposite of what the parents say when they see everyone doing just that. Our children learn from example more than any other way.

We get it lori, and the only cure for death is not being born. Now that we've addressed the ignorant and obvious, the facts are, that as long as there are boys and girls, there is going to be sex, it feels good. Better to educate than spout silly, repetitive muck. Our kids are to important than to feed them swill.

I taught abstinence-only sex ed in middle school. Not 2 months later, I had a girl come up to me and tell me she was pregnant and asked me for advice. Abstinence is the best way, however, if a child makes a different decision, they need the tools to make better decisions. When I was in 5th grade, I was brought into the gym and the female teachers taught us about smart choices and gave us all pads and tampons. The boys were then brought into the gym and taught by male teachers about smart choices and they were all given condoms. To my knowledge, none of my classmates made wrong choices. Sticking our heads in the sand about sex will not make it go away. We have to remember the feelings of hormones and prepare children to make the best decision for them, not for us.

Does abstinence education work? We don't know? There's no way to tell? Is your proof it doesn't, a rise in teen pregnancy, or was that caused by a reduction in teen abortion due to media influences such as Juno and Knocked-Up? Oh, what's that you say, the media doesn't have any influence over teens being sexually active? Interesting.