Let’s Talk About Sex

Laminin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4&feature=related

I received four years of sex education in a public junior high school, and I am most grateful for the education I did receive. I was able to talk to my mom about what I learned, and there were so many aspects of the education I received that my mother would never have known to present to me. There are standards to our education system, believe it or not, and it is so vitally important that kids be told, shock, THE TRUTH. Why is it so difficult for people to be willing to let their kids know, as early as possible, how their bodies work and how to protect them?

I'm sorry, most parents are not intellectually equipped or informed enough to teach their own kids about the scientific facts involved with sex education. If they were, we wouldn't need to discuss oral sex as an alternative (which, by the way, was forbidden as a subject of my sex education class), nor would we be worrying so much about kids thinking they can have sex without repercussions. In my experience, my sex ed. teacher not only informed us about the importance of abstinence as a means of never contracting an STD, but she also helped us to appreciate so many things about who we are as women, and why it is so important to know these things about ourselves. My favorite quote of hers was,"Mother Nature made the clitoris for no other reason than to give you pleasure. Isn't that amazing?" It is amazing, and why is that a problem? A friend's mother pulled her from the class, saying my teacher was promoting masturbation. And why not? I would much rather have girls at home masturbating than performing sexual acts for someone else at school or on the bus. I think the issue is that, when we want the answer to the sex problem to be ignorance of one's own physical drives, we are basically telling today's youth to figure it out for themselves. I can only classify it as neglectful and irresponsible to do so.

Now I know plenty of parents who were upset with my teacher, but only a slight few who refused to sign a permission slip for the class. I think the point is, it doesn't matter what our sexual issues are in this country. If we are keeping information from adolescents and teens in fear of them having sex, then perhaps it is the adults who need to take a sexual education course. It might help them to at least face the truth: humans have sex and have the right to be informed about it.

Abstinence is a great promotion, but only as long as the truth about what happens when you do have sex is presented alongside it. I don't think this is an outrageous approach, and, let's face it, the world could use a little more practicality these days.

Popular culture doesn't need to even influence a teen having sex....teenagers have these internal hormonal urges raging through their bodies....so, yes, teens may make wrong choices and have sex....so, if a teen makes the choice to be sexually active, they would be much better off using protective measures from pregnancy/STD's. This article does not argue the fact that abstinence is the best choice, but in reality abstinence sometimes doesn't work because of people's personal choices...Bristol Palin is one example...I am sure of one thing, there is always forgiveness and hope for people who make wrong choices in life. Imerryangelmom, noone is arguing the fact that abstinence is the best choice, but even under the Bush administration, the Department of Health and Human Services simply reported accurate statistical information....not because they were "liberal biased" as you may assume. Many people in the DHHS may also believe that abstinence is the best approach; the results were simply reported as to the success rate of the abstinence only program. The Heritage Foundation....is this a foundation that is abstinence only and no mistakes allowed??? If so, their findings may be just from a small sample of the entire poulation so the findings may not be accurate. Comprehensive sex education teaches every approach to sex....from abstinence to contrception/protection....so to say that we are the condoms to protect crowd is ludicrous and misinformed. The contraception/protection is for those who make the choice to have sex so they won't have unwanted pregnancies or STD's. Yes, abstinence is the best choice, but it doesn't happen 100% and fails a lot due to people's personal choices. It is far more dangerous to teach people abstinence only and then they slip-up and choose to have unprotected sex and cause unwanted pregnancy or STD's; FAR MORE DANGEROUS!!! I am not justifying wrong choices we all make, but if a person does make the wrong choice and has premarital/extramarital sex....then they would at least be more responsible by having PROTECTED SEX!!!

Dear Ms. Quindlen,
In your article "Let's talk about sex"--you show just how ignorant you are of what abstinence curriculum covers--I KNOW--I have taught this HEALTHY, RESPONSIBLE, and--MORAL curriculum for the last 10 years, and your statement that abstinence advocates do not talk about "the intricacies of intercourse" is FALSE--I tell our youth medically accurate FACTS! You and your "let's just teach them how to use condoms to protect" them crowd, NEVER speak to the FACTS that there are MANY many deadly STI's, like Human Papilloma Virus ( the STI --I is infection--that causes cervical , anal and even throat CANCER from oral sex) as well as Herpes, and Syphilis which can be found in the inner thighs and in areas like the ***, which condoms DO NOT COVER--these youth are NOT protected!- I guess you don't care if teens are exposed to some STI's as long as they reduce the risks for HIV/AIDS, but abstinence educators do NOT want our youth exposed to ANY STI's, because we care about their health!

When you remark abstinence programs " don't work"-- another LIE--the Heritage Foundation has completed a HUGE research study that shows that abstinence programs are VERY successful--LOOK AT THE CDC DATA-Anna--since we began funding abstinence under TItle V in 1996, we have seen dramatic drops in teen sexual behavior, the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance documents that "The proportion of students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse declined SIGNIFICANTLY from 2005, only 47% (6.7 million) high school student engaged in sexual intercourse compared to (54% ) in 1991"-that means thousands of youth will NOT have a pregnancy out-of-wedlock, and end up in poverty ( #1 group trapped are single moms, according to our U.S. Census Bureau), or have to KILL their unborn baby in abortion and suffer regret and depression, they also will not contract any of those STI's-!
The other MAJOR omission from your article is that abstinence educators discuss is the emotional HARM from the "hook up" mentality-PLEASE read DR. Miriam Grossman's book, "Unprotected' and Dr. McIlhaney's book, "Hooked", which detail the hormonal effects of teens engaging in sex, and how they have MUCH higher rates of depression and suicide than those who abstain!
You see, Anna, there are 2 sides to this issue, one which I advocate, wants to teach youth the HIGH ideal of exercising self-control and not having devastating consequences of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and deadly STI's, along with emotional devastation, the other offers the low expectation that youth cannot control themselves, so the best we have is to show them how to put on a condom or use the pill, even though we have evidence that they will NOT be protected, physically or emotionally!


__A PROUD abstinence advocate
Ret. Major Laura Merriott
814 835-0249

Teens aren't going to remain abstinent if all around the popular culture is telling them to have sex,
if they have low self-worth, if they don't have the example of good role models to look up to, and
if they think that waiting until marriage means waiting until they are in their 30's!!!!

We need to fix OURSELVES if we want to help them. The abstinence-only programs are a joke.
In the meantime, there is valuable information to be learned whether or not they are sexually active.

We can still teach them in a modest setting about the body, sexuality, birth and pregnancy, and family
planning. Teens don't want to be treated like children. They should know the important facts of life.

They should also be help to high standards...

The kids of privilege don't have "sex" problems, and I don't mean monetary privilege. How sad for our youth that their "caring" adults don't feel that they can protect them from lesions, burning urination and pregnancy. I find it highly ironic that a parent would be charged with child neglect and endangerment if they left a two-year-old unsupervised, but leaving a teenager unsupervised and therefore at risk for serious life-changing problems, is considered a problem for the schools. Yes, if you are unwilling to supervise your teenager, and leave them alone with members of the opposite sex and don't guide them all the way through to adulthood, then SHAME ON YOU for leaving them with band-aids for their STDs, emotional scars and pregnancies.

Does Anna Quindlen feel the same way about public schools, their failure and all the money that has been thrown at them ? of course not. The drop out rate is enormous and even many who graduate cant read past a 6th grade level.
Their are so many half truths in this article its sickening. It exposes an agenda motive. Anna Quindlen could care less about our kids, she is more interested in promoting far left ideologies. Newsweek is failing miserably, wonder why ?

With the sucess of our public schools why would any of us trust sex ed to public school teachers ?

I work at a high school in a rural area of Southern California. The amount of teenage pregnancies I see her is astounding. We have sex education here. As I see it, the problem is that there is not enough to do for these kids. Their parents are working around the clock to support their families. Many of them are at poverty level, so they might not be able to afford video games. They could ride their bikes but there is nowhere to ride their bikes to. There are no malls, no youth centers, no after school activities at all.

America sucks because of close minded schmucks. the only reason we live is to reproduce so sex is lifes purpose.

America sucks

Sex is no threat to the planet, overpopulation is.

The subject, as Anna points out, is better handled in a scientific manner than in a religious manner.

http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/03/resistance-is-futile-time-is-focused.html