abstinence: bush policy can't get it up

[blackumbrella]

Texas Teens Increased Sex After Abstinence Program

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Abstinence-only sex education programs, a major plank in President Bush (news - web sites)'s education plan, have had no impact on teenagers' behavior in his home state of Texas, according to a new study.

Despite taking courses emphasizing abstinence-only themes, teenagers in 29 high schools became increasingly sexually active, mirroring the overall state trends, according to the study conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University.

"We didn't see any strong indications that these programs were having an impact in the direction desired," said Dr. Buzz Pruitt, who directed the study.

The study was delivered to the Texas Department of State Health Services, which commissioned it.

The federal government is expected to spend about $130 million to fund programs advocating abstinence in 2005, despite a lack of evidence that they work, Pruitt said.

in the red corner:
lame, expensive, puritanical policy

in the blue corner:
teenage hormones

result:
:sfight:
round 1 JAWJACKIN'

somebody get our 130 mil some smelling salts.

 

[exiledNms]

Hey, I've got an idea. Let's decide that our teenagers are unthinking animals who are absolutely incapable of virginity/abstinence. I mean, c'mon...they're gonna do it anyway. So why not add couches & beds to high schools? After, 7 hours is a mighty long time to go without sex when one is 16-17 years old. Yeah, that's the answer: let's rule out the possibility of any clues or restraint on the part of our teenagers. Oh wait...much of society and public policy has already done that....
exiled

 

[blackumbrella]

Hey, I've got an idea. Let's decide that our teenagers are unthinking animals who are absolutely incapable of virginity/abstinence. I mean, c'mon...they're gonna do it anyway. So why not add couches & beds to high schools? After, 7 hours is a mighty long time to go without sex when one is 16-17 years old. Yeah, that's the answer: let's rule out the possibility of any clues or restraint on the part of our teenagers. Oh wait...much of society and public policy has already done that....
exiled

good one. the point though, of course, was that whle you hope and teach restraint, you alss educate for the inevitability that some teenagers will be sexually active--it's this pragmatic common sense that abstinence-only programs are lacking.

 

[It's On A Slab]

Programs such as D.A.R.E. do a good job at educating

good one. the point though, of course, was that whle you hope and teach restraint, you alss educate for the inevitability that some teenagers will be sexually active--it's this pragmatic common sense that abstinence-only programs are lacking.

teenagers to be knowledgable about drugs, but they have been shown to have very little positive effect on stemming drug abuse amongst teens.

I had heard anecdotal evidence(much of it skewed by social con policy wonks) that indicated that abstinence programs worked better than no policy at all (or "free condoms" policies).

The ability to make good choices starts at home. I don't see where the school is going to have much of an impact on these issues.