2008 Woodie Awards
Abstinence not preventing pregnancies
Devin Walls
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Perspectives
When I first logged on to the "Sex and Young America" site my eyes went to the big, bold subtitle/explanation of what this little corner of cyberspace was all about: An Initiative of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families (those of you who narrate this section of the paper to your friends every week can take a breath now).
"Sex and Young America" is actually a video compiled from over 600 interviews with teens across the country who want to "learn the truth about sex from the adults they trust."
Now, I should have known that with a name like the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families that this was probably a religious organization. I was right. Not to say that that's a bad thing, and I don't know for sure what this video is trying to say, but I'd bet my left arm that it's an abstinence-only type message. But I can't say because I didn't have $99.95 to spare so I could view the tape in preparation. Luckily for me, that's not the point of this article anyway.
The site reminded me of an issue that I shouldn't have forgotten about in the first place: Most teens in America don't know squat about sex. I was one of them once, which made for some quite embarrassing escapades later in life. Thankfully, that's not the point either, but like most of my articles this is an issue that has been talked about and debated for a very long time and we still can't find any solution (at least not one we all agree on).
I did my usual Web surfing to dig up more and found an NPR article that said that abstinence-only programs are the only form of sex education that receives federal funding.
Another article in USA Today showed that in 2000 these programs were receiving $60 million in funds, and by the end of 2007 were getting $176 million (thanks to Bush). What an unholy waste of money. Only teaching abstinence does not work. Period.
I can remember when I was in middle school and it came time for the sex education portion of my health course. I was totally excited because I thought I was going to get to put a condom on a banana, and then, after class, get my own condom to tuck neatly in my wallet until that faithful day when I lost my virginity.
"Sex and Young America" is actually a video compiled from over 600 interviews with teens across the country who want to "learn the truth about sex from the adults they trust."
Now, I should have known that with a name like the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families that this was probably a religious organization. I was right. Not to say that that's a bad thing, and I don't know for sure what this video is trying to say, but I'd bet my left arm that it's an abstinence-only type message. But I can't say because I didn't have $99.95 to spare so I could view the tape in preparation. Luckily for me, that's not the point of this article anyway.
The site reminded me of an issue that I shouldn't have forgotten about in the first place: Most teens in America don't know squat about sex. I was one of them once, which made for some quite embarrassing escapades later in life. Thankfully, that's not the point either, but like most of my articles this is an issue that has been talked about and debated for a very long time and we still can't find any solution (at least not one we all agree on).
I did my usual Web surfing to dig up more and found an NPR article that said that abstinence-only programs are the only form of sex education that receives federal funding.
Another article in USA Today showed that in 2000 these programs were receiving $60 million in funds, and by the end of 2007 were getting $176 million (thanks to Bush). What an unholy waste of money. Only teaching abstinence does not work. Period.
I can remember when I was in middle school and it came time for the sex education portion of my health course. I was totally excited because I thought I was going to get to put a condom on a banana, and then, after class, get my own condom to tuck neatly in my wallet until that faithful day when I lost my virginity.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Stefan Bishop
posted 4/15/08 @ 12:06 PM CST
You forgot to mention that since the initiation of the so called 'waste' of federal funds, teen sex (and pregnancy) rates have been declining. In fact, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2,050 teen girls get pregnant every day (that's over 748 thousand a year). (Continued…)
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