Experts Still Skeptical About Abstinence-Only Education Trend
47 states have given into the Bush administration’s zeal to promote abstinence-only programs in order to receive federal funds. Only California, Pennsylvania, and Maine are brave enough to go it alone: California’s program includes a mandate that districts teach about contraception and STD prevention, a polar opposite of the current mainstream programs.
One researcher noted the contrast between California and Texas, two states with similar population breakdowns. With comprehensive sex-ed in California schools, teen pregnancies dropped by nearly half in twelve years, the second highest decrease in the US. Under Texas’s abstinence only program, pregnancies decreased by 19%, the second lowest decrease. And another expert points out that even in California, kids still believe the same dumb crap about pregnancy and STD prevention (“you can’t get pregnant your first time!”, etc.). Imagine what kind of nonsense kids are going to start believing in states where comprehensive sex ed isn’t allowed.
Shocking news related to abstinence-only education: It doesn’t work . As if this hasn’t already been
Before Bush the state of Montana ran a program through the Prevention Resource Center that trained volunteers to teach kids as young as 8 about sex. The program was amazing, and so enlightening- it lost its funding with Bush. Now the kids are back to thinking that because a blow job isnt intercourse it’s ok….
Teenage exploration of sexuality is a natural and healthy milestone. I would be worried more about the asexual kid who didn’t think about girls’ or boys’ junk, and only thought about, say, getting the next greatest gaming system.