Consequences

[thessalian]

The Bush Administration is providing $167 million for abstinence-only 'sex ed' programmes.

The text is ... well, it's beyond words. Educating your child about what goes on in the adult world is being called "corruptive terrorism" (don't they bandy that word around an awful lot now?), and there's this story about a knight that didn't want his princess anymore because she suggested a way of killing a dragon that wouldn't involve his being potentially roasted. And how, in relationships where sex is involved, there's a greater risk of suicide if you break up. $167 million for a pastor's sermon.

Kids are going to do the sex thing anyway. Kids are kids, and teenagers are in the whole experimental / hormonal phase, for the most part. If you demonise sex in the classroom, kids are going to wonder what the hell's the big deal and go out and try it, much like with drugs.

You know, I see kids, and teens in particular, getting ruder and more out of control pretty much every day (I love public transport). And I sometimes wonder if we could get them to stop behaving like total fucking juveniles if we just stopped treating them like juveniles at an early age. If we could accept that kids are human beings who have their own minds and can make their own choices, and that those choices have consequences, and fully inform them of the possible consequences of their choices, maybe they'd stop behaving like total spazmoids. After all, there'll be no Mummy and Daddy to bail you out in the real world. Educate the little shits and let them take the consequences of being idiots if they're going to be.

Comments

Abstinance only Sex "Education"

[neonchameleon.livejournal.com]

http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/sexed/

Could you get good marks in that test? I know I couldn't.

Re: Abstinance only Sex "Education"

[thessalian.livejournal.com]

The more I read about the US, the more it makes me sick. Where the hell did they pull those statistics from? Out of Dubya's arse?

[blimey85.livejournal.com]

Last time I checked condoms couldn't protect you from every single thing out there and they do sometimes break or have problems. In the class I took in school we were taught that condoms are the solution to everything and as long as you use one, all will be well. Most people I know don't realize that condoms can't stop things like genital warts and I only found out when a friend of mine slept with someone who had them and then realized that even though he had used a condom, he was still at risk.

And not everyone has done drugs. Sure most teens may try it and some will get addicted but there are a few of us who never went down that road.

[thessalian.livejournal.com]

No, condoms can't protect you from every single thing out there, and abstinence is the only 100% foolproof method of preventing STDs and pregnancy. However, that's why sex ed should become a broader, not narrower, field of study. This sort of thing, with statistics that are basically pulled out of people's arses (50% of gay teens are HIV positive? Where? South Africa?) and a sense of deep abiding shame regarding one's own sexuality. It's treating sex like something dirty that makes people ashamed to openly discuss their sexual history with their prospective partners. If people talked about the whole thing more, with less stigma, there'd be more treatment, less transmission and, as a result, fewer instances of STDs as a whole. Same deal with pregnancy: condoms aren't infallible, the pill's not infallible, and the two together aren't even infallible but your chances are a lot less than if you just say "I'll pull out before I come". I suppose the point is that you can't ban things indiscriminately when it comes to teenagers. It doesn't work that way. You have to explain why, or they're going to feel like you're being condescending, and that just makes it more likely that they'll do whatever they want to prove how 'adult' they are.

Anyway, I'm not talking about addiction, or even drugs. I was pulling an example of other shit teenagers do out at random. I could have picked smoking, drinking or vandalism.

[neonchameleon.livejournal.com]

The problem with abstinence only education is that the evidence is pretty strong that it doesn't work.

And just because your sex-ed class simplified past the point of reason doesn't mean that they all do. (Mine included abstinance as an option (although not long on it as there isn't really much to say), that condoms aren't 100% effective (and are largely ineffective against some things) and anything we could think of to ask).

The solution is to give actually true information (rather than lose the kids respect when they find they have been lied to) and to work out what actually works. Not ideologically driven, lying (see my comment above), and ineffective garbage.