The % of sexually active people in this age range is enormous, something on the order of 90%.
Isn't this out of touch with reality? this is the wrong segment of the population to be preaching abstinence to.
Education for youngsters is what is needed. Studies in Europe, particularly in the Scandanavian countries show that the greatest positive impact on 1) unwanted pregnancies 2) teen pregnancies 3) sex out of wedlock 4) safe sex practices 5) and less sexual frequency comes from actually EDUCATING young people about Sex, about choosing partners for yourself for the best reasons, and about the realities of Sex, sexual relations, and protecting yourself from disease and pregnancy.
Educating them actually leads to less sex, and more protection, and arms them with what they need to make good and healthy choices for themselves.
Repression, which this sort of abstinence push engenders, (and I am speaking psychologically now) leads to those repressions coming out in negative ways....such as.....
Unprotected Sex...cuz you want it when you have the opportunity, not when you have planned it.
Unwanted pregancies...for the same reasons
Spread of STD's ....for the same reasons
and most likely also adds to the amount of 'date' rape sort of situations.
There is a reason why repression leads to 'dark' behavior in ...oh say, elected officials.
Sexual energy is present in us...it needs a healthy outlet. Let's start by educating people about how to do that.
The federal government's "no sex without marriage" message isn't just for kids anymore.
Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007.
Full Article Here
2 comments:
So what I want to know is.. how does one preclude the other.
example...
"Look kids. Not having sex right now will save you a whole ton of trouble. It will keep you from more trouble than you could ever imagine.. seriously.. you have no idea. Ok.. now.. if you do.. here is what you need to know."
That is indeed preaching the no-nooky.. but smartly no?
Well, this article is talking about specifically age 20 - 29.
The research I talk about in Scandanavian countries was for actual teens.
I don't see a problem with telling kids the reality of sex and sexual relations and sex related issues.
One of the realities IS...it could save you a whole lot of heartache AND trouble if you abstain until you are older.
But the bottom line on the research and education was that....if you actually Educate the youth about sex and the realities of it and arm them with all the information available...they ACTUALLY do make better choices for themselves...
...and they numbers are better than if they were only taught Abstinence alone.
Both? why not. But you must include the Education piece because that has Proven Results...
and isn't THAT supposed to be the entire point?
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