Shocker: Conservatives Wrong Again? This Installment: Sex Ed

[Taymelo]

Sex education may get adolescents to delay sex

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- After participating in a two-week sexual education program designed and implemented by an academic medical center, more middle-school students said they would hold off on having sex for the first time, Texas researchers report.

"Involvement by the medical profession can assure medically correct content, appropriate research outcomes, and enhanced quality of medical information in this important area of adolescent health," Dr. Patricia J. Sulak of the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine in Temple and colleagues note in a report.

School officials in Temple had approached health care professionals at the medical school for assistance in developing a sex education program for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Parents and school officials wanted to emphasize postponing sexual activity, so the program focused on consequences of teen sex, as well as "skill building, character building, and refusal skills," Sulak and her team point out in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Students who were considering having sex were "encouraged" to meet with a health care professional.

A total of 26,125 students completed surveys before the program, while 24,550 filled out identical surveys afterwards. Students in all grades showed an improvement in their knowledge, on average, after the course.

Before the sex education program, 84 percent of students said they would delay having sex until after high school. This figure rose to nearly 87 percent after the program.

The biggest effect was seen in the percentage of kids who said they wouldn't have sex until after marriage; before the program, about 60 percent said they planned to remain virgins until they married, while nearly 71 percent said they would after the program.

Other factors associated with planning to delay sex included attending religious services and watching two hours or less of television on school nights. Students whose original parents were still married were also more likely to report that they would wait to have sex.

Students who rated themselves as "less than C" students were more likely to think that teens should "have sex whenever they want" and also fared worse on knowledge tests after the program.

Kids who start having sex earlier are at greater risk of sexually-transmitted disease and pregnancy, Sulak and her colleagues note. "By placing medical emphasis on risk avoidance and primary prevention of disease," they conclude, "encouraging adolescents to delay sexual onset can lead to significant health benefits."

Someone go tell the religious right that being forced to look at pictures of genital warts does NOT increase sexual activity among teens.

[Anthony]

I dont get what your issue is?


Anyways, at my middle school, in between naps, they told us to hold off until "our bodies were more mature, and we were mentally mature enough"
or use a condom, other wise this'll happen (insert gross fucking picture)

[Uncle Mxy]

Sex education may get adolescents to delay sex

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- After participating in a two-week sexual education program designed and implemented by an academic medical center, more middle-school students said they would hold off on having sex for the first time, Texas researchers report.

"Involvement by the medical profession can assure medically correct content, appropriate research outcomes, and enhanced quality of medical information in this important area of adolescent health," Dr. Patricia J. Sulak of the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine in Temple and colleagues note in a report.

School officials in Temple had approached health care professionals at the medical school for assistance in developing a sex education program for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Parents and school officials wanted to emphasize postponing sexual activity, so the program focused on consequences of teen sex, as well as "skill building, character building, and refusal skills," Sulak and her team point out in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Students who were considering having sex were "encouraged" to meet with a health care professional.
...

Someone go tell the religious right that being forced to look at pictures of genital warts does NOT increase sexual activity among teens.

1) What kids say they will do and what they will actually do are different things. I'd argue that peer pressure and raging hormones rank well above middle school sex ed in terms of their influence, and critical thinking and judgement ranks above that (which is why every teen isn't having babies).

2) As I bolded above, this was an -abstinence- focused program, which is something that most of the religious right has supported. So, it could be argued that you're really supporting the religious right by pointing this stuff out.

[Hermy]

2) As I bolded above, this was an -abstinence- focused program, which is something that most of the religious right has supported. So, it could be argued that you're really supporting the religious right by pointing this stuff out.

I would have to beleive that every sex ed program comes with a disclamer that sex is best when you wait, and the only safe sex is no sex.

[Anthony]

Exactly. And, after sex ed ends, a big majority of the kids put on their happy faces and say "Uhhhh...well I think I'm going to wait now" run home, masturbate, and sometime in high school, say fuck waiting and run out and try to have as much sex as they can.

[Uncle Mxy]

Yeah, that'd be the logical counter-argument. Components of the program in question are online, so judge for yourself. They're at:

http://www.worththewait.org

Note that with federally-funded abstinence-only programs, schools are prohibited from teaching where other birth control methods have problems. They can't say "condoms aren't effective enough to be worth the risk" because, by saying "condom" to kiddies, they're teaching something other than abstinence, even as they may be rejecting it. The "Worth The Wait" program is one of those abstinence-only programs that benefits greatly from federal funding.

[Unibomber]

52% of teens who sign abstinence pledges break them within a year.

Consider that.

[the wrath of diddy]

52% of teens who sign abstinence pledges break them within a year.

Consider that.

"If she signed it you can grind it". It's the 21st century's "If she smokes she pokes".

I'm sure all the G brothers just flew out the door to find the out where chicks sign these pledges.

[Anthony]

52% of teens who sign abstinence pledges break them within a year.

Consider that.

"If she signed it you can grind it". It's the 21st century's "If she smokes she pokes".

I'm sure all the G brothers just flew out the door to find the out where chicks sign these pledges.

OMFG!!!!!!

[Taymelo]

Sex education may get adolescents to delay sex

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- After participating in a two-week sexual education program designed and implemented by an academic medical center, more middle-school students said they would hold off on having sex for the first time, Texas researchers report.

"Involvement by the medical profession can assure medically correct content, appropriate research outcomes, and enhanced quality of medical information in this important area of adolescent health," Dr. Patricia J. Sulak of the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine in Temple and colleagues note in a report.

School officials in Temple had approached health care professionals at the medical school for assistance in developing a sex education program for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Parents and school officials wanted to emphasize postponing sexual activity, so the program focused on consequences of teen sex, as well as "skill building, character building, and refusal skills," Sulak and her team point out in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Students who were considering having sex were "encouraged" to meet with a health care professional.
...

Someone go tell the religious right that being forced to look at pictures of genital warts does NOT increase sexual activity among teens.

1) What kids say they will do and what they will actually do are different things. I'd argue that peer pressure and raging hormones rank well above middle school sex ed in terms of their influence, and critical thinking and judgement ranks above that (which is why every teen isn't having babies).

I agree. However, just because peer pressure is stronger, doesn't mean sex ed actually causes more sex, which is what abstinence only programs would have you believe.

The issue is whether sex ed is one of the beneficial tools in the arsenal against teenage sex. Abstinence only programs would tell you no. This article suggest otherwise.

2) As I bolded above, this was an -abstinence- focused program, which is something that most of the religious right has supported. So, it could be argued that you're really supporting the religious right by pointing this stuff out.

See above. This was a program seeking to encourage abstinence by making medical professionals available to school children, to tell them about the risks of teenage sex, like disease and pregnancy. That is what all sex ed classes teach.

So, no. Its not an abstinence only program - the kind of program that doesn't teach anything about sex, except how to sign a pledge saying you won't have any until you're married. So, no, its not the kind of program that conservatives would applaud. Conservatives don't applaud teachers or doctors teaching their children facts about sex.

The program I posted about is actually a sex ed program that conservatives would try to eliminate from their schools, not an abstinence only program that conservatives would applaud.

So, in supporting my point, I am really harming the religious right by pointing this stuff out.

PS: You won the last round, but clearly victory is mine here. I hope you can admit it like I did the other day. Tie breaker?