Abstinence-only program suffers cash crunch

[truthpusher]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2005/07/26/s1b_abstinence_0726.html

Abstinence-only program suffers cash crunch
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By Kathleen Chapman
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
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Larry Baker wanted the roomful of snickering seventh-graders to understand the dangers of sex.

He got their attention by describing infections that can feel like "urinating razor blades of fire" and showing horrifying pictures of a syphilis victim.

He played a video of an interview with a teenager just diagnosed with HIV, and a woman suffering through the later stages of AIDS.

By the time he was done, the students at Carver Middle School in Delray Beach were somber — and nearly silent.

"We're all gonna be priests," one boy told Baker.

(snip)

But that three-year grant expired, and Be the One's future is now uncertain, said Executive Director Sharon Brewer. She recently had to lay off all but two of Be the One's 18 staff members, including Baker.

(snip)

complete story: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2005/07/26/s1b_abstinence_0726.html

[Fiona]

1. And why not also show

somebody infected with trichonosis to underscore the dangers of pork? Or have somebody discuss the pain of having a toothpick fish removed from the urethra to underscore the dangers of swimming in the Amazon?

Or maybe late-stage prostrate cancer? It's known that frequent ejaculation helps prevent it.

Life is dangerous. We take precautions. Condoms work.

[GiovanniC]

10. In My Driver's Training Class, They Showed Videos of Horrible Accidents

The underlying lesson was not "Don't drive." The lesson was, wear your seat belt, drive carefully, take precautions, et cetera.

These guys are morons.

[murielm99]

2. Scare tactics never work. Kids just laugh at them.

I saw a study that was done on scare tactics back in the seventies. I wish I had saved the information on it.

In the study, people were taught dental hygiene two ways. One was with horrible pictures of decayed teeth and gum diseases. The other was with demonstrations of flossing and tooth brushing. The latter group practiced better dental hygiene after a period of time.

If respecting young peoples' intelligence and informing them works for teeth, it will work for sex, too.

I am shedding no tears over the loss of this program.

[Erika]

5. This program was just another fluff piece of the radicals

Just like Nancy Reagan's just say no to drugs. Totally ineffective but sold to make conservatives feel good. Barf.

They are delaying dealing with the real problems of today's society.

Worship of the rich, condemnation of the poor, killing to make peace, etc. All introduced by Bush and his "religious wrong".

[noamnety]

3. Well, this proves one of my theories

It's much harder to make money in the sex industry if you don't put out.

[getmeouttahere]

4. Oh, that's hilarious!

but so true, and so appropriate

[WhiteTara]

8. LOL

[PurityOfEssence]

6. One thing we can all take heart in is that people want to fuck

Fundamentalists hate sex. They hate anything that brings joy that isn't from the big whatever. Dancing, drinking, sex, theatre and even music are evil because they make one think that life on earth can be fun. More than anything, they hate sex, yet they're obsessed by it. This is why they hate gay sex: it's sex AND it's weird.

Abstinence will never be popular for any real length of time.

Beyond all that, many people see the folly: they want to get some, and they don't want to die trying.

Extremely religious people are LIFE-HATERS. They thirst for some rosy fantasy eternity, and to amplify this delusion, they have to make sure that mortal life is as drab and unenjoyable as possible. It's a sick death cult, and it raises a serious question: would these people even know how to have a good time if there was some bizarre paradise. Seems to me they'd be the same killjoy sticks-in-the-mud they are down here.

[InkAddict]

11. Where did you meet my relatives???

[mainer]

12. Well, they do like to eat.

In fact, they seem to substitute food for sex, dancing, drinking, and music. Have you seen how BIG some of those red-staters are?

[Ilsa]

16. I'm in TX and think about that frequently as we have a high obesity

rate here, and it seems pretty bad through the northern Bible belt.

I remember one high-impact visual image: I was driving home to Dallas up I-35. As I approached Waco, I passed a van, with Jesus and Baylor stickers on it. The van's body barely cleared the road. It had about six people in it, and they took up the whole vehicle because not a single one of them could have weighed less than 200 pounds, including the women. I suspect there was nothing available for the shock absorbers.

Seriously, though, I felt sorry for some of them, because they were young enough not to know any different or any better. In general I sympathize with the obese. It's a difficult position to get out of once you are in it.

[raccoon]

20. Yes, these people are just as sick as

the hard-core substance abuser, only they think of themselves as being "good."

If I had one wish for humanity, it might be that people everywhere would stop believing in an afterlife, "pie in the sky by and by when you die," and realize we have to make the most of THIS life, because it's all we have.

[WhiteTara]

7. had he shown how to use condoms

then the lecture would have had some effect.

[area51]

9. "urinating razor blades of fire"

Scared sexless? Jeebus.

[TroglodyteScholar]

13. That's okay, there's a new web resource for abstinence only sex-ed...

...should save all the states some money. Check it out here.

[bitchkitty]

21. hahaha - ing my ass off!

That is one funny site! I especially liked the graphics on the Anal Abstinence link.

[Endangered Specie]

14. How about we show horrifying war casulties,

before they reach military recruitment age?

[R Hickey]

15. Bingo

Good point.

[Ilsa]

17. I don't mind teens being shown the downside of

certain health habits, whether it is a coronary bypass, or neurosyphillis, war, unsafe driving practices. But it needs to be given in context, not as a scare tactic. Teens see alot of behaviors romanticized. I'd rather them view some realities, not extremism.

[Javaman]

18. Yet another one of morons* crusades underfunded...

Bwahahahahaha....

These Abstinence-only programs have shown to be miserable failures. Statistics show that the people that vow abstinence usually fail from "grace" in a little over 2 years.

[Robbien]

19. I don't understand this. Faith based program funding was increased

in the current year's budget.