Dear Supporters of Abstinence Education,

[Guy Fawkes]

Maybe my views are a little bit biased, seeing as how I'm in a district where abstinence education is taught. Biased or not, I wanted to let you know how abstinence education is working out here.

In my 7th grade year, my friend Chris got pregnant. She moved away because her parents, respected doctors, couldn't stand the shame. The next year my friend Kyle got his girlfriend pregnant. His parents are very conservative, and believed that abstinence education would keep him away from sex.

In my freshman year of school I made friends with Steph. She too is from a conservative background. Her boyfriend at the time was the son of a pastor. She believes (as does he) that they can do anything-besides having vaginal intercourse-without risk of STDs. I became worried about this trend, and I started to look into it.

During my freshman year, three women from my advisory became pregnant. 2 Sophomore year. This year seems to be going ok, so far. I know 5 women who currently have babies to take care of after school.

But pregnancy isn't the only thing that results from abstinence education. Not teaching kids about condom use, contraceptives, and other protection also puts them at greater risk of STDs.

Also, only telling kids "Sex: don't do it!" isn't going to help them very much. Have you heard of "rainbow parties"? A lot of my friends have. A rainbow party, for your information, is where a large group of young men and women get together for an oral-sex orgy. The "rainbow" part comes in where each young woman wears a different shade lipstick. .. I think you can figure out where the rainbow goes.

And it would seem that every person I come out feels that they can just sit down and tell me all of the sexual horror stories. In fact, I would recommend telling people that you're gay, if you ever wanted to find out the impact that certain types of sex education have on students. Oh, one more thing: they never covered homosexuality in my health classes. That's another mistake they made, as it helps to alienate 10% of the student body.

Sincerely,
Guy Fawkes

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Conservatives tend to be hypocrites

I have a cousin who was impregnated by her pastor. She was ritually condemned and shamed in front of the congregation, even though she chose to have the baby and put it up for adoption. The pastor was married, but nothing was done to him, though he did choose to move on to another congregation. I've often wondered if he kept up his pattern of seduction there.

[Shoeempress]

2. Yes abstinence education is about as effective as telling people to stop

eating, stop breathing and or stop drinking fluids. It is one of the most basic urges, and feels pretty damn good, when done right. It is so totally insane.

[Djinn]

3. australian public schools all provide

sex ed - tho' you can probably "opt out" - so it's less of an issue here - but on a parental level from my experience the friends of mine who's parents were really strict - boyfriends can't sleep over (or even be in the bedroom) not letting/wanting their daughters on the pill etc tended to be the ones having sex earlier (and less safely) than those of us who's parents said basically you should wait but if you don't make sure you're protected and that you're sure it's what you want.

When it's not presented as this big deal then strangely enough it isn't

[Bleacher Creature]

4. Choir here. . .

thanks for preaching.

[wildeyed]

5. teenagers are smarter than people give they credit for.

Some are going to have sex, some aren't. If they are going to make the choice to have sex, it is better for them to have the proper info on STD's and pregnancy so they don't completely ruin their lives.

I had sex when I was a teenager. If I had it to do over, I would not. So, on the record, it was a mistake, at least for me. But at least I didn't end up with a baby at 15 or AIDS b/c I had enough info to protect myself.

[KlatooBNikto]

6. How about trying out Just Say No!

[Guy Fawkes]

8. Lets Just Say No to abstinence only education, ok?

[Must_B_Free]

13. What do you want them to do? Teach Fuckin'?

I'll sign up to teach that class...

But seriously folks, a wise hippie once said to me, "Sex is very powerful bonding magic and it's not to be taken lightly". Upon reflection I decided yeah that true. Who wants some attachment to someone you don't really care about? I think if you aren't old enough to care for a child you aren't old enough for sex.

[kamerson]

7. Abstinence Doesn't Work

I don't post very much on DU, but I am a strong supporter of teaching
all aspects of sex-ed in public schools. I feel I have a very good
argument considering I am a product of two 16 year olds being taught
Abstinence only when they were in high school. Obviously it doesn't
work & I'm here to proove it! Luckily, in my case I had a set of
very loving Grandparents, who took their part in the responsiblity.
Unfortunately, not every child born to 16 year olds is as lucky as I
was.

[bobbieinok]

9. black conservative Christian woman (former colleague) said

'Look, it would be nice if my son, my sister's daughter, etc, didn't have sex while they're teenagers. We explain, tell them our views, and MAKE SURE THEY KNOW HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES IF THEY DO.

ANYTHING ELSE IS STUPID.'

[Cleita]

10. Since I was an adolescent in the fifties your story would

fit mine because that's all they taught anywhere, abstinence, but in this day and age I am truly amazed. Never mind even acknowledging that homosexuality wasn't a perversion. Never mind that those who taught us this (Catholic school) were often homosexual themselves because they had chosen to live as celibates because they couldn't admit their sexual orientation.

I just can't believe we haven't advanced at all.

[notadmblnd]

11. my 8th grader came home from school last Friday

and told me her friends mother caught her giving her boyfriend a bj. She said all her mother said to her when this happened was to brush her teeth. She then went on to ask me if giving a bj was considered having sex. I told her it was, I said you can't get pregnant but you can still contract some nasty STDs. I got the impression this is very popular with the young girls these days. I know she is not sexually active yet but she is curious. I told her I understand that her hormones are rampaging and that she may have sexual urges that she needs to explore, but it is something she needs to do by herself. She understood I was talking about self gratification.

I think Joslyn Elders was on to something when she spoke out about it years ago and this has always made sense to me. Parents can't expect that their children repress their sexuality, if we do we'll be disappointed every time. I'd much rather have my children in their rooms with their doors closed than having them chase little Susie or Billy down the street and coming home with something they aren't ready to handle.

[CHestonsucks]

12. Abstinence education is a sop

for Christian fundies that prefer their fantasy world of "biblical virtues" rather than the realities on the ground that simply defy all their self-edifying expectations.

A sign in Boston said it best, to wit:

"My pedophile priest supports traditional marriage!"