Abstinence education in FL leads teens to think smoking pot will prevent pregnancy

[marmar]

from ThinkProgress:



Abstinence education in FL leads teens to think smoking pot will prevent pregnancy.»

The state of Florida has a strict policy of abstinence-only sex education. A recent survey, however, shows that this program may be failing, leading teens to believe dangerous myths about pregnancy and and sexually-transmitted diseases:

A recent survey that found some Florida teens believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy has prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state.

The survey showed that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant.

On Tuesday, a bill that would “require a more comprehensive approach” to sex education narrowly won approval from a state Senate committee.


http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/04/abstinence-education-in-fl-leads-teens-to-think-smoking-pot-will-prevent-pregnancy/

[seabeyond]

1. geez, if you are going ot pick something, might as well be pot. lol. geez. n/t

[smoogatz]

2. In my high school, back in the 70s, pot-smoking was the primary cause

of pregnancy. Well, secondary. But you know what I mean.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

3. Good god.

And the more comprehensive approach narrowly won.

GOP state legislators are some of the dumbest fucks alive. How some of the ones in my state Lege are able to walk and breathe at the same time is a mystery to me.

[TCJ70]

4. If they're really teaching that...

...abstinence is the only sure fire way to prevent a pregnancy, where are these kids getting this other information?

[marmar]

5. I think the point is they're not getting told complete info....

..... so they're susceptible to all this errant information.

[TCJ70]

7. In classes that aren't abstinence-only...

...do they teach that pot and bleach are not acceptable ways to remove the risk of pregnancy?

[marmar]

8. I suspect that info is coming from outside the classroom, from their friends....

.... and since they're not getting the proper info from classrooms, there's nothing to counteract this B.S. N'est-ce pas?
I'm not quite sure what your point is.

[TCJ70]

11. I'm saying that I don't think...

...abstinence only education is neccesarily the responsible factor in this one. I think this is a case of kids acting on bad information.

A few years ago some kid died and several others were hospitalized from a nearby school because they drank too much caugh syrup. I doubt the drug awareness programs can be blamed for that.

[Quantess]

14. Nobody is teaching them what is and is not effective birth control.

How are abstinence-only programs NOT to blame for the ignorance?

[elehhhhna]

6. paranoia WILL help prevent pregnancy, true.

pot's probably better than booze if you're looking to behave yourself

[Marblehead]

9. I hope

not too many are ingesting bleach, that is dioxin...

[kestrel91316]

12. Um, NO. Bleach is SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_hypochlorite

Here's dioxin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxin

But that's ok. Chemistry isn't taught in most schools anymore. That's obvious.

[Marblehead]

13. in that case

they should do 2 shots

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. FARK even has a "it has to be Florida" tag on stories

Now you know why.
BTW, I have my BA from the University of Central Florida

[Xithras]

15. Pot caused about a third of the pregnancies in my high school

Another third were caused by alcohol. The remainder was simply stupidity.

And, yes, stupidity is real. I recall one girl who carried on for MONTHS about how she couldn't possibly be pregnant because she'd never had sex. She was a "virgin". Her boyfriend had convinced her that it's not really sex if you don't have an orgasm. He apparently had plenty. She hadn't.

Then there was the white girl who thought that her hispanic boyfriend couldn't get her pregnant because her BIOLOGY class had taught her that different SPECIES could not reproduce. I only wish I was joking about that one. The girl wasn't racist in the least, she just had a horrible misunderstanding about what "species" actually meant.

My youngest sister got pregnant when she was 16. Despite the sex talks in my house, she believed that a girl couldn't get pregnant if she was on top. GRAVITY will keep that pesky sperm out donchaknow?

Why yes, I did grow up in Republican fundieland. Why do you ask?