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December 21, 2005
Massachusetts to push abstinence-ed
Just when I thought I could stand Gov. Romney.
The campaign, scheduled to last through June 2007, will only target certain schools and will be aimed especially at teens in black and Hispanic communities, who tend to have higher rates of sexual activity. The proposal by the state Department of Health, quietly posted on its website earlier this month, would add an abstinence education program for 12-to-14-year-olds in an unspecified number of schools.
The campaign would be funded by a $50 million federal abstinence-only grant program, which provides money to states for initiatives that teach abstinence but deliberately do not address condoms and other methods of contraception.
Thankfully, the program will be taught in addition to the state’s already-implemented comprehensive sex ed program that teaches contraception methods. The new program however, marks a big change in the way MA spends these federal funds:
Under the new proposal, the state would use the money to pay an outside vendor to develop a program to teach teens about abstinence in the schools.
This outside vendor thing is what makes me nervous. It’s already been shown that abstinence-only education teaches that contraception doesn’t work. So even if the comprehensive program stays in place, won’t it be rendered useless once the abstinence folks come in?
Posted by Jessica at December 21, 2005 10:43 AM
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Comments
I think it's fair to let consumers of contraceptive methods, in this case horny teens, know the failure rates of the various methods. If I'm buying a car, I'd like to know if the brakes fail 3% of the time due to a mechanical failure and 12% of the time due to a user error.
Likewise, horny teens should know the risks involved in their behaviors as well. Just because they're eager and excited to get going with their sexual behavior does not mean we should not ask them to slow down a bit and think things through rationally. Same with me and that deathtrap of a car I'm thinking of buying.
That said, I have no idea what kind of abstinence curriculum is being let in. If it says sex is evil and horny teens will go blind, that's probably not a good program.
Posted by: Dennis at December 22, 2005 10:07 AM
Ya think? By the way,what's up with the "horny teen" theme? The age group you refer to are just beginning to experience their budding sexuality. Would it not be best to address their feelings in an adult manner, and view them as other than "horny teens"? That is the thinking that puts up a roadblock in our efforts to promote intelligent choices in their thought processes.
I know that at that age group, I had raging hormones,but I also know there was no one to assist me in making an intelligent choice in how to give proper respect to the girls of my age, at that time, and how to be safe, for her and me, when we succumbed to those powerful urges.
That is the crux of the matter. You can preach abstinence till your heart goes blue, and you can talk about horny teens. In the end you miss the message that teens are simply your children struggling to assert their individuality, as it is normal for that age. They are leaving the"nest" and are testing their "wings". What road they follow does not have anything to do with preaching abstinence, or any adult derived program for that matter. It is the familial nurturing, the encouragment to use their minds to the best of their ability that really counts for anything in the final assesment.
Posted by: robert at December 25, 2005 3:55 AM