Wash Post: Some Abstinence Programs Mislead Teens, Report Says

[Newsjock]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26623-2004Dec1.html

By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 2, 2004; Page A01

Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy," a congressional staff analysis has found.

Those and other assertions are examples of the "false, misleading, or distorted information" in the programs' teaching materials, said the analysis, released yesterday, which reviewed the curricula of more than a dozen projects aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.

In providing nearly $170 million next year to fund groups that teach abstinence only, the Bush administration, with backing from the Republican Congress, is investing heavily in a just-say-no strategy for teenagers and sex. But youngsters taking the courses frequently receive medically inaccurate or misleading information, often in direct contradiction to the findings of government scientists, said the report, by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), a critic of the administration who has long argued for comprehensive sex education.

more

[Dr Fate]

1. The entire concept is misleading if you ask me...

Telling teens not to forget about "the sex", huh?

Yeah-good luck w/ that one...

[SharonAnn]

2. As my friend says, it's the eternal question for teenagers -

"Should we go bowling or should boink? Bowling or boinking? Hmmm, what to do?"

[VegasWolf]

7. I know, I know! n/t

[lfairban]

58. I say boink.

The balls are lighter and you don't need to take off your shoes. :evilgrin:

[Bucky]

38. that's why abortion rates are increasing under Bush and "abstinance ed"

What goobers. What dangerous goobers.

[iamjoy]

3. Oh For Crying Out Loud!

touching genitals can result in pregnancy! yeah, tell your son if he touches some woman's vagina with his penis she could get pregnant!

If it is really about health, why don't they teach masturbation as an alternative to sex? As long as your hands are clean, you can't get any diseases, can't get pregnant (or get anyone else pregnant), can't become permanently sterile...

[da_chimperor]

6. There's only the risk of blindness and hairy palms to worry about

;)

[RaleighNCDUer]

40. Of course the hairy palms is a drawback, socially. n/t

[WCGreen]

53. Wouldn't that enhance the pleasure.......

[realisticphish]

71. plus

convenient insulation for cold weather

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[WMliberal]

4. it's sort of like giving $170 million to faux news

The more you listen to them, the more likely you are to be misinformed. So hey, why not increase their budget exponentially?!

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. They're raising a generation of sexually dysfunctional adults.

But it's not like it would be the first time.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. Then, when people get fed up with sexual repression...

the fundies will freak out all over again.

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. Everything old becomes new again.

Morons.

[VegasWolf]

28. Yes, it's a shame they never bothered to learn history. n/t

[CTyankee]

60. Go see "Kinsey"

for a message of hope and help for the sexually disfunctional. As the lead character says "We are all different and we are not alone." What a message of hope!

This movie is becoming a big battleground between the far religous right and progressives. It is a marvelous movie. Everyone on DU should experience its great message.

[Pirate Smile]

9. OMG, that is ridiculous. Why do they think it is perfectly "moral" to

lie about so many things? Disgusting.

[0007]

57. Guilt is one hell of bag to carry around......

Only about one in a thousand can attain the practice abstinence. Many monks in a perfect environment have failed the test.

Teetotalers preach temperance for everyone. “Something can (has) been said for sobriety/but very little” ]/b](John Berryman).

[TheWraith]

59. Well,

They see lying, cheating, misleading and generally twisting everything to be the lesser of two evils. In their minds, it's better to lie to, mislead, and terrorize kids about sex than for kids to actually know about sex. They justify it to themselves in the name of holiness. Anything goes in the name of God, and they repeat it so much that they end up believing these things that they claim, like saying there's an 80% failure rate for condoms. They brainwash themselves--usually in a holy fervor to deny the things that they themselves feel. It's a classic characteristic of self-repression--they hate who they are, and so they crusade against it. The preacher doth protest too much. Like the evangelical who stood outside a school every day with a loudspeaker preaching against the evils of homosexuality and child pornography--until the day he was arrested for solicing sex from a 12-year old boy. Or the president of the anti-pornography group who was arrested for attempting to molest a male undercover police officer. Or a dozen other examples. You could put good money on the idea that most fundamentalists either indulge in, or desire to indulge in, the very thing that they decry most vehemently.

[Rose Siding]

10. The money would be better spent educating the abstinance instrutors

Or...I know! Stickers for the literature that warns "the contents of this pamphlet are only theory, like evolution and creationism"

[currentsupply]

11. Ha ha ha, they will all be corrupted by porn on the Internet!

Moralists are F'ed!

[alittlelark]

12. There is a reason most cultures 'married children to children'

By the age of 13 or so they are sexually aware. It is an aspect of the human condition. 200+/- (depending on where one lives) years ago they GOT IT RIGHT! They recognized that human sexuality is the DOMINANT force in a young adult's life. They had 2 choices -

1 - marry them young, the children will have a 'family unit' along with the support that entails....
2 - forbid them to have sex.

#1 works well in the short term for almost all.


We have warped human sexuality with religion in the modern age.

The modern age says that one must educate themselves and be sucessful prior to marriage.

The religious say that one must be married prior to sex.

The teen only thinks with genitalia, unless scared into submission by concepts of hell.

THANK (?) FOR BIRTH CONTROL!!!

[deadparrot]

13. Wow, you think?

Telling stupid, irresponsible kids to not have sex or God will strike you down? Not telling thme how their bodies work? Promoting ignorance?

Recipe for success, if you ask me.

[proud patriot]

14. Lie to kids about sex and they'll think your lying about Heroin too

I swear this program is going to fail the children .

[Enraged_Ape]

15. For God's sake, can Republicans do ANYTHING without lying?

Seriously, they can't even say two simple words, "Don't fuck.", without weaving it into a tapestry of lies.

[LynnTheDem]

16. They're "teaching" some incredible shit

Some course materials cited in Waxman's report present as scientific fact notions about a man's need for "admiration" and "sexual fulfillment" compared with a woman's need for "financial support."

One book in the "Choosing Best" series tells the story of a knight who married a village maiden instead of the princess because the princess offered so many tips on slaying the local dragon.

"Moral of the story," notes the popular text: "Occasional suggestions and assistance may be alright, but too much of it will lessen a man's confidence or even turn him away from his princess."

This is beyond mere fucking insanity.

[Maven]

41. Holy. Crap. These people are SICK.

I hope the princess started her OWN dragon-slaying operation and put the knight outta business.

And then shacked up with the maiden.

:evilgrin:

[LynnTheDem]

43. Aren't they, tho!

I didn't think anything they could do would shock me after all the shit they've already done...but this shit shocked me.

[CitySky]

54. This really bugged me too.

Don't forget "domestic support" -- another of the Top 5 needs of the man in the relationship, as our children are now counseled.

Maybe if they get their way, we'll be out of the workplaces and forced to look to men for "financial support" after all before too long.

And the whole "don't be too smart or you won't get a man" thing is giving me high blood pressure.

This, my fellow Americans, is the state-sponsored propoganda our tax dollars can buy! (This and wars, of course.)

Insanity.

[uppityperson]

63. ever read "Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch?

I've read it to many kids and they love it, but then I'm a rich librul with low moral values so what can you expect.

Review by amazon.com:

Elizabeth, a beautiful princess, lives in a castle and wears fancy clothes. Just when she is about to marry Prince Ronald, a dragon smashes her castle, burns her clothes with his fiery breath, and prince-naps her dear Ronald. Undaunted and presumably unclad, she dons a large paper bag and sets off to find the dragon and her cherished prince. Once she's tracked down the rascally reptile, she flatters him into performing all sorts of dragonly stunts that eventually exhaust him, allowing her to rescue Prince Ronald. But what does Prince Not-So-Charming say when he sees her? "You smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty old paper bag. Come back when you are dressed like a real princess." (At least he has the courtesy not to mention that the princess's crown resembles a dying sea anemone.) In any case, let's just say that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Ronald do not, under any circumstances, live happily ever after. Canadian author Robert Munsch celebrates feisty females everywhere with this popular favorite, and Michael Martchenko's scratchy, comical, pen-and-ink drawings capture the tongue-in-cheek quality of this read-aloud crowd pleaser. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

[alarimer]

65. this is positively archaic

Very sexist, in my opinion. wasn't this information screened by anyone for accuracy??

[high density]

17. Henry Waxman is great

The full report is available: http://democrats.reform.house.gov/investigations.asp?Issue=Public+Health

[Rene]

18. Why do I have the vivid impression

that Lynne Cheney wrote that drivel in the literature.

[JudyM]

67. He's the best. I went to law school to become one of his aides, but

no spots open - they all love working with him, apparently. Talk about integrity -- he just stays focused on health and the environment and doesn't do it for glitz and glamor.

[genieroze]

19. "false, misleading, or distorted information"

Do ya think? I bet those kids know more than the mental midgets teaching them. Maybe they should try the one about the stork while they are at it.

[bloodyjack]

20. WHAT THE CHRIST

Among the misconceptions cited by Waxman's investigators:

• A 43-day-old fetus is a "thinking person."

• HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can be spread via sweat and tears.

• Condoms fail to prevent HIV transmission as often as 31 percent of the time in heterosexual intercourse.

One curriculum, called "Me, My World, My Future," teaches that women who have an abortion "are more prone to suicide" and that as many as 10 percent of them become sterile. This contradicts the 2001 edition of a standard obstetrics textbook that says fertility is not affected by elective abortion, the Waxman report said.



This is pure fallacious madness.

[Khephra]

21. Not only are kids getting the wrong information

But I've read reports that show kids in these programs sometimes separate anal and oral sex from "sex" and engage in those activities because they can't get pregnant. These No-Sex Kids are having sex just like the rest of us--they just don't think it's sex unless there is vaginal penetration.

[aquart]

24. Just like Bill Clinton.

[Khephra]

25. Yep

But I'm in the Lewis Black crowd. I wonder if I missed the day of school when it was announced that oral sex isn't counted as sex. (That's from a paraphrased comedy bit of Black's)

I'm not a Clinton defender on that issue, that's for sure.

[realisticphish]

72. "this is your principal speaking; tomorrow we'll be having fish sticks,

and id like you all to remember, BJ's dont count" :)


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[MaineYooper]

23. it's freaking comical

or at least it would be if it weren't so stupid. It truly boggles the mind. We have so much evidence- my favorite is the fact that prior to about 1960, abstinence and the rhythm method were the only methods of birth control available for most people, and the social stigma was much stronger than today against out-of-wedlock births. Yet, amazingly enough, there were unplanned pregnancies! How shocking!

What makes them think it will work better now?

(What do you call people who use the rhythm method of birth control? Parents!)

[WindRavenX]

26. Notice the rates of abortions and STIs are up under *

This is what happens when a HEALTH issue is treated as a MORAL issue. Keep the fucking morals out of schools- leave that to parents. Schools need to INFORM kids to make the RIGHT choices- that includes abstinence, but kids need to know how to protect themselves if they chose to have sex.
Now excuse me, my head is going to explode from reading this article x(

[ContraBass Black]

29. THIS IS NOT MORAL

Get it out of your damn heads that these people care about morals!

This is wrong!

These people do wrong!

These people are in a lifelong, headlong dash towards immorality!

Morality would be informing the children as they need to be infromed to be safe!


THE NEXT PERSON I SEE OR HEAR SPOUTING THIS MORAL VALUES DRECK GETS MY STEEL-TOED RIGHT BOOT BETWEEN THE RIBS.

[truthisfreedom]

27. bwahahahaha! bush's legacy... teen pregnancy, disease, ignorance, and

lots and lots of back-assward baby rethugs.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

30. Bernie Ward's talking about this right now!!!!

http://www.kgo.com

he's got alot to say about this --
great show !!
check it out--

[Sandpiper]

31. Next they'll be telling us that the DARE program is full of lies

I'm just shocked at this news.

;-)

[depakid]

33. These programs have an even worse record than DARE

believe it or not. I took a course graduate course in program evaluation last year and these abstinence programs were as bad as they get in terms of being completely unable to demonstrate any measurable results toward their stated goals. In fact, there is solid analysis that shows many are actually counterproductive!

So what we're doing is spending big money on methods shown to increase teen pregnancy rates and the incidence of STD's!

[DeepModem Mom]

32. kick

[mdhunter]

34. "Wash Post: Some Reseach Programs Confirm, Sky is Blue"

[AllegroRondo]

35. Wasnt there a study on teen pregnancy about a month ago?

I'll have to look for it again.

the major findings:
teen pregnancy rates overall are down over the last 10 years,

the top 10 states for teen pregnancy rates were all in the southeast (plus Texas and Oklahoma)

Conneticut had the lowest rate, 8 of bottom 10 were 'blue' states. The exceptions being South Dakota and Wyoming.

[skypilot]

36. That knight, princess, maiden, dragon..

...business in the last paragraph (if you could stand to read that far) was absolutely nauseating. Ladies, keep your legs closed AND learn to stay in your place and not show up your prince--I mean, your man.

[hobbit709]

37. If abstinence

really worked, there wouldn't be 6 billion people on this planet.

[Ms_Mary]

39. I have been on my soapbox for months about this!

Withholding information is the same as intentionally misinforming. It is SO important that people are informed and we are rapidly moving backwards. :mad:

[rodeodance]

44. agree with you --we are rolling backwards down the hill into a mud puddle

etc etc etc

[stanwyck]

42. So, the cycle continues

kids from more affluent families obtain abortions and continue their educations so they can obtain higher paying jobs and marry when and if they are truly ready while the uneducated abstinence-only kids fail at practicing abstinence, get pregnant, get married and face a future of low pay and an unhappy relationship born out of desperation, not love. Then divorce and added financial problems. This is the Bush legacy: continuing the cycle of despair.

[rodeodance]

45. Sen Waxman (Dem) led this study of the 13 curricula

[rodeodance]

47. Here is Waxman's website (also did a study on Gov. secrecy)

http://democrats.reform.house.gov/features/secrecy_report/index.asp

[JudyM]

68. He also requested expedited govt review of electronic voting last May

http://democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20040628122310-01003.pdf

[stanwyck]

49. Thanks, rodeodance

for the info and the link below.

[purduejake]

46. Where is the money going?....

Okay, to abstinence only programs, but does anybody know the names of the groups?

[bklyncowgirl]

48. Our tax dollars at work. Great. Just Great. n/t

[DeminGa]

51. Sickening

I've also had a problem with this 'concept' for a while now. From what I remember this has been a part of the Bush doctrine since the beginning

What is even more maddening is his approach to AIDS funding to Africa. If I remember correctly, the funds we give are contingent on the preaching and teaching of abstinence. A sure fire way to fail the people of the country and squander any benefit the monies we give might have.

From what I hear and read some people in Africa are under the belief that raping disease free new born babies will 'cure' them of AIDS. This is spreading the rate of disease to a whole new generation, not to mention traumatizing and violating babies only months old. Purely gross.

Do they mean to tell us that teaching abstinence is going to solve this problem?!?

Ughhh....the whole mentality of this administration is in the dark ages! What ever happened to the concept that 'knowledge is power?!?"

If people are taught well they can make their own judgments and choices...understanding full well the consequences. When people are misled and in the dark, it only perpetuates ignorance and leads them into situations that could of otherwise been avoided

Its like prohibition all over again....and we know how well THAT worked

akkk

[choicevoice]

50. I don't know why anyone is surprised about the lies they have to use

to keep people in line with their religious agenda.

One of my best friends son got his girlfriend pregnant and didn't come to her with the news. Instead they went to one of those "pregnancy crisis centers" aka Fundie you shouldn't abort places. They did the "pee in the container" test and came back with the results that yes she was pregnant AND that with this test they could tell that she was too far along for a legal abortion. ALL THIS FROM JUST A PEE TEST, NO PHYSICAL EXAMINATION.

Imagine my pro-choice friends reaction when she was told this by her son and now daughter in law.

Without lies they have no case for their causes and agenda.

[faithfull]

52. ABSTINENCE STRIKE!

:donut:

[KDLarsen]

55. It has even made the news here in Denmark

.. I was stunned when I read the part about "touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy,"".

[ExclamationPoint]

56. GREAT SITE!

Hey, all of my democratic homies should go to http://politicalparlor.com/index.php it rocks!

[Logician]

62. And I do this for a living!

I am just so sick and tired of the anti-science, anti-public health positions of this evil administration. I conduct public health work on STDs, HIV, HPV and cancer, and I can tell you, that abstinence only programs probably have little impact in the long-term. I mean, these ridiculous protocols need to be evaluated rigorously, scientifically, using harm-reduction methods such as condom use as a comparison group-- then the futility of abstinence-only programs would be clearly seen. HOWEVER, I am sure that this administration will never permit such behavioral intervention trials to be done-- since all Americans would see that condom use and other harm reduction strategies are the only way to prevent infection in our young people.

Has abstinence-only approached ever worked to prevent STD infection, unwanted pregnancy, etc? Never, I suspect. At least from what I remember from my adolescence in the 1960s, not many teens were being abstinent.

If you look in the Waxman report, the most horrible aspect is how much $$$ is being given to these moralistic, useless programs--- if I read the graphs correctly, at least $100 million in the last year?

Just to placate the radical evangelical wingnuts in this country, who would like to do away with the theory of evolution to explain the diversity of organisms on earth!

We need a revolution of scientific information, of fact, to counter this insanity.

[northamericancitizen]

69. Great post. Well explained. n/t

[Gardeaux08]

61. Anybody ready for a shred of good news?

I went to Catholic school for 12 years without ONE Sex Ed lesson. However, we did have special lecturers come in to tell us the evils of contraception...don't ask!

I got a flood of great information from magazines like YM. Of course, I also had a mother who refused to keep me in the dark. The reality is, with so much info on line and in magazines and books, our youth isn't totally dependent on what they are taught in school.

These programs are a real shame.

[eldepeche]

64. Even better...

I went to Catholic high school fully expecting to hear ridiculous you're-going-to-hell-if-you-see-a-person-of-the-opposite-sex-naked lessons after getting wonderful (and giggle-inducing) information in public middle school, and was pleasantly surprised to get more of what I was used to, which was information on STDs, teen pregnancy, contraception (several methods I had never heard of before) and everything short of free condoms (there were Catholic parents to hear about it, of course). There still is hope.

[ktowntennesseedem]

66. It's ashame it won't work...

Maybe if they teach abstinence long enough and drill it into the young freepers little heads, they'll quit having sex altogether and quit procreating. All of our problems will be solved in about 50 or 60 years!

Seriously, I can't wait that long; bring on the backlash!

[northamericancitizen]

70. To bring up the notion of sin in our kids's sexuality

will create an other generation of fucked up people. For Criss sake those born again forgot everything they suffered from? everything that brought them to go too far when they were busy breaking every fucking law that was artificially impose on them?

I am so so mad. By chance I live in Québec where everything is still open. Masturbation for teens in on teens shows(TV). Sure some are scandalized by it but most people agree that since it is happening why not talk about it.

I feel sorry for those kids who will try to do right by denying one of their basic instinct. When they will feel an attraction toward somebody they will want to keep it "pure" and try to suppress any physical reaction happening in her (his) body. Fuck!

One has to acknowledge desire and lust. It is human. What differentiate us from the animal is that we can decide to control it. A 15 or 16 years old girl can feel as horny as a boy. But she ought to know that her sexuality cannot be separate from her hearth. So if she gives in anytime she feels attracted to a boy she will end up feeling bad about herself.

Probably most of you adults, reading this, know about those thing. But how can our teens learn about it if the message they get is to suppress everything?

The example I talked about was about a girl, it came easy cause I'm a woman. Now I have a 13 years old boy. I am learning about boys sexuality as he is growing up. Let me tell you that if a lot is similar than 40 or 50 years ago some basic things changed dramatically.

Last year he told me that he share a french kiss with his girl friend. Glad that he was open to talk about it I told him to be gentle and to respect his girlfriend. That whenever he felt she did not want to do something he had to respect her.

Can you guess his answer? I bet not ! He said: Mom, she is the won who showed me how to do it. She is a lot more experienced than I am.

I reacted fast. I told him that he had to respect himself and tell his girlfriend to stop if ever he felt uncomfortable. lol

Talk about role reversal!

Enough of it. Right now I am strongly reacting to what's happening in your country about sex: Abstinence, banning books where homosexuality is mentioned, etc.

The only way to counteract those measure is to keep an open dialog with your kids. And if ever you personally don't feel comfortable talking about it ask an adult friend to do it.

[realisticphish]

73. the people that design these

if they came to the average college campus, their heads would explode. just "boom", that simple. cause they give us condoms with EVERYTHING; you can have some delivered with your pizza, if you want. for free, too. the simple fact is, TEENAGERS LIKE SEX. if anyone is shocked, please return to the martian cave from whence you came. and because teenagers like sex, they are probably going to try to have it, whether or not the risks occur to them. so, better they know how to protect themselves...

My father gave a great line: "It's like telling people that they don't need to wear seat belts; just don't get in a crash, and they'll be fine"


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat