The Lesson of Bristol Palin: Is abstinence-only education enough?

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: The Lesson of Bristol Palin
By Ruth Marcus
Tuesday, September 2, 2008; Page A15


Bristol Palin holds her brother Trig while their mother is introduced as John McCain's running mate.
(Stephan Savoia/AP)

....It's naive to imagine, in the anything-goes Internet era, that Palin's daughter's pregnancy would go unremarked upon. It's also mistaken, I think, to expect it. Like it or not, Bristol Palin's pregnancy is intertwined with an important public policy debate about which the two parties differ and on which Sarah Palin has been outspoken.

Which brings me to the teachable moment: What should teenagers be taught about sexual activity and contraception? By whom? What access should they have to condoms or other forms of birth control? Specifically, is abstinence-only education enough?

The 2008 Republican Party platform acknowledges that "each year, more than 3 million American teenagers contract sexually transmitted diseases, causing emotional harm and serious health consequences, even death." It expresses support for "efforts to educate teens and parents about the health risks associated with early sexual activity and provide the tools needed to help teens make healthy choices." Then it adds, "Abstinence from sexual activity is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against out-of-wedlock pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases."

Yes, but talking about abstinence turns out to be easier than abstaining. More than 60 percent of high school seniors report having had sex at least once. The message that every family should take from Bristol Palin's pregnancy is: It can happen here.

Except Sarah Palin opposes programs that teach teenagers anything about contraception. "The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support," she said in answering a questionnaire from the conservative Eagle Forum during her 2006 gubernatorial race. McCain has voted to increase abstinence-only funding, voted to terminate the federal family planning program and voted against funding teen pregnancy prevention programs. He voted to require teens seeking birth control at federally funded family planning clinics to obtain parental consent.

Being a teenager means taking stupid risks. The best, most attentive parenting and the best, most comprehensive sex education won't stop teenagers from doing dumb things. The most we as parents can hope for is to insulate our children, as best we can, from the consequences of their own stupidity. I have two daughters back home, 11 and 13 -- close enough to Bristol's age that I cannot comfort myself that her situation is a far-off irrelevance. When I talk with them about this news, I will use the moment to convey this admittedly muddled message: Wait, please. But whenever you choose to have sex, at some distant moment, don't do it without contraception.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090102305.html?nav=most_emailed

[Eric J in MN]

1. Do you think that she never heard of contraception?

I don't.

Everyone knows about the pill and condoms.

That doesn't have to be taught in school.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

3. In abstinence only sex ed, kids are being taught that condoms and the pill don't work

Recent studies have shown that young people in states with little to no comprehensive sex ed are shockingly ignorant about basic facts. What's basic knowledge to you doesn't come automatically to a young person. Add to that the generous dose of shame these abstinence programs, with their purity pledges and whatnot, are ladling out and don't be surprised to see an uptick in pregnancy and STDs.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. I didn't know that. That's almost criminal. nt

[Eric J in MN]

6. I'm against teaching teens that contraception doesn't work.

I was making the case for keeping public schools out of sex-ed altogether.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

7. I disagree.

Many parents are simply not able to give their kids accurate information about anatomy, contraception, and prevention of HIV and other STDs. And too many are unwilling or don't have the time to take their kids to Planned Parenthood or similar organizations. To me, it's analogous to public schools offering drivers ed. It's about the health and safety of the community.

[Stellabella]

10. Yep. And also,

lots of these kids think that if they do use protection, it means they thought about having sex and planned for it. So they don't use protection because their defense is 'it was spontaneous, we couldn't help it.'

[mrreowwr_kittty]

11. Ah yes. "Swept Away" Syndrome. nt

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Someone told me they'd heard that counselors to pregnant teenagers always ask...

first: Did you know what to do to prevent your pregnancy, or did you not care? That's an interesting question in this case.

[sharesunited]

2. This will be moot if Griswold is overturned and contraceptives become outlawed.

[Chisox08]

8. abstinence-only only leads to more pregnancies and STD's

When you tell a teen that they can not do something over and over agian they will want to do it more. When you have an actual sex-ed program that teaches the dangers of teenage sex ie. preganacies and STD's and teach's them about safe sex and provides the tools to practice safe sex the rate of teenage preganacies and STD's drop.

[POAS]

9. Is this one of those threads that are forbidden?

Just in case I'm keeping my eyes closed.