Monday, November 10, 2008

Condoms Trump Abstinence in Obama Global AIDS Policy

That's too bad...
Abstinence education has to be atleast a part of sex education starting in about 5th grade to be effective.
In areas where there is no abstinence at all, the increase in contraception also brings an increase in teen pregnancy and STI's.
This is what my master's thesis was all about...
I did not say abstinence ONLY education, but a comprehensive sex education is best...
It looks like Obama is going back to the throw the condoms at the kids and just give up on the thought that kids can be influenced by role models to atleast delay sexual activity to a point where they decrease their risk of teen pregnancy and STI's by half...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

i have never heard of any sex education anywhere that does not include abstinence. have you?

Anonymous said...

Nope. Nor have I heard of any sex ed that does not include condoms. That is, until the last 8 yrs. Sarah Palin's kid sure didn't get the message.

Anonymous said...

with teen pregnancies at their lowest level in years, this is exactly the sort of issue the republicans had better learn to put on the back burner, if they're ever going to get their act as a viable 21st-century party back together again

The Game said...

hash said:
with teen pregnancies at their lowest level in years

how can we have posts drilling the last 8 years of sex education and then have post saying teen pregnancy is way down AND still drill Republicans...wow

blamin said...

We all know that all children/prepubescent/teenagers are going to rut like dogs in heat in a ditch. Why not throw them some ky jelly, the Kama Sutra, and a condom or two?

It's just natural after all.

Anonymous said...

"...how can we have posts drilling the last 8 years of sex education and then have post saying teen pregnancy is way down AND still drill Republicans...wow..."

game, could you rephrase your above paragraph? i honestly don't understand what you're trying to explain...

and, blamin, no, absolutely not, that's definitely untrue, and obviously, there is a still a problem with underaged sex and teen pregnancies

my suggestion is, perhaps the problem itself is not at such a level, that it needs to be dealt with on a POLITICAL level, the message needs to go out that parents either need to act as parents, or else relinquish custody
to the authorities

the vast majority of repeated teenage pregnancies that require government intervention and taxpayer subsidies, overwhelmingly occur outside communities that the party should be focusing on, in the ghettoes where republicans are held in almost total contempt and hatred

it is simply not a good strategy to waste time and resources, when republicans can easily handle the few cases that pop up, in a manner that lines up with their/our parental/religious/cultural norms

this will also help to grow the party, during an unsettling time

Realism said...

Sorry, but I think your analysis is mistaken. This article is not talking about sex ed in schools. It is talking about AIDS prevention programs overseas.

Currently, funding is denied to organizations that refuse to push an "abstinence only" line. As much as we laugh about how ineffective these programs are with teenagers, many of these programs are directed to ADULTS, and many of them are directed to PROSTITUTES. Sorry, but requiring "abstinence only" programs to reduce the spread of AIDS among hookers is just stupid.

Game, you and I are in perfect agreement that comprehensive sex ed with an emphasis on abstinence is the most effective sex ed program. I suspect that Obama would agree as well. The only ones not getting the point are the hard-core social cons, living in a fantasy world where teens will refrain from having sex if you tell them to.

jhbowden said...

Sex education is not the responsibility of the state, and it is a political loser for the Republicans. The wise don't need abstinence education, while fools won't heed it.

A better idea would be to reinstate a genuinely liberal education. The humanities, for instance, are supposed to be formative. We make them informative, boring, and neutral-- as if any choice and interpretation is as valid as any other and ought to be respected. But life is meant to be lived-- better to show students what's possible on Earth than to preach self-denial. It is easier to strive toward something than to not strive at all.