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States refusing grants for abstinence education



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Only 28 states are still accepting federal funding for "abstinence-only" sexual education. The program is down 40% in just two years.

The abstinence-focused approach has been supported by President George Bush from the beginning of time, as he believes that hiding the facts from kids somehow helps them.

However, scientific research is proving that abstinence-only sex ed simply doesn't work. More kids get pregnant when they don't have adequate information about their own bodies. In fact, the states with the highest rates of teen pregnancy, like Texas, generally support or use some form of abstinence-only education.

More and more people, and states, are realizing that we need to give our kids all the information about sex and their bodies in order to help them make healthy decisions and prevent unplanned pregnancies.

Comprehensive sexual education is becoming increasingly popular and it is being funded by states entirely.

This will be an important issue in the 2008 election, and it has already surfaced. Obama has said that he supports comprehensive sexual education that is age-appropriate beginning in early elementary school and John McCain supports abstinence-only policies.

Here in Texas, it is very unfortunate that we accept the most federal funding for abstinence-only sexual education. This is due in part because our State Board of Education is extremely conservative and asserts its religious views into public policy and because we have representatives like Ron Paul, who support abstinence-only and oppose comprehensive sexual education.

I think this is a good shift, even as a Texan (OMG, he's liberal? can cowboys do that? I wonder what his horse thinks about this....), because I think our kids deserve to know the fats about sex, but what do you think?
Colonial_Zombie

79 responses // States refusing grants for abstinence education

  • I agree. Abstinence only education doesn't work, and I think even a lot of social conservatives acknowledge that. They just don't want America to turn into a society where pre-marital relations is encouraged or even accepted.
    Disable
  • it doesnt really matter what they teach, it starts at home.
    starlightblue
  • It's about time. The top 8 states recieving funding are in the top 10 states for teen pregnancy.
    SilenceNoMore
  • Kids don't have or do have sex because of programs by the government. It's the parent's job to tell the child about sex. Parents getting mad about sex programs (or lack thereof) are the parents that fail at teaching their children anything.
    J_Jammer
  • I never got the talk from my parents. I got my education from a volunteer who came to the school who came to talk about how she contracted HIV. She scared the crap out of me and if it weren't for her, I'd probably be pregnant, or popping pills by now.

    We can hope that parents will give the talks, but sorry folks, not everyone who creates life understands the responsibility that comes with it. Teen pregnancy, HIV and all other STD's, is a social problem, and needs to be addressed in a way that gets the message out, which takes money and government should step in where the parents fail.

    The truth is all these kids need. Here's why you might want to have sex, here's what could happen if you have sex, here's what you can do to protect yourself. It's a smarter move than just saying, don't have sex because they're going to have sex no matter how hard you pray about it.
    Neghie
  • That's why there should be some form of parenting classes one has to take prior to having a child. You have to have license to do so many things in this world and the MOST important job in the world with the most fragile of cargo you do not have to be license for.

    It is one of the main reasons there are so many inept people because they lacked the parental guidance they should have gotten. And some very fortunate people got guidance from outside sources, but that's not always the case and therefore that's why there are so many things wrong and why idiots have sex when they surely shouldn't' have.
    J_Jammer
    8 responses to this
  • watch this comment being used here, here, here, here and here
    education starts at home, you cant expect the school to replace as a parent.
    Parental gidance is key, of course is unconfortable to talk about certain things with your parents, but you should trust them more than, lets say, your teachers.
    realfran
    1 response to this
  • WHAT? If they don't learn at home from their parents it will just damage them more when they go out in the real world or at school. You cant hide the truth forever kids will figure it out another way just like they figure out Santa is not real eventually.
    currentkid
    1 response to this
  • This just goes to show that humans are not like animals. Because if humans were like animals we wouldn't need to be educated on sex. Animals are not...they go by instinct. So much so the chameleon (a certain species) has violent sex (the male) and can die or does die. If they taught that to their children and the animal had thought process like humans it may not want have sex because it rather live.

    It's such a waste of money that anyone would have to be taught what sex is and how to be safe and how it should be handled so an unwanted pregnancy doesn't occur.

    People are talking about the war being waste of money....this is a waste money. Add it to the list of things that are a waste of money.

    War
    War on drugs
    sex education

    Parents are free. I hate that my tax money goes to cure ignorance that shouldn't even exist in the first place.
    J_Jammer
    4 responses to this
  • I think that abstinence only education is not really education at all. You might as well just go to a middle school and tell the boys "you have a penis" and tell the girls "you have a vagina" and then leave for all the difference abstinence education does. My mom never really talked to me about sex, but she reached me through a medium that worked for me. Books. There are plenty of well written books for young adults to read. We all know that hormones are either already raging or in the works, so young adults are going to look to satisfy their curiosity no matter what. Books can promote facts all the while letting the teen and parent refrain from any odd conflicts until the teen is ready to ask something.

    Anything dealing with the body in a sexual way is taboo to a great many people who are just not comfortable being, well, sexual. Whether it's homosexuality, sex before marriage, pregnancy, pleasure in sex, or just about anything that has to do with a penis, vagina, breasts, or butt, there is controversy over it and eventually there are laws placed on our biology.

    Education is a great thing, but not when all the facts and figures are not presented. A partial education can be just as bad as no education.
    bekah_1984
    1 response to this
  • the least intelligent people are the ones breeding. Doom awaits us people. If you've seen "Idiocracy" you know what i mean.
    schimmerman
    1 response to this
  • .........well i never had the talk and most of what i know comes from the street as well as school......

    and most of what i learned there just made want to do it MORE .....

    I blame the movies.... sure parents are idiots for not preparing their children .... but the media just glorifies sex... its like hey its a sex party ... lets do IT.... i mean how many times do you see an ugly chick as the main role or even a supporting one?
    kewal91
  • I'm glad to see states know they need to teach "safe sex" and not just "no sex whatsoever till marriage."

    The IQ of average Americans is decreasing fast as theres only 1.5 childeren in a high IQ family and 5 in a low IQ family.

    And WV is one of the worst.
    KefKef
  • Education is critical.

    We cannot rely on parents to do their jobs. We can HOPE they do, but ultimately the schools do need to play some kind of role.

    It's like handing every single kid a handgun, but then just shrugging your shoulders and hoping the parents properly teach them to use it. The schools need to do their due diligence and provide comprehensive age-appropriate education.

    The answer isn't (imho) to just say, "It's dangerous. Keep it clean and never fire it before marriage. Now get out of here and stop asking questions!

    Of course a kid is going to go off and (metaphorically speaking) start shooting things for fun.

    And sometimes abstinenance education goes the complete other way and is used as a kind of misinformation campaign to "scare" kids which isn't good either. Instead of saying, "Don't do it!" and leaving it at that, they try to push a religious agenda.

    I remember not so long ago in my high school we had an instructor telling us that 80 percent of teenagers who engage in pre-marital sex commit suicide before graduation. Another 10 percent died while having abortions. Basically, if you have sex before marriage you only have a 10 percent chance of surviving the experience long enough to graduate from High School!

    Hmmm. That doesn't sound like entirely scientific, accurate and impartial information to me. You can almost detect the faintest hint of a religious agenda.

    All the more reason we should probably devleope some kind of standardized/national education program so that all students are getting the same (and accurate) information in regards to reproductive health.
    crob80227
    3 responses to this
  • ah sex ed!

    im have to learn about penis' and vaginas!

    my virgin ears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    (sarcastic)
    rubicon777
  • Telling kids to not have sex untill such a lofty goal as marriage is stupid. To me, the whole concept of marriage is silly and pointless.

    I homeschooled, but I was still in the school system. In my middle school health book, it said "abstinence until marriage," nothing about condoms or birth control. They make it sound like if you have sex no matter what you'll get an STD or knock somebody up.
    FallenMorgan
    2 responses to this
  • Everyone argues that it should be the parents doing the educating, or that its the responsibility of the schools.

    In reality, its both. Parents need to start taking responsibility and stop using the electronic babysitter (TV) or ignoring issues like sex and hoping their kids will just grow up right by chance.

    However, it does take a village to raise a child, and thus we need to get over ourselves and our constant battle over the right place for religion in schools. We need to just teach kids the facts, the truth, and start treating them like intelligent humans, not mindless idiots.

    Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. Let's just equipt them with the right tools (like condoms! lol)
    egarlow
  • There has got to be some kind of sensible middle ground between abstinence before marriage and daily high school orgies.

    I think the people who are for the abstinence-only education are trying to err on the side of caution, but are doing more harm then good.

    It seems as though they feel that if they don't demonize sex, then the students will immediately go out and start having orgies while freebasing as many drugs as possible.

    "They didn't say I'd die doing this so wheeeee!"

    Making people fearful of sex isn't healthy.

    The Abstinence Only Movement is a little schizophrenic in their message: first they tell you sex is so amazing that you must wait for marriage, but then in the next breath say it's so horrible, disgusting and perverse that you'll must likely be so traumatize by the experience (before marriage) that you'll kill yourself.

    This doesn't sound like a mature, rational conversation that we're having with our students.

    And someone brought up an important point: what happens when two sexually incompatible virgins get married and realize, oops, we really don't gel together?

    Again it's a very cluttered, schizophrenic message: sex is horrible. sex is awesome. sex is totally meaningless an unimportant. sex is so critically important you must save it for marriage. sex will drive you insane. sex will bring you closer together.

    No wonder we're so insane about sex in this country with schizo message like that bombarding us night and day.

    They don't have these problems in Europe. maybe we should take a page out of their book?
    crob80227
  • it takes a village ! thats the truth about raising children.the problem is that the collective does not want to except resposibility.we all are resposible for the child not only the parents. U must remember being a child,and how u rebelled against your parents for what ever,sex ,tv shows, freinds, music,food,cloths. if they didnt like it u found someone else to support your cause.a childs greatest asset manipulation.this child will find several adults &children to support what they think. teachers that say your parents are crazy for not letting you watch,wear,eat,what u want not knowing the childs home issues his/her violent,sexual,eating habits or teachers that say listen to your parents no matter what they say and the parents beat the child for doing homework before washing the dishes,dirty laundry,cooking for the rest of the family,we need to stop generalizing beliveing that all kids are going through the same things teaching children about sex leads to two things children that will grow up respecting sex and the dangers of it.and children that will use it for there benifit for sex without consequence teen pregnancy dosent only come from the home but because of the influences of this sexually charged society music,clothes,food,tv all use sex to sell their product WAKE UP WE ARE ALL RESPOSIBLE FOR THE 13YR OLD MOTHER OF 2 CAUSE WE ACCEPT IT ON & IN OUR LIVES WAKE UP WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE
    jaqumi
    1 response to this
  • Teach sex ed in schools(including condom use and STD's). It will give kids a even amount of knowledge on the subject. Some parents are nieve enough to believe that kids who only know abstinence will not have sex when it is completely the opposite.

    Teaching condom safety and the dangers of unprotected sex and STD's are the only ways to prevent teen pregnancies. If parents want to further educate thier children then let them do it with the school's public knowledge of sex as the foundation.
    lifestudentno83
  • Abstinence only education is the most dangerous sexual health policy this country has ever seen. I hope teens who contract HIV based on the misleading advice in the curriculum sue G. W. Bush personally.
    uroborus8
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7acdvJegOY
    NOT THE FUTURE!!!!
    recommended by  jade_azul16
    victimofcoal
  • Sex education is a critical part of health education for teenagers and we have to protect it. Just because someone "knows how" to have sex doesn't mean they will. In fact, learning about it takes away its taboo, forbidden stigma and you can treat it for what it is.
    St_Alia_10191
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbNdu3hQIyM
    We should just let your television teach our children what sex is.

    I'm kidding.

    Maybe we should focus on SAFE SEX instead on abstinence! All you can do with a kid is lay down the facts and leave it up to them to decide. They're still going to hate you around 16-17 years of age but they'll get over it!t
    Audiogeek
    1 response to this
  • What should be taught in schools is what's right, not a compromise. Then you only have yourself to blame.
    shadowtrekker
  • To those of you who say this is parents job:

    It is the parents job, but what reason does that give us to hide facts from high school students like myself?

    In my sex-ed class, here's basically what the whole course covered: "if you have sex, you will get this, this, this disease and look at this: these teenage parents hate their life because it was ruined by their kids. That is why we should all wait until we're married, so we don't have diseases and five kids at 16."
    ShadesOfInsanity
  • watch this comment being used here, here, here and here
    my favorite commenter in this thread is neghie. of course it's a shared responsibility between the parents and schools to educate kids, on everything from reading to sex. the sad truth is many parents don't fulfill their part of the responsibility, neither by helping kids with their homework nor by teaching them about sex. the reality is far too many parents don't care enough about their children's education, so the schools must make the information available so that the students can educate themselves.
    tonality
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnGIiGDKhJg
    Funny and scary story from Henry Rollins on the subject.
    Disable
  • abstinence education never worked anyway. If people want to be affective with sex education in any way, they have to be realistic. Educate kids about sex and safe sex instead of acting like it's a dirty thing that they shouldn't be doing. Seriously, how many of us didn't have sex when we were in high school?
    marcus854
  • You don't need a Grant to tell kids to keep they're legs closed. you need unHIGH parents.
    Blackfoot777
  • Abstinence "Only" education does not exist. It is called abstinence based education.

    The states with democratic governors are the one dropping out under the spell of un-planned motherhood.

    Interesting enough when studies are held to the same criteria there is ample evidence that condom-based sex education interventions do not work.

    I challenge anyone to find an evaluation of a condom based sex ed program that is working.

    The criteria used to judge only 4 abstinence based sex ed were :random assignment and a follow-up period of 2.1/2 to 5 1/2 years.

    Good luck !!!!
    soleil10
    2 responses to this
  • One recent and thorough summary reviewed 50 well- designed evaluation studies of comprehensive sex education programs in the United states, going back to 1990, and include these findings:

    a) None of the programs increased the prevalence of consistent use (CCU) among adolescents for a period greater than one year.
    CCU is the only condom measure that approaches the stringent standard of the abstinence measure.

    Only one program produced a significant increase in the prevalence of CCU that was sustained for a period of one year.

    B)Thirteen control trials of comprehensive sex education found no increase in teen condom use for any period of time

    C)Only 2 comprehensive sex education programs succeeded in improving less stringent measure of teen condom use (not CCU) for a period longer than 2 years, and none lasted beyond 3 years.
    soleil10
  • How the hell can you promote abstinence only sex ed while nothing but sex is on TV? Monkey see monkey do, and the little monkeys are bombarded with images of sex ALL THE TIME. Face it - they're gonna get down and dirty regardless of what you tell them. So give them a condom and tell them how to use it.