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New York, 9:08 PM
Thu Nov 26
15 posts in the last 24 hours
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07/20/09
07/20/09
Most kids don't practice safe sex by literally practicing - like rehearsing - the act of sex.
Perhaps this is where you're getting confused.
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How much of this can be chalked up to "Teens don't give a shit, are impulsive, and don't plan beforehand on what they'll do if they have sex"? I realize there's only so much a comprehensive sex-ed teacher can be blamed for, if students play the swine to their sex-ed pearls of wisdom, but couldn't we do better?
(P.S. I'm not impressed by the "low opportunity costs" idea behind teen pregnancy and general indifference to risky activity/poor long-term decision making...it puts the blame/burden of resolution entirely--not some, but ENTIRELY-- on society, and maybe a little the shitty parents whose kids will follow in their footsteps and spend adulthood poor, raising their own poor children. Do we have to wait for this country to evolve into Sweden before we can lower the frequency of STIs and unplanned pregnancy?)
I don't know what's included in the average high school sex-ed class (sex-ed.... not abstinence only?) in a co-ed school--talk about the cost of raising a child? Rape (and not just a discussion that's targeted at girls)? The possibility of having sex, despite "not planning on it" with your significant other?
Another thing--anyone know if those home ec classes that paired students for a week to take care of a "baby" ever actually WORK and make teens appreciate the risk of unwanted pregnancy more? Do schools even DO that anymore? (And I guess it doesn't matter, but if they do what if you know you never want to have children, because I already appreciate that a child is a crying, pooping, EXPENSIVE, 24/7 investment?)
07/20/09
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07/20/09
I was in grade school in the 90s. Was sex-ed THAT much better than it is now (presumably in blue states), and universally offered?
I'm skeptical that scuttling abstinence-only is as far as we can go...that's all. It's intellectually dishonest to blame such a complex and serious problem on one asshole administration. The ABC article isn't that thorough on a geographic/demographic breakdown on which populations' are seeing an increase.
The report listed the highest rates of unplanned pregnancy and STI rates in teens 15-19 among Hispanic and black teens (unless you take into account the uprising in STI rates among gay men in the past few years.) You REALLY think the high rates among those populations is because of some Bible-thumping dumbass teacher?
Also, I might be wrong on its influence, but the focus on AIDS now seems to be more international...during the 90s I think there was more domestic awareness. I won't forgive the unforgivable NEGLECT abstinence-only (and it's substitution for the kind of aggressive comprehensive sex-ed we actually NEED) represents, but to act as if that's the ONLY factor at work?
How much of the rise can be attributed to blue states?
(Yes, I realize...the post is about THIS study, and the study was published to identify a problem that is time-specific, instead of a more general one--say, permissive cultural norms and the sort of wishy-washy, faux religiosity that keeps teens from using birth control or abortion but not from fucking, and fucking alot, outside of marriage--are not.)
I still would've liked to see a geoographic/demographic breakdown in the ABC article, which did NOT link to the CDC report, so I'll have to take what they tell me.
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07/20/09
Presenters scaing the shit out of children into not to have sex by pretending to be hip and "down" with them.
Half true.
What it ultimately does and can do is make kids find abstinence partners and confuse them, if their relationship ever blossoms into something a little more serious. Yeah people, it's called a relationship.
Their confusion leads to "innocent" looks at each other naked bodies. interactions and then BS runs through their minds, making themselves find any means necessary to have "abstinence sex." Abstinence sex is not enough, so they take it to the next level, then the next, then the next.
Granted not everyone goes through this process, but sexual confusion and frustration is NEVER a good thing.
All in all abstinence doesn't always work and
for the most part, is bullshit.
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How could any teen in their right mind resist that sweater vest?
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07/20/09
I would imagine that Bookish has her own ideas, right?
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