Abstinence-only vs. comprehensive sex education December 31, 2008

Debate: Abstinence-only vs. comprehensive sex education – Debatepedia.

Abstinence-only education in our schools continue to gain momentum, despite increasing evidence that the programs are doing little to alleviate the extraordinarily high rates of teenage pregnancy in the United States.  The Bush Administration were vocal advocates of abstinence-only education.

Though studies show more than half of teenagers between the ages of 15-19 are sexually active (Moore, Driscoll and Lindberg, A Statistical Portrait of Adolescent Sex, Contraception and Childbearing, 1998), more than $100 million is spent by the federal government in programs that censor information about safe-sex practices.

These abstinence-only programs teach religious ideologies and stereotypes as scientific fact .Every reputable sexuality education organization and the American Medical Association have denounced abstinence-only education.

Abstinence-only is not effective at reducing teen sex rates. Abstinence-only does not help decrease STD infection rates. Abstinence-only wrongly bashes all non-marital sex.

The use of virginity pledges in these course often are useless, as the prevent nothing and are frequently broken.

Abstinence-only sex education is immoral, scientifically inaccurate, wasteful, and just plain wrong.

A Little Over Board November 16, 2008

It is about time.  For once (make that twice) , time has ruled in my favor.  And victory sure tastes sweet.

Victory number 1: Barack Obama.  Finally a Democrat is back in the office.  Someone to bring up the nation from the disparity of the Bush Administration.  In the beginning, and to a certain extent, now, I did not know that much about Barack Obama.

Victory number 2: I finally found my wallet, which contains, amongst other things, my library card.  I was not able to visit the library for weeks.  I was deprived of reading anything other than debate research.

So it struck me.  I needed to read, and I had someone I wanted to read about.  Without delay, I placed a hold on practically every book on Obama within my library network.  When I finally made my way to the library, the books sat snuggled on the holds shelf.

I stacked the books in my hand, barely able to balance them to the checkout counter.

The first night I let them sit at the foot of my bed, as I was preoccupied with piles of homework and chores.  The second night I cracked open the first book with Barack’s face on the cover.

I was delighted as I learned previously unknown information on our president elect. From Hawaii to Kenya to Chicago to Indonesia to Iraq.  I became frustrated, twice shouting at the book, for the overused reference to Barack Obama as ‘Barry’.

I still have a lot more to read, (including Audacity of Hope)and I am looking forward to it.