Author |
Message |
Denecee
Member
09-05-2002
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 12:22 pm
Hermione69, but you found the strength to change the wrongness in your life! Your upbringing had something to do with that I bet.
|
Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 12:23 pm
Well, I agree with you then Hermi! Both should be taught. Give kids the option. As to Miss Palin, she made her choice. I'm sure she was taught early how to prevent pregnancy. (At least I hope she was) As I said, I"m glad she's not being forced into marriage by a political agenda.
|
Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 12:26 pm
Abstinence only teens get pregnant at the same rate as other teens. That is fascinating. So the research indicates that it is completely ineffective? I find it hard to believe that it would have no effect at all.
|
Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 12:33 pm
One of many studies done: A recent study of four abstinence education programs, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., finds that the programs had no effect on the sexual abstinence of youth. But it also finds that youth in these programs were no more likely to have unprotected sex, a concern that has been raised by some critics of these programs. The study, conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, <snip - but important to note this was a Bush era study> The study found that youth in the four evaluated programs were no more likely than youth not in the programs to have abstained from sex in the four to six years after they began participating in the study. Youth in both groups who reported having had sex also had similar numbers of sexual partners and had initiated sex at the same average age. http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/abstinencereport.asp Bottom line: they don't work. They don't delay sex, they don't reduce number of partners, nothing.
|
Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 12:36 pm
I don't read that as it having no effect at all, just that it depends on the kid. The kids that don't get pregnant, MAY be abstinent. But even saying that, I believe that yes, abstinence should be taught, and that kids know that it's okay not to have sex. BUT in this case I don't think ignorance is bliss, and these kids still need sex ed learning the risks of early sex and ways to prevent pregnancy.
|
Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 12:43 pm
I'm not sure what you think "no effect" means then. There were four unique programs evaluated against a control group. The average age of beginning sexual activity in all the groups was the same, the average number of sexual partners was the same in both the 'taught' children, and the 'untaught' children. That's what no effects means. It had no effect on the teen population's sexual behavior. If abstinence only education was effective,there would have been a difference in the groups that received it, versus the group that didn't. However, studies do show that comprehensive education does work - in reducing pregnancy and also very importantly, in reducing the spread of STDs.
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 12:48 pm
I think this is an interesting site.. http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/PUBLICATIONS/ScienceSuccessES.htm Until recently, teen pregnancy and birth rates had declined in the United States. Despite these declines, US teen birth and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates remain among the highest in the industrialized world. Given the need to focus limited prevention resources on effective programs, Advocates for Youth undertook exhaustive reviews of existing research to compile a list of those programs proven effective by rigorous evaluation. Nineteen programs appeared in Science and Success when it was first published in 2003; seven additional programs are included in Science and Success, Second Edition. Criteria for Inclusion—The programs included in this document all had evaluations that: Were published in peer-reviewed journals (a proxy for the quality of the evaluation design and analysis); Used an experimental or quasi-experimental evaluation design, with treatment and control / comparison conditions; Included at least 100 young people in treatment and control / comparison groups. Further, the evaluations either: Continued to collect data from both groups at three months or later after intervention And Demonstrated that the program led to at least two positive behavior changes among program youth, relative to controls: Postponement or delay of sexual initiation; Reduction in the frequency of sexual intercourse; Reduction in the number of sexual partners / increase in monogamy; Increase in the use, or consistency of use, of effective methods of contraception and/or condoms; Reduction in the incidence of unprotected sex. Or: Showed effectiveness in reducing rates of pregnancy, STIs, or HIV in intervention youth, relative to controls Program Effects—Twenty-six programs met the criteria described above: these 26 programs were able to affect the behaviors and/or sexual health outcomes of youth exposed to the program. Risk Avoidance Through Abstinence—Fourteen programs demonstrated a statistically significant delay in the timing of first sex among program youth, relative to comparison / control youth. One of these programs is an intervention for elementary school children and their parents. The other 13 programs target middle and high school youth and all include information about both abstinence and contraception, among other topics and/or services. (See Table A) the results of the whole study was much longer but very interesting reading; it's sort of sad in a way cause it seesm that none of the studies changed things all that dramatically
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 1:03 pm
Herm, except for the definitely more accessible access to porn, I am not so sure things are really all that different. Perhaps we are just hearing about them more? I know when I was in middle school/high school things weren't that different. (and I am old! but it was also the sex, drug and rock and roll years! LOL).
|
Hermione69
Member
07-24-2002
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 1:30 pm
Maybe you are right, Texannie, in that we just seem to hear about it more. Here's an interesting, and very current, article from the NYTimes - *The Myth of Rampant Teenage Promiscuity* Maybe we just have access to so much more information that it feels like we are inundated with it.
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 1:42 pm
Great article! I definitely wonder if the down side to all this openness between parents/kids/media ect is that we know more about what they are doing...oh, the good old days where we hid things from our parents! LOL What I find more frightening as a parent of a 15 year old daughter (today!) is what they don't think is sex. She was just telling me yesterday somewhat casually that friend of hers had given a boy a hand job. She was so casual about it that I had to make sure she knew what it was. I worry that we have done such a good job of trying to prevent pregnancies, disease ect by teaching them about condoms that we are forgetting to teach our kids that intercourse isn't the only aspect of sex. Needless to say, we had a long conversation! LOL I seem to see more of a decline in self respect among teenage girls than an increase in actual intercourse. And frankly, that scares me more than an unplanned pregnancy!!!
|
Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 1:48 pm
That's an interesting article. A pregnancy can't be disputed but one thing that I wonder about sex surveys (even anonymous ones) is whether teenagers are answering the questions honestly. I know that back when I was a teen a guy would sooner die than admit to being a virgin (LOL – an exaggeration but only a slight one). To hear some guys talk you would think they were getting it twenty times a week but I strongly suspect it was largely in their imagination.
|
Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 3:48 pm
I think it's important to remember the things that have changed. Puberty is happening years earlier than ever before, and marriage is happening years later. With that gap widening, it becomes a lot less realistic to think people will be virgins when they marry.
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 3:50 pm
how about just through college? 
|
Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 3:52 pm
LOL, Annie - I'm hoping through high school. For most kids that's about 6 years after the hormones have kicked in. LOL
|
Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 3:52 pm
Good luck with that Texannie, my 17 year old son has his girlfriend staying over every other weekend.
|
Beekindpleez
Member
07-18-2006
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 4:06 pm
I'd be careful about that. My rule was 18. BOTH parties.
|
Twinkie
Member
09-24-2002
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 4:07 pm
Maris, you allow your son to have sleepovers with his gf at your house? Damn! And I felt weird spending the night with my husband at my parent's house! LOL
|
Twinkie
Member
09-24-2002
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 4:09 pm
Bee, my parents wouldn't have cared if I was 40! To them it was living in sin if you weren't married. They couldn't stop me from doing it at my house but it sure wasn't gonna happen at their's.
|
Beekindpleez
Member
07-18-2006
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 4:13 pm
Yeah, Twinkie...maybe I should have done that. I DID tell them no tattoos until they were 40. That's working so far. LOL
|
Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 4:18 pm
I never slept in the same room with Colossus (or any other man) at my parent's house until we were married. A simple matter of respect.
|
Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 4:37 pm
I don't have a problem with it. He is 17 she is 18. they are acting responsibly, they have their own ambitions which they are following. My son knows about respecting women and being responsible. She knows about being responsible. They also both know that they have to focus on their futures. It is no big deal to me.
|
Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 4:41 pm
No way would I even think (or dream, imagine...) of having any guy sleep over at my parent's house when I still lived there. I lived there til I was like 25 or so. (Also, I did not have sex until I was a lot older than most. a few years out of my teens!) I attribute that to the influence my parents had on me.
|
Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 5:06 pm
I think everyone is different and I respect anyone who has carefully thought these things through.
|
Pamy
Member
01-02-2002
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 8:31 pm
my parents had to be gone for a boy to be able to spend the nite
|
Beekindpleez
Member
07-18-2006
| Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 9:43 pm
LOL!
|