Good news in fight against abstinence-only sex ed
Earlier this month, Illinois Review, a conservative blog announced that funding for Project Reality has been cut from the state budget. This is a great step toward getting young people medically-accurate information about sex and how to protect themselves from STDs and unplanned pregnancy.
Consider this quote from a Project Reality Curriculum:
“While condom usage has increased among teens, the spread of STDs has also increased most among teens.” This comes from A.C. Green’s Game Plan, which is published by Project Reality. It clearly makes it sound like it's all those people who ARE using condoms that are responsible for the rise in STDs. Sound a little backwards to you?
A curriculum review by the Illinois Campaign for Responsible Sex Eduction (of which Planned Parenthood is a part) found that Project Reality's curricula excludes information on sexual anatomy, contraceptive options and information, information on testing and treatment for STDs, sexual orientation, information on sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault and dating violence, and prevention information for students who have already become sexually active. You'll find more from Project Reality on the website.
Can you believe our state was funding this?
In addition, numerous studies (like this one from Mathematica) have come out recently which show that abstinence-only education is not effective. We should give props to the Governor for cutting an ineffective program that was misleading Illinois youth.
Technorati tags: Abstinence-only, Sex Education, Project Reality, Planned Parenthood Action Illinois
Consider this quote from a Project Reality Curriculum:
“While condom usage has increased among teens, the spread of STDs has also increased most among teens.” This comes from A.C. Green’s Game Plan, which is published by Project Reality. It clearly makes it sound like it's all those people who ARE using condoms that are responsible for the rise in STDs. Sound a little backwards to you?
A curriculum review by the Illinois Campaign for Responsible Sex Eduction (of which Planned Parenthood is a part) found that Project Reality's curricula excludes information on sexual anatomy, contraceptive options and information, information on testing and treatment for STDs, sexual orientation, information on sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault and dating violence, and prevention information for students who have already become sexually active. You'll find more from Project Reality on the website.
Can you believe our state was funding this?
In addition, numerous studies (like this one from Mathematica) have come out recently which show that abstinence-only education is not effective. We should give props to the Governor for cutting an ineffective program that was misleading Illinois youth.
Technorati tags: Abstinence-only, Sex Education, Project Reality, Planned Parenthood Action Illinois
Labels: Abstinence-only, planned parenthood action illinois, Project Reality, sex education
posted by Anonymous at
12:05 PM
3 Comments:
Anatomy? Seriously? It didn't even include that?
Should we defund you for misrepresenting the study? You can't blame all the problems of teen pregnancy rises and high STD rates on abstinence only education.
What the Mathamatica study shows is that there is no difference in the rates of sexual activity or condom/birth control use between kids who have abstinence-only sex ed, and those who cover birth control.
It actually found that those who had abstinence-only ed were more likely to correctly identify STD's and more likely to know that birth control pills don't stop the transmission of STD's.
I can't say I'm really a fan of "abstinence only" teaching...as I do believe that birth control methods and STD prevention should be taught to kids--I will teach it to mine (a tradition passed down from my grandmother, who would be 82 if she were still alive). And as a childbirth instructor, my kids (ages 4-9) already know a heck of a lot more about anatomy than I did as I entered adolescence.
But I'll still be promoting abstinence to them. STRONGLY. As my grandmother would have.
Abstinence-only can certainly take a very large share of the blame for the state of young people's reproductive health (or lack thereof) in this country. And Planned Parenthood isn't the only one saying so. You might be interested in some of these editorials from 15 of our nation's leading newspapers: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/newsroom/press-releases/15-editorials-push-comprehensive-sex-ed-19639.htm
However, I also think we share some common ground. Comprehensive sex education doesn't mean that young people aren't taught abstinence. It's comprehensive because it covers abstinence AS WELL AS contraception, how to prevent STDs, responsible decision making and more. This is the best way to ensure young people have all of the information they need to make responsible choices and protect themselves.
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