While reading this article please consider the government here has poured money into abstinence-only programs and cut money for broader sex-ed programs.

In my opinion, it is things like this that give the saying "Good intentions pave the road to hell" merit.

Link

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PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - U.S. adolescents who pledge not to have sex until they are married have about the same rate of sexually transmitted diseases as other teenagers and they often fail to keep their pledge, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The study of a nationally representative sample of about 15,000 youths aged 12 to 18 found that 88 percent of teenagers who pledged to remain virgins until they are married ended up having sex before marriage.

The study, funded largely by the National Institutes of Health, found that these teenagers were also less likely to use condoms when they did have sex because they had not paid attention to sex education.

Because of their ignorance about sexually transmitted diseases, "pledgers" were also less likely to seek medical help if they contracted one of the diseases, according to the study unveiled at a Philadelphia conference on sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs.

Dr. Peter Bearman of Columbia University in New York, who headed the study, said the pledge movement failed to recognize the realities of adolescent sexuality. "Ideological programs designed to make serious interventions in public health programs tend not to work," he said.

Adolescents who pledged abstinence were much less likely than others to use contraceptives the first time they had sex. Consequently, their risk of getting STDs and becoming pregnant was as high as non-pledgers, the study found.

Only 40 percent of male pledgers had used a condom in the past year compared with 59 percent of those who did not promise to avoid sex. Among females, the gap was 47 percent to 55 percent.

The study found that pledging did succeed in delaying sex, reducing the number of partners and led to earlier marriages but it did not reduce the rate of sexually transmitted diseases.

"These movements that are ignorant of social science research defeat the purpose they set out to solve," Bearman said.

Why do people still try and fight nature and its base instincts? Give them access to the knowledge they need, be there for them in the shape of advice lines, offer support when asked. Try properly placed advertisements like in teen magazines showing pics of the effects of STD (like they do with anti tobacco ads). But then get out of the way and let them root like rabbits! And stop making them feel bad about a beautiful thing.

Just my [img]graemlins/twocents.gif[/img] :D

Not surprising for me.

The government may push abstinence, but let's not pretend that high schoolers here don't have adequate education as to what a frikkin condom is.

Here Here! Preach it TL, Preach it.

Since people are weak and can not always live up to their intentions, Let's just quit expecting people to tell the truth because some of them lie even though they have the intention to tell the truth but fail at it. We should make telling the truth into a bad thing. No wait let's make stealing ok, because some people fail to be honest, even though it is their intention, and steal something. Oh "Hale" let's go for the big one and ok murder for the same reasons. In for a penny in for a pound ;)

Agreed, though people can be pretty gullible about what to believe. I remember hearing a girl asking a friend if Sprite really does prevent pregnancy right after sex.

*All of a sudden remembered someone having a similiar experience* I guess it's an Urban Legend?

[ 03-10-2004, 01:42 PM: Message edited by: Jerr Conner ]

So? Do the majority know WHAT could happen if you don't use a condom? No they don't!

Younger posters, skip this part. ;)

For instance, a common belief is that anal sex prevents transmission of HIV. So, they don't need to use a condom at all, they're safe. After all if you can't get pregnant you can't get HIV. It may sound silly to most, if not all, posters here. So sorry US government, abstinence is not, and will never be, a protection against sexually transmitted diseases.

It's so frikkin ridiculous! Grown men and women, who are supposed to lead and govern a country, can't even talk about sex like normal adults. :rolleyes:

[ 03-10-2004, 03:41 PM: Message edited by: WillowIX ]

Yeah, the Bush Administration giggles when the word 'sex' is mentioned.

Perhaps they do, but it is true for almost any government, if not every.

People by and large aren't that ignernt. I was in public school in rural appalaicha in the mid 1980s and knew better than that by 8th grade. For the people that are that ignernt, will giving my tax dollars to a bunch of namby-pamby planned parenthood love-in wannabes really accomplish very much in the way of educating them? I think not.

Unfortunately, it is simply the case that the people too dumb to be procreating are the very people who can't be taught how NOT to procreate. :(

Planned parenthood facilities exist in most communities. They thrive on charity and minor charges for their work. Does every frikkin thing have to be a frikkin public works project? Gimme my damn tax money back, you D.C. freaks!! [img]graemlins/whackya.gif[/img]

[ 03-10-2004, 04:56 PM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]