Comments on: The Fracas Over the "Abstinence Education Works" Study

By: Scot Eavenson

Scot Eavenson — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:45:29 +0000

The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I mean, I know it was my option to learn, however I really thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about one thing that you could possibly repair should you werent too busy on the lookout for attention.

By: Rain

Rain — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:45:18 +0000

Interesting that pregnancy seems to be regarded as the most regrettable side effect of unsafe sex. Still. Especially as STDs are running rampant. How old fashioned. The fear of unwanted pregnancy is a large part of what fuels abstinence only education.

Children should be taught about safe sex, and about respecting their physical, as well as their emotional selves. But they also need to be taught that sex is not simple. It is not a black and white thing that we either decide or decide not to do. Lack of knowledge, versus lack of education, is the real problem.

By: Tulips for my organ

Tulips for my organ — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:08:05 +0000

Nothing got me more tail and drugs than attending Christian study when I was in High School. The case should’ve been closed back when Nancy Reagen’s D.A.R.E. fiasco happened, leading to previously unheard of rates of addiction, disease and pregnancy amongst teens.

You can not simply tell kids not to have sex when they know darned well it feels good, and all media sells them everything they consume with either sexual inuendo (shape of a coke bottle), or blatent sexual representation (axe body spray).

Most people only look for an opinion that reinforces their own. Open dialogues hold the key to creating informed opinions. If we lose our sexual hangups, and openly communicate with our children, many modern problems can be adressed before they become the drug addicted breeders that preceeded them.

By: Andrew Moseman

Andrew Moseman — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:31:44 +0000

Thanks for the typo catch, Vlad. Fixed.

By: Vlad J

Vlad J — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:45:42 +0000

“wait until your married” ?
You mean “you’re”. Please wake up, editors.

By: Scicurious

Scicurious — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:52:55 +0000

I would be interested to see the pregnancy rate, and I would ALSO be interested to see how the abstinence only group felt about having sex vs the safe sex group. Would abstinence only kids, for example, feel worse about REPORTING that they had had sex?

By: YouRang

YouRang — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:44:19 +0000

Great comments Chris and Brian (I came here to say just those thoughts).
In addition, when I listened to the details of what they were teaching, it wasn’t obvious that the message wasn’t consistent with safe sex and safe with regard to pregnancy sex. So I particularly second Chris’s comment: What was the pregnancy rate among the various safe sex programs 3 years afterward?

By: Brian V

Brian V — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:12:07 +0000

Self-reporting seems to me to be ripe for corrupt findings. I have no doubt that the self-reporting adolescents are easily and heavily influenced by several factors to respond in the manner that is perceived as the desired one.

By: Zack B.

Zack B. — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:55:56 +0000

Nice to see that social scientists are conducting thought-provoking and useful studies using the scientific method. With repeated studies and similar studies across different demographics, it will be interesting to see where this leads.

By: chris w.

chris w. — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:34:05 +0000

I’d be more interested to see what the pregnancy rates are. I’m not as worried about kids possibly having sex as I am about them doing so, if they must, safely and responsibly. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see that, while there may be fewer of them having sex, the abstinence-only group had a higher rate of pregnancy among those that did.