I've seen a lot of people harping on Sarah Palin and her daughter, noting that Palin's support of abstinence-only sex-ed is juxtaposed with her own daughter's pregnancy, and that this shows a failure of said policies.

What I have to ask is this: what is the purpose of a sex-ed program? Is it really fair to say that a program fails if girls get pregnant at a higher rate than those who go through other programs?

9/3/2008 12:04:54 AM

If you count the consequences of a social policy as reliable indicators of the value of said policy, then yes.

9/3/2008 12:09:05 AM

so, the only purpose is preventing pregnancy. seems kind of narrow-minded, if you ask me...

9/3/2008 12:10:05 AM

Well, there's the ancillary effect of dampening the spread of STDs...

Really, though - if there is any public health justification of sex ed in schools, just what is it, if not to combat harmful phenomena such as teen pregnancy? And what other metric would you propose other than this marker as an indication of success or failure?

Even abstinence-only sex ed purports to serve this end. So where exactly are you going with this?

9/3/2008 12:12:02 AM

i just ask the questions, mang. I don't answer em. I was always under the impression that sex-ed was more about STDs and making the AIDS people feel better. That's mostly what we focused on.

9/3/2008 12:13:32 AM

The point is for religious parents to try and prevent their kids from doing things that will get them sent to hell (i.e. fornicating outside of wedlock).

Unfortunately kids are hardwired to want to have sex and are going to do so anyway in most cases, which can be a problem if they don't have any knowledge of or access to contraceptives

And before you ask, yes, I do consider an unwanted pregnancy a problem

9/3/2008 12:13:32 AM

Does anyone really not know about condoms or that you can get pregnant through unprotected sex?

9/3/2008 12:21:15 AM

apparently them dumb Jesus freaks don't know u can get pregnant by bonin.

9/3/2008 12:25:31 AM

As far as I see it, the purpose of sex education is to:


1) Provide information to help stop the spread of sexual diseases.
2) Provide information to help prevent unwanted pregnancies.

To a lesser extent, it is to explain certain changes affiliated with puberty that have certainly been recognized and discussed by all but the most sheltered students. You don't need to waste much time teaching kids that they're going to start growing curly hairs -- they can see that for themselves, thank you very much. You don't even really need to explain much about the act of sex -- that, in many of its variations, has probably already been discussed at length, besides which you can't really give them information on how to do properly.

The things that most kids don't already know about but damn well need to learn are things like the nature and prevalence of STD's, and how to RELIABLY avoid them; the availability, effects, and relative success of contraceptives, and how to RELIABLY use them; and the physiology of conception and pregnancy, and how to RELIABLY prevent them. Kids have a lot of information about those subjects, but a lot of it is wrong, hence the emphasis.

9/3/2008 12:32:15 AM

^^^ Sadly yes, those people exist

9/3/2008 1:43:28 AM

^^^^Yes.

However, of all the people I know who have endured unwanted pregnancies, not one of them was unenlightened when it came to the basics of how to prevent pregnancy. In fact, I believe almost all of them wanted to get pregnant, consciously or otherwise.

So if we're serious about preventing teen pregnancies, we need to approach the issue with more than just comprehensive information about contraceptives.

9/3/2008 3:32:36 AM

Quote :

"In fact, I believe almost all of them wanted to get pregnant, consciously or otherwise."

What does that mean?

9/3/2008 3:42:17 AM

Some people's biological drive to procreate is so strong that they unconsciously do things that result in pregnancy. And there can be other things, like mental and emotional issues, involved too.

Worse yet are the girls who just don't care (also possibly a mental/emotional issue). They don't see enough value/hope/good/potential in their lives and their futures to bother protecting themselves.

And again some of them consciously want to get pregnant and have a baby.

[Edited on September 3, 2008 at 4:21 AM. Reason : sss]

9/3/2008 4:15:58 AM

Quote :

"Kids have a lot of information about those subjects, but a lot of it is wrong, hence the emphasis."

I agree. That's what I've always viewed the purpose of sex-ed to be: to teach specifics on what's going on (the science behind the plumbing), educate on all the potential risks (STD's, unwanted pregnancies), and teach ways to avoid those risks (birth control, abstinence, etc.). Theoretically, this should help teenagers better understand what's going on and hopefully, in those few rational moments that surface in a raging sea of hormones, make better decisions.

9/3/2008 9:56:36 AM

Quote :

"Some people's biological drive to procreate is so strong that they unconsciously do things that result in pregnancy."

Haha, what? How does one unconsciously get pregnant, other than (insert roofie colada joke here)?

9/3/2008 9:57:17 AM

Juno
Juneau

Coincidence?

9/3/2008 10:21:34 AM

^ yeah......
i wasn't going to post this, but anyway

9/3/2008 10:28:27 AM

this needs to be said again

Quote :

"As far as I see it, the purpose of sex education is to: 1) Provide information to help stop the spread of sexual diseases. 2) Provide information to help prevent unwanted pregnancies. To a lesser extent, it is to explain certain changes affiliated with puberty that have certainly been recognized and discussed by all but the most sheltered students. You don't need to waste much time teaching kids that they're going to start growing curly hairs -- they can see that for themselves, thank you very much. You don't even really need to explain much about the act of sex -- that, in many of its variations, has probably already been discussed at length, besides which you can't really give them information on how to do properly. The things that most kids don't already know about but damn well need to learn are things like the nature and prevalence of STD's, and how to RELIABLY avoid them; the availability, effects, and relative success of contraceptives, and how to RELIABLY use them; and the physiology of conception and pregnancy, and how to RELIABLY prevent them. Kids have a lot of information about those subjects, but a lot of it is wrong, hence the emphasis."

9/3/2008 4:23:02 PM