News & Politics - Abstinence Only Education not helping prevent STDs

sick little jag · 03-19-2005, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Study: Many who pledge abstinence substitute risky behavior
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer

March 18, 2005, 2:30 PM EST

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Adolescents who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are more likely to substitute high-risk sexual behaviors that increase the likelihood of transmitting sexually transmitted diseases, according to researchers who studied the sex lives of about 12,000 teens.

The report by Yale and Columbia University researchers could help explain why a study by the same group last year found that despite having fewer sexual partners and getting married earlier, teens who pledge abstinence are just as likely to have STDs as their peers.

The latest study, published in the April issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that teens who pledge abstinence until marriage are more likely to have oral and anal sex than other teens who have not had intercourse.

"They substitute other non-coital sex, which, however, puts you at risk," said Hannah Brueckner, assistant professor of sociology at Yale University and one of the study's authors.

Among virgins, boys who have pledged abstinence were four times more likely to have had anal sex, according to the study. Overall, pledgers were six times more likely to have oral sex than teens who have remained abstinent but not as part of a pledge.

The pledging group was also less likely to use condoms during their first sexual experience or get tested for STDs, the study found.

Data from the study was taken from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

The study used an in-school questionnaire administered to a nationally representative sample of students in grades 7 through 12, and followed up with a series of in-home interviews of students approximately one, two, and six years later. It was funded in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Leslee Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse in Sioux Falls, S.D., called the study "bogus," and disputed that those involved had pledged true "abstinence."

"Kids who pledge abstinence are taught that any word that has 'sex' in it is considered a sexual activity," Unruh said. "Therefore oral sex is sex, and they are staying away."

Millions of teens have signed written pledges or verbally promised to abstain from sex, part of a church-led effort to discourage premarital sex and the spread of disease. President Bush has boosted funding for abstinence-only education in schools.

Critics say that education needs to be coupled with safe-sex education to be effective.

"If adolescents only had sex in monogamous, married relationships, by definition there would be no STDs," Brueckner said, echoing President Bush's remarks in last year's State of the Union address. "But the majority of adolescents don't live like that. They do have sex."

Last year, the same research team found that 88 percent of teens who pledge abstinence end up having sex before marriage, compared with 99 percent of teens who do not make a pledge.

This is why abstinence-only education is utterly pointless. You teach "don't have sex" but you ignore the fact that sex isn't only intercourse...it's oral and anal and heavy petting. So therefore, kids pledge to not have intercourse, but they aren't educated about the risks of having unprotected sex in other forms.

**Mio** · 03-19-2005, 04:37 PM

Exactly. They need to teach that oral sex is still sex.

TokyoNiGHTS · 03-20-2005, 07:56 AM

They should definetly be taught that any kind of sex can is sex and can give you diseases. But at the sametime, how clueless do you have to be to not know this? I do think most know they can get diseases that way, they just don't care. Oral sex isn't really considered to be a big deal to alot of teens now for some reason.

*Ledi* · 03-20-2005, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TokyoNiGHTS

Oral sex isn't really considered to be a big deal to alot of teens now for some reason.

Sadly, that is very true.

I hear people my age, like in my school for example, talking about oral sex as if it's no big deal. And they think that as long as they do just that and not have sex, that they're "innocent" or "clean".

TokyoNiGHTS · 03-20-2005, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Ledi*

Sadly, that is very true.

I hear people my age, like in my school for example, talking about oral sex as if it's no big deal. And they think that as long as they do just that and not have sex, that they're "innocent" or "clean".

I've actually known girls that'd rather give a guy oral than kiss them on the lips. For some reason kissing is considered intimate while oral isn't.

Parents need to just get to the point and talk to their kids about sex. They always talk about how they don't want schools teaching their kids, then maybe they should do it instead of getting upset when schools do the it. Alot of teens aren't as innocent as their parents would like to think, no matter how much they say they are.

Ahh kids today. I'm glad I didn't grow up in this time period in schools. I know alot of guys are into girls that'd do all this, but personally i'm not a big fan of STD's.

Miss_Priss · 04-02-2005, 11:53 PM

abstinence only education is a crock. All it is, is old conservative lawmakers trying to force their outdated ideals on this generation. However, they do not take nto account that these times are far different than theirs.

Abstinence, is the best method of preventing pregnancy and STDs of course, but so few teens are totally abstinent that it is idiotic and ignorant to teach abstinence only education. It is VITAL to inform students what STDs are, what are OTHER ways to get them besides intercourse, how to use all kinds of contraception, plus many many other things that affect teens today like homosexuality, bisexuality, sexual health services, and so much more.

This is one reason why Sue Johansen should be president

Milt Palacio · 04-03-2005, 08:04 AM

Pushing abstinence education shows how out of touch these lawmakers are with the real world. If they truly wanted to prevent abortions and STD's, they'd be pushing for a lot more sex education instead of abstinence education.

What they're really pushing is their religion on everybody else since many of them don't even believe in contraception.


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