last beautiful girl

taken from LA Weekly.com

It's saying that soon, they'll be teaching abstinence as the only way to prevent spread of HIV/AIDS. Is common sense not a 'prevention' tool anymore? Or, wait, I see. Teenagers don't have common sense.

This is incredibly disturbing. I'm not saying that teenagers should run out and have sex, but with education(which Bush seems intent on destroying), they'll know about STDs and pregnancy and be able to make their OWN choices based on their OWN values. Not his.

I don't know, the whole thing rubs me the wrong way. Discuss.

Clash181

I'm still in High School and I'm not saying they're having sex in the halls but a lot of people aren't abstaining from sex. I think it's crazy that he isn't letting any other method be taught to help prevent AID's.

Giving a kid a condom isn't tantamount to telling them to have sex. Tell kids to wait until marriage, but tell them how to protect themselves if they decide not to.

It only makes sense.

last beautiful girl

Exactly. If you want the job done, don't instill fear or limit choices.

And there are other ways to contract HIV/AIDS besides sexual intercourse. If it prevents AIDS/HIV, great, but it's only fair that other methods of AIDS prevention(don't use needles!) be incorporated as well. Apparently, BushBrain does not compute.

pacifierrocks

That's just stupid, kids aren't going to stop having sex because someone told them to. They're still going to have sex, but now they'll be less educated on how to protect themselves. Promote abstinence, but realize that most teenagers aren't going to do it, so include that steps they need to take to protect themselves if they do decided to have sex before marriage. Kids are having sex younger and younger these days, just telling them not to won't stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, it might even raise it.

migamoo

iI just love this part of the article :
I'm sorry but if researchers are saying that this would increase the risk of getting HIV/AIDS than it shouldn't be taught. I'm not saying abstinence shouldn't be taught at all, but also include other ways of protecting yourself. What happned to teaching safe-sex? If someone is going to have sex they should be taught or told about ways to protect themselves. Not just against HIV/AIDS but other STDs as well.
This like this just piss me off.

Ashley

TheAngel

In my school we didn't learn much about HIV/AIDS. It was my parents that taught it. Why don't they take responsibility for their kids, I mean yeah, it should be in the schools but teaching kids not to have sex isn't such a bad idea.

WalkingOnSunshine

I have to say I agree. I mean the parents' responsibility gets put on the schools and that isn't completely right. Personally, I went to a private high school and we never had the sex-ed so I had to turn to my parents - and it wasn't awful. And, I know kids are going to have sex but a lot of problems could be avoided when kids stop having kids.

migamoo

Yes, I agree. Parents do need to step in and teach their kids also. But there are a lot of parents who aren't going to do that so it falls on the school system to teach the kids. And the schools need the ability to teach more than just abstinence. Like I said before, I have no problem with abstinence being taught, but it shouldn't be the only think being taught.

Ashley

Timeo

Nobody's teaching anyone about having sex. For the last time, teaching about risks and problems related to intercourse does NOT tantamount to endorsing it. Sex can be dangerous, and people should be told about these risks and dangers. Shunting away from the truth and advocating these alternative methods that don't work is just irresponsible and ultimately, fatal for those who are in dire need.

sick little jag

To me, this is what I like to describe as the "Let's stick our fingers in our ears and go, 'Lalalalalalala!!!'" approach to sexual education. I agree with Timeo; teaching teenagers ways to protect themselves if and when they decide to have sex is not the same as endorsing pre-marital sex. A lot of kids these days are very ignorant about STDs, AIDS/HIV, and what actually qualifies as a sexual act. Just because you're not having intercourse doesn't mean you can't contract an STD and teaching about condoms and contraceptives isn't this big horrible thing. Just because someone might hand a teenager a condom or make one available to them for free (like and Planned Parenthood) does not mean that they're immediately going to go and look for the first person they can find to test them out. I was up at Warped tour and was handed a "safe sex kit" with condoms, instructions on how to use them, and some lube. Does that mean I went and found the nearest person I could to screw? No. I just took a look at it and put it in my bag. Am I someone scarred from learning how to use a condom and not having "Never have sex until your married!! It's wroooong!" drilled into my head? No.

Teaching abstinance and ignoring all of the dangers of allowing the teenage population to remain ignorant about STDs and contraception is not doing my generation any favors.

peacecorps2006

I'm a junior at high school. Classmates of mine know just some of the risks, but don't really know or care about the entire HIv thing. If someone dosen't really inform them or get the message throught their head, then they will never know.

Citizen Sarah

I think its a crime not to have a proper sex education.
Going to a catholic school all my friends and I got was a video about how being a virgin was actually cool (haha).
Its ridiculous as it leaves people to do their own research - meaning aloada bull gets spread around and people actually find themselves believing it!
When will people get it inot their heads taht sex is natural? Besides if God didnt want us to have sex for fun he wouldnt have invented the orgasm

TheAngel

It's called masturbation, no risk. Besides, condoms don't protect from STDs and you can still get pregnant from them. I don't have a problem with either form of sex ed. But most kids don't give a damn about STDs because they're teenagers, they're invincible in their own minds. The extent of my sex ed was learning about having a period and learning about men with STDs, never really learned about women with STDs for some reason. That was it and I've made my choices from that and it's always been the right choice.

sick little jag

OK. That is the most perposertous statement I've ever read. Condoms don't protect you from STDs? Um no. They can and DO protect people from contracting STDs. Also, codoms are 98% effective in preventing pregancy last I heard. While not comepletely effective, aside from keeping your knees closed it's about as effective in preventing pregnancy you can get. And they work even better if your on an oral contraceptive (like The Pill, Ortho Tri Cyclin, Yasmin, etc.). I would really like to know where you are getting your facts from.


Oh wait...that's right. Nevermind. We aren't taught these things in school as part of our health education. How would you know?

TheAngel

Besides the fact that I have a friend that now has a one year old son despite the fact that she was using condoms while having sex is one of my reasons.