Jezebel 
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New York, 9:30 PM
Tue Nov 24
62 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/28/09
10/28/09
Aren't these the same types of people who think that government exists only to fight terrorists and that the invisible hand of the free market will save all our poor, uninsured, unemployed asses? Line up for a taste of your own medicine, suckas! #abstinenceonlyeducation
10/28/09
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10/28/09
"Condoms are virtually ineffective"... it's like they don't even care that people are transmitting horrible diseases and getting pregnant at 15 or whatever. No one with a conscience could possibly advise people to just go ahead and skip the condoms. #abstinenceonlyeducation
10/28/09
Now that said, I think abstinence-only education is absurd. Basic knowledge of reproductive biology and how the various methods of contraception work, with no implied value judgments, is the way to go. And there is nothing wrong with saying "Abstinence is the only 100% way of preventing STDs and pregnancy, but here are some other methods and their typical success rates." Science and facts.
All the guilty/shaming stuff I don't agree with, but if that's what families want to do, then I can't stop them. My own family told me that sex before marriage was not okay, but then my mom also told me that if I ever thought I might become sexually active, I should seek contraception through her or otherwise. Fortunately, the second part of that message stuck and I have never had sex without a condom or hormonal birth control (or both, in new relationships before people get tested). Of course, I'm also 30 and have never acknowledged to my family that I've had sex, so clearly the shame bit stuck as well. At least I got some info along with it.
10/29/09
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I don't really agree with this practice though. I think if a child is interested in learning about safe sex and reproduction, it shouldn't matter if parental consent is given. It's like wanting to take your kid out of algebra class because you don't believe in fractions and percentages. Wtf. #abstinenceonlyeducation
10/29/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
They were both four years behind me in school. I had good sex ed in school, and the Girl Scouts had a special learn-about-your-bodies weekend that I attended a couple of years in a row that taught me about birth control. My brother and his wife didn't have this; they had abstinence only sex ed, which, as this post says, teaches that birth control isn't trustworthy. I'm thinking that my brother's situation shows that abstinence-only is not only bad for teenagers, but it steers them wrong when they are adults. My brother's wife should have been on birth control -- multiple forms of it, since she's proven to be very fertile (though not good at carrying babies to term). But abstinence-only taught them that birth control doesn't work, so why bother with it? I think that as the teens who got abstinence-only sex ed grow older, we're going to see more adults making stupid decisions with about reproductive health. #abstinenceonlyeducation
10/28/09
That's the kind of thinking we're working with, people.
(Incidentally, it was li'l sis's lowest grade this six weeks. Her two older sisters asked her to ponder the deeper significance of that.) #abstinenceonlyeducation
10/28/09
We need to drill the facts in to people's heads. Abstinence being the best form of birth control and STD prevention is a fact, but there are so many other valuable facts. Let parents teach their values at home, school is for facts. #abstinenceonlyeducation
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What I don't understand is, aside from all he other myriad shortcomings (no-comings?) of Abstinence Only education, why do we not trust kids with the truth? It's sad when "ignore it and it'll go away" becomes policy. #abstinenceonlyeducation
10/28/09
10/28/09